FIDE World Cup 2025 to be hosted in India
The FIDE World Cup is coming to India this year! Scheduled for October 30 to November 27, 2025, the tournament will feature the world’s best players battling for the coveted title and qualification spots in the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament.
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?
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.
Qualification Paths
Players can qualify for the World Cup through various avenues, 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 highest-rated players in the June 2025 FIDE standard rating list, 13 players, who have not qualified by any of the above listed path
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
Detailed information on qualification can be found in the official FIDE handbook.