With the Chess World Cup officially beginning on Saturday, the winner’s trophy was unveiled in a glittering opening ceremony in Goa on Friday with the silverware being named after the legendary Indian chess player Viswanathan Anand.
All India Chess Federation president Nitin Narang tweeted about the news as well, saying that the trophy will be called Viswanathan Anand Cup. “Extremely proud and delighted to announce the Viswanathan Anand Cup, the FIDE World Cup (Open) Winner’s Running Trophy, instituted in honour of the King of Chess and India’s first Grandmaster, Shri Viswanathan Anand. This running trophy stands as an emblem of the great strides of Indian chess and the remarkable achievements and legacy of @vishy64theking, destined to be cherished and extolled for centuries and passing through generations of chess prodigies,” he said.
The trophy features the peacock, the national bird of India in a frozen dance form and will be given to the winner of the tournament on November 26.
Extremely proud and delighted to announce the Viswanathan Anand Cup, the FIDE World Cup (Open) Winner’s Running Trophy, instituted in honour of the King of Chess and India’s first Grandmaster, Shri Viswanathan Anand.
This running trophy stands as an emblem of the great strides… pic.twitter.com/tbUQsbhnvv
— Nitin Narang (@narangnitin) October 31, 2025
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 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.
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.
