FIDE World Cup 2025: Rs 18 crore prize money and world’s best players – all you need to know about the mega event in Goa

Indian Grandmasters Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanandhaa will be among those looking to seal their place in next year’s Candidates tournament while compatriot D Gukesh will be hoping to regain his old form in the FIDE World Cup 2025 that gets underway a little over 24 hours from now.

The World Cup, after all, offers three spots for the Candidates – the tournament that decides the challenger for the FIDE World Championship – which is more than any other method of qualification.

And even if one is to take Candidates out of the picture, which will be the case for reigning world champion Gukesh, it still ranks among the most prestigious chess tournaments in the world, with a prize money pool that is also among the highest.

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The Indians, meanwhile, will be counting on home advantage to try and dominate the final rankings, with the World Cup returning to Indian shores after 23 years.

Here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming event:

Where will the 2025 FIDE World Cup take place? 

The upcoming event will be taking place at Resort Rio in Arpora, Goa.

What is the schedule for the 2025 FIDE World Cup? 

Round 1- 1-3 November

Round 2 - 4-6 November

Round 3 - 7-9 November

Round 4 - 11-13 November

Round 5 - 14-16 November

Quarter-finals - 17-19 November

Semi-finals - 21-23 November

Finals - 24-26 November

What time will the matches get underway? 

The matches will get underway at 3 pm IST (9.30 am GMT) on all the days of the competition.

What is the format for the 2025 FIDE World Cup? 

The tournament will feature 206 players, out of which the top 50 players receive a bye for the first round. The tournament then becomes a standard 128-player knockout event, with the 78 winners from the first round joined by the top 50 players.

Every game in each of the subsequent rounds will be a knockout affair thereafter, from Rounds 2 to 5 to the quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final.

Each round will comprise two Classical games with a time control of 90+30 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30+30 for the remainder of the game. The player with the higher score at the end of the two Classical games will advance to the next round – or will be crowned the champion if it’s the final.

In case of a tie, the winner will be decided through a series of tie-breaks which features a series of rapid and blitz games. The tie-breaks begin with two 15+10 games, and will be followed by two 10+10 games if the two players remain tied on the same score. That will be followed by two 5+3 games and two 3+2 games, if necessary.

If the players are still tied on the same score, then the winner will be decided in a bidding Armageddon showdown with a base time of 4+2.

What’s the total prize money on offer at the 2025 FIDE World Cup? 

The tournament features a prize fund of $2 million (approximately Rs 18 crore), out of which the winner pockets $120,000 (approximately Rs 1.06 crore) and the runner-up $85,000 (approximately Rs 75 lakh). The players finishing third and fourth, respectively, will earn $60,000 and $50,000.

The tournament guarantees players a minimum of $3,500 – which translates to a little over INR 3 lakh – even if they get knocked out in the very first round.

Who are some of the biggest names competing in the tournament? 

Gukesh, Arjun and 'Pragg' enter as the top three seeds with Gukesh getting the top spot due to him being the world champion. Besides the Indian trio, the upcoming World Cup will feature other top players such as GMs Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Vincent Keymer, Wesley So, Anish Giri, Wei Yi, etc.

There are several other Indians who will be in contention for a top three finish in the upcoming event including GMs Vidit Gujrathi, Aravindh Chithambaram, Nihal Sarin, Pentala Harikrishna, Karthikeyan Murali, Pranav V., Raunak Sadhwani, Pranesh M., Leon Luke Mendonca, etc.

What’s more, the upcoming event will also feature Divya Deshmukh, who had won the Women's World Cup in July, as the only female competitor. The 19-year-old accepted a wildcard entry into the tournament after Ju Wenjun and Hou Yifan, the reigning women’s world champion and women’s world No 1, respectively, decided against entering their names.

Who are some of the notable absentees in the upcoming tournament? 

World No 1 Magnus Carlsen, a five-time world champion, is the biggest name missing from the 2025 FIDE World Cup. Also missing are Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana, ranked second and third, respectively, in the world.

While Caruana has already qualified for the Candidates, Nakamura is channeling his efforts into qualifying for the event via the rating spot.

Where can I watch the 2025 FIDE World Cup LIVE? 

The tournament will be telecast on FIDE’s YouTube channel.