New Delhi: Goa will host the Fide World Cup from October 30 to November 27, and offers three sought -after places for the next year’s candidate tournament and $ 2 million. The 206-players are represented by the ruling world champion D Gukesh, Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana and R Pragggnanandhaa. Given that Gukesh is already a world champion, he is not part of the qualifying race of candidates and his participation is likely to be limited to money and evaluation.India will have a strong presence with 21 players on the entry list, including the five -time world champion Viswanathan Anand, who qualified through the FIDE list of June 2025.The World Cup returns to India after 23 years, which was last held in Hyderabad in 2002, where Anand raised the trophy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed her return and said, “India is pleased to organize the prestigious World Cup Fide 2025, also after more than two decades. Chess has gained popularity among our youth.Indian Chess has grown significantly since the hosts now build a much stronger base, led as Pragggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi and Nihal Sarin.The tournament will watch the format of two games during eight rounds. Each round will have two classic games, with fast and blitz play -offs in the case of a tie. The Top-50 seeds will receive the second round, while the players placed 51 to 206, they will attack the opening round based on the highest half of the bottom of the half pairs.“Every round is Win-Or-Go-Home, making the World Championship one of the most dramatic calendar tournaments,” Fide said.President Fide Arkady Dvorkovic added: “India has become one of the strongest chess nations, with excellent players and passionate fans. After the success of the Fide Women World Cup, which takes place in Georgia at the beginning of this year, we are proud to believe that it is most to participate. It happened to be involved in participating in the participation of participating in participation to participate in participation in participation in participation that it is most to participate.President AICF Nitin Nitin said: “The World Cup not only inspires millions across the country, but also shows the growing figure of India as a global chess center.”
