The FIDE (International Chess Federation) World Cup 2025 will be hosted in India, scheduled from October 30 to November 27. The tournament will feature some of the best chess talents across the world battling for the title.
What’s the format?
This tournament will host 206 players in a knockout-style tournament, where each round eliminates the losing player, making the competition both intense and unpredictable. While the event has experimented with different formats over the years, it has adopted a single-elimination system since 2021.
Each round lasts three days—featuring two classical games on the first two days, and tie-breaks on the third day if needed. In the opening round, the top 50 seeds receive byes, while the remaining players (ranked 51 to 206) face off, with matchups determined by pairing the top half against a reversed lower half.
What’s the stake for the players?
The top three players from the 2025 World Cup will secure direct spots in the 2026 Candidates Tournament, which decides who will challenge for the World Chess Championship.
How to qualify?
Players can qualify for the 2025 World Cup through a variety of paths. These include automatic spots for the reigning World Champion and the reigning Women’s World Champion as of June 1, 2025, as well as the top four finishers from the 2023 FIDE World Cup and the 2024 World Junior U-20 Champion.
A significant number of places—80 in total—are granted through continental events. Each continent receives a specific allocation: Africa is given 3 spots, the Americas 12, Asia 35, and Europe 30. These totals are based on a combination of general qualifiers, top junior players, and players ranked among the top 60 in their continent.
In addition to these, 13 players will qualify based on their FIDE standard rating as of June 2025, provided they haven’t already secured a place through another route. The top 100 national federations from the open section of the 2024 Chess Olympiad each receive one spot. Finally, four players will be nominated by the FIDE President, and two more will be selected by the event organiser, completing the 206-player field for the tournament.
A big boost for India
India has previously hosted major events like the FIDE Chess Olympiad 2022, Tata Steel Chess India, the FIDE World Junior U20 Championships 2024, and the 5th leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix, 2025.
The FIDE World Cup 2025 event marks another major breakthrough for India as the host country. FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky has also expressed his excitement on the news.
“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. To enhance the experience, FIDE is committed to organizing numerous side events, featuring tournament participants and chess legends,” he shared.
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