Fide World Cup 2025: India Hosts Top Chess Event

Fide World Cup 2025: India Hosts Top Chess Event

Bengaluru: India is all set to host possibly the most important chess tournament of the year, the Fide World Cup. A senior AICF official has confirmed to HT that India will host for the flagship Fide event, which is scheduled to take place from October 31 to November 27, 2025.

Indian Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa (right). 

The World Cup will be significant, as it will offer the top three finishers a spot in the 2026 Candidates tournament. The eight-player Candidates will determine who will face Gukesh D in the 2026 World Championship match. Top Indian players, such as Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanandhaa, will undoubtedly be eyeing a spot in the Candidates and the prospect of an all-Indian World Championship match next year cannot be ruled out.

The 2023 World Cup saw as many as four Indian players reach the quarterfinals. Praggnanandhaa made a historic run to the final, where he lost to the eventual champion, Magnus Carlsen. The teenager became the first Indian after Viswanathan Anand to reach a World Cup final, earning a qualification for the Candidates.

While the venue for the knockout tournament is yet to be named, it wouldn’t be surprising if Delhi or Mumbai were chosen to host the event, given their direct connectivity to international locations and the large number of players expected to arrive from around the world. The October-November schedule might raise concerns about smog, should Delhi be selected, but it is worth noting that the AICF had pitched Delhi as the host for the World Championship in November last year.

The last major chess event hosted by India was the Chess Olympiad in 2022. Although India submitted two separate bids (one from the AICF and another from the Tamil Nadu government) to host the 2024 World Championship match between Gukesh D and Ding Liren in November, Singapore eventually won the bid.

India previously hosted the 2002 World Cup in Hyderabad, which Anand went on to win. It was then dubbed the ‘second Chess World Cup’. Anand had also won the inaugural 24-player tournament in 2000. Since 2005, the World Cup moved to a 128-player event and was made a part of the World Championship cycle. From 2021 onwards, the number of participating players has been increased to 206. This year, the Fide Women’s World Cup is scheduled to be held in Batumi, Georgia from July 5-29 while the World Rapid and Blitz Championship will take place in Doha, Qatar from December 25-31.

India has made significant strides in chess in recent years. In September 2024, India swept historic gold medals in both the open and women’s sections of the Olympiad. Three months later, India had an 18-year-old world champion in Gukesh D. This unprecedented phase for Indian chess makes hosting a major event a great opportunity to generate further interest and attract more followers to the game in the country.