The 2025 FIDE World Cup will be hosted in Goa, India. This is the first time in 25 years that the country is hosting the biennial event and a record 24 players in the field will be Indian. Among the headliners for the home nation will be reigning world champion D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Nihal Sarin and Women’s World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh.
The marquee competition starts on November 1 and will go on till November 26. Round 1 is scheduled for November 1-3 (including tie-breakers), after which Round 2 takes place from Nov 4 to 6 (including tie-breakers). Round 3 is scheduled to be held from from Nov 7-9 (including tie-breakers) after which Round 4 will be from Nov 11 to 13 (including tie-breakers). Round 5 will be from Nov 14-16 (including tie-breakers) after which the tournament goes into knockouts. The latter stage starts with the quarterfinals from Nov 17-19 (including tie-breakers), followed by the semifinals from 21-23 (including tie-breakers). The final will take place from Nov 24 to 26 (including tie-breakers).
The prize money available
Champion’s Prize
$120,000
First Place Winner
3rd Place
$60K
Bronze Medal
4th Place
$50K
Fourth Position
Indian Express InfoGenIE
The total prize money fund for the tournament is $2 million. The winner will get $120,000. The runners-up will receive $85,000. The 3rd placed players get $60,000 while $50,000 has been reserved for the player that finishes fourth. It has to be noted here that the winner of the Women’s Chess World Cup earlier this year, Deshmukh, had earned a prize money of only $50,000 after the title victory.
The World Cup will feature 206 players competing in a head-to-head, two-game knockout format over eight rounds. Each round spans three days: two classical games (between two players) on the first two days, followed by tie-breaks on the third day, if necessary. In the first round, the top 50 players receive byes, while players seeded from 51 to 206 compete, with pairings based on the principle of the top half versus the reversed lower half. The FIDE World Cup is the event that offers the top three finishers direct qualification for the 2026 Candidates Tournament, which determines the challenger for the World Chess Championship.
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