New Delhi:
India is reportedly in line to host the highly anticipated FIDE Chess World Cup 2025 chess tournament. The official announcement is yet to be made by the sport’s global governing body, but it is suggested that the organisation would reveal the details soon.
The tournament holds massive importance as the top three players would be given a spot in the Candidates Chess tournament, where a spot to challenge the World Champion, D. Gukesh, is at stake. This means that India’s top chess players will look to bring in their best form for this tournament.
According to a report by the Indian Express, an unnamed official from the All India Chess Federation (AICF) has confirmed that India would host the event and would begin from October 31 to November 27.
The race for a spot in the Candidates tournament will not be an easy task due to the sheer number in terms of competition, where 206 players will reportedly be taking part in this tournament. The competition has been tough, even for the best players, as Magnus Carlsen himself won his first World Cup just two years ago.
The tournament will be entirely based on knockout games, but people who are in the top 50 rankings can jump in at the second round. In the previous edition, India’s R Pragganandha had worked his way to the final, where he beat the likes of, Hikaru Nakamura, Arjun Erigaise, and Fabiano Caruna.
The FIDE wants the upcoming tournament to be the biggest held in the country. It will also be the sport’s biggest event since the Chennai Chess Olympiad in 2022. This is also the event where Viswanathan Anand went on to win his fifth title when India last hosted the tournament in Hyderabad in 2002.
There will also be a separate event for the female players as part of the FIDE Women’s World Cup 2025, which has been confirmed by the global body and will be held at Batumi, Georgia, in July later this year.
Currently, India’s top chess players like Gukesh, Praggnandhaa, Erigaisi, and others have completed the third round of the Tata Steel Chess Championship 2025.
