The global governing body of chess, FIDE, has once again reiterated that the prestigious FIDE World Cup event will be contested in India this year. However, once again, the organisation has not weighed in on which city will host the event. There has been plenty of speculation about the host city so far, with Goa being a prime candidate for the event.
“Further details, including the announcement of the host city, will be released in due course,” FIDE said in a statement on Monday.
As per FIDE, at least 21 Indians have qualified for the tournament out of the 206. However, this list includes names like five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand, who is semi-retired and is also FIDE Deputy President, and reigning world champion Gukesh.
The other Indian players are: Praggnanandhaa R (courtesy of being World Cup 2023 second place finisher), Arjun Erigaisi (as per rating list in June 2025), Aravindh Chithambaram (June 2025 rating list), Nihal Sarin, Iniyan Pa, Raja Rithvik R, Narayanan SL, Pranesh M, Harshavardhan GB, Karthikeyan Murali, Idani Pouya, Karthik Venkataraman, Surya Shekhar Ganguly, Neelash Saha, Diptayan Ghosh, Aromyak Ghosh, Himal Gusain, Lalit Babu MR (all via continental spots) and Vidit Gujrathi (via Chess Olympiad spot).
The announcement of the host city is now long overdue, with FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich even telling media during the Norway Chess earlier this year that an announcement could be made within days.
Initially, India’s capital New Delhi was being touted as a host venue, but there were concerns about it, which led to a rethink.
Talking to Indian media on the sidelines of the Norway Chess tournament in Stavanger a couple of months ago, FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich had said: “The location will be determined based on our standards, of course by the Indian government, not by us. But we will agree with any reasonable choice. And I think the announcement is going to be made in the next few days, but I cannot disclose which location, since it’s going to be announced by one of the top officials in India, of course, together with us.”
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So what do we know about the upcoming FIDE World Cup?
FIDE has confirmed the dates of the event: The World Cup is scheduled for October 30 to November 27 this year.
The FIDE World Cup 2025 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.
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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.
