India to host FIDE World Cup 2025 as top players get ready to fight for spot in Candidates 2026

The International Chess Federation, FIDE, confirmed Monday that the World Cup 2025 will take place in India from 30 October to 27 November. The venue for the FIDE World Cup 2025 has not been announced yet, but it will include some of the best chess players in the world and The FIDE World Cup 2025, which will offer qualification spots for the Candidates 2026 and include some of the best players in the world, will be hosted in India in October-November.

“We are thrilled to bring the FIDE World Cup 2025 to India, a country with a deep-rooted passion and support for chess. Indian chess fans’ enthusiasm has always been remarkable, and we anticipate great interest in the event among local chess lovers, both on-site and online," FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky said.

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“To enhance the experience, FIDE is committed to organizing numerous side events, featuring tournament participants and chess legends.”

FIDE World Cup 2025 format

The FIDE World Cup 2025 will feature 206 players competing in a knockout format—a dynamic and unpredictable system where the losing player in each round is eliminated. The event has used several formats over the years, but since 2021, it has followed a single-elimination format.

Each round spans three days: two classical games 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.

What’s at stake at the FIDE World Cup 2025?

The top three finishers of the 2025 World Cup will earn direct qualification for the 2026 Candidates Tournament, which determines the challenger for the World Chess Championship.

FIDE World Cup 2025: Qualification paths

Players can qualify for the World Cup through various routes, including:

• Reigning World Champion as of June 1, 2025

• Top four finishers from the FIDE World Cup 2023

• Reigning Women’s World Champion as of June 1, 2025

• 2024 World Junior Champion U-20

• Qualifiers from continental events, accounting for 80 spots

• The 13 highest-rated players in the June 2025 FIDE standard rating list, who have not qualified

• Top 100 national federations from the 2024 Chess Olympiad open section, each receiving one spot

• 4 nominees of the FIDE president

• 2 nominees of the organiser