FIDE allots chess World Cup to India, Goa Or Ahmedabad likely to be host city
The All India Chess Federation (AICF) won the bid to host the World Cup after a gap of 23 years, but the infighting among officials delayed the announcement of the city where the world's best players will battle for the coveted title and three qualification spots for the 2026 Chess Candidates Tournament.
TOI has learnt that the 29-day event will be staged either in Goa or Ahmedabad. An AICF official said, "Having won the bid, we will start the process of approval from the govt. Once that is done, we will soon announce the host city. Both Goa and Ahmedabad are interested in playing host to the world's top players. Everything will be finalised in our next executive meeting."
New Delhi had hosted the knockout world championship in 2000 but the title clash was staged in Tehran.
Hyderabad then hosted the eight-player World Cups (both Open and women) in 2002 when it was played in group-cum-knockout format.
In a statement, FIDE said: "The 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."
A handful of Indian players will take part in the eight-round knockout tournament. Every round will be played for three days — two classical games on the initial two days, followed by rapid and blitz tiebreaks. The top 50 rated players will take part from the second round while players seeded from 51 to 206 will compete in the opening round.
As per the June rating list, as many as 20 Indian players including world champion D Gukesh have already qualified to participate in the World Cup.
FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky said, "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."
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