Chess World Cup 2025

FIDE Chess World Cup 2025

Tournament information
Sport	Chess
Location	Goa, India
Dates	31 October 2025–27 November 2025
Administrator	FIDE
Tournament format(s)	Single-elimination tournament
Host(s)	All India Chess Federation
Participants	206
←  2023 2027 →

The Chess World Cup 2025 is an upcoming 206-player, single-elimination chess tournament that will take place in Goa, India from 31 October to 27 November 2025. ^{[1] [2] [3]} It will be the 11th edition of the Chess World Cup. The winner, runner-up, and third place finisher will earn the right to play in the Candidates Tournament 2026. This edition is the first since the inaugural Women's Chess World Cup in 2021 that will not be held in parallel with the women's event, which was instead held in Georgia earlier in the year. ^[4]

Magnus Carlsen is the defending champion, having beaten R Praggnanandhaa in the 2023 final. ^[5]

Format

The tournament will be an eight-round knockout event, with the top 50 seeds given a bye into the second round. The losers of the two semi-finals will play a match for third place. The players who finish first, second, and third will qualify for the Candidates Tournament 2026, a tournament to decide the challenger for the upcoming World Championship. ^{[6] [7]}

Each round will consist of classical time limit games on the first two days, plus tie-breaks on the third day if they are required. The time limits are as follows:

Two classical time limit games consisting of 90 minutes each side for the first 40 moves, then 30 extra minutes for the rest of the game, plus a 30-second increment per move starting from move 1. If necessary, rapid format tie-breaks will be conducted on the third day of each round. ^[6]

Schedule

Each round will last three days: two for classical time control games and a third, if necessary, for tie-breaks. Rounds 1 to 3 will run from 1 to 9 November; 10 November is a rest day; Rounds 4 to 6 will run from 11 to 19 November; 20 November is a rest day; and the last two rounds will run from 21 to 26 November.

Prize money

The total prize fund is US$2,000,000, with the first prize of US$120,000.

Prize money in US dollars

Ranking	Prizes	Total
Eliminated in Round 1	78 × 3,500	273,000
Eliminated in Round 2	64 × 7,000	448,000
Eliminated in Round 3	32 × 11,000	352,000
Eliminated in Round 4	16 × 17,000	272,000
Eliminated in Round 5	8 × 25,000	200,000
Eliminated in Round 6	4 × 35,000	140,000
4th place	1 × 50,000	50,000
3rd place	1 × 60,000	60,000
Runner-up	1 × 85,000	85,000
Winner	1 × 120,000	120,000
Total		2,000,000

Participants

The participants will be seeded according to their last FIDE rating before the pairings are announced, except for Gukesh D, who will be seeded first as the reigning World Chess Champion. The current qualifiers, sorted by their FIDE rating of July 2025, are the following: (All players are grandmasters unless indicated otherwise.) ^[8]

1.   Gukesh Dommaraju  (IND), 2776 (World Champion)
2.   Magnus Carlsen  (NOR), 2839 (WC)
3.   Hikaru Nakamura  (USA), 2807 (R)
4.   Fabiano Caruana  (USA), 2784 (WC)
5.   R Praggnanandhaa  (IND), 2779 (WC)
6.   Arjun Erigaisi  (IND), 2776 (R)
7.   Nodirbek Abdusattorov  (UZB), 2771 (R)
8.   Alireza Firouzja  (FRA), 2766 (R)
9.   Wei Yi  (CHN), 2748 (R)
10.   Anish Giri  (NED), 2748 (R)
11.   Shakhriyar Mamedyarov  (AZE), 2746 (R)
12.   Wesley So  (USA), 2745 (R)
13.   Viswanathan Anand  (IND), 2743 (R)
14.   Ian Nepomniachtchi  (FIDE), 2742 (R)
15.   Levon Aronian  (USA), 2742 (Z2.1)
16.   Vladimir Fedoseev  (SLO), 2739 (E24)
17.   Leinier Domínguez  (USA), 2738 (Z2.1)
18.   Maxime Vachier-Lagrave  (FRA), 2736 (R)
19.   Hans Niemann  (USA), 2736 (R)
20.   Vincent Keymer  (GER), 2730 (FN)
21.   Lê Quang Liêm  (VIE), 2729 (FN)
22.   Aravindh Chithambaram  (IND), 2724 (R)
23.   Javokhir Sindarov  (UZB), 2722 (FN)
24.   Vidit Gujrathi  (IND), 2720 (FN)
25.   Richard Rapport  (HUN), 2715 (FN)
26.   Jorden van Foreest  (NED), 2698 (E25)
27.   Parham Maghsoodloo  (IRI), 2695 (FN)
28.   Awonder Liang  (USA), 2693 (Z2.1)
29.   Nihal Sarin  (IND), 2692 (AS25)
30.   Daniil Dubov  (FIDE), 2691 (Z3.8)
31.   Ray Robson  (USA), 2687 (Z2.1)
32.   Alexey Sarana  (SER), 2686 (FN)
33.   Samuel Sevian  (USA), 2683 (Z2.1)
34.   Andrey Esipenko  (FIDE), 2679 (Z3.8)
35.   Bogdan-Daniel Deac  (ROU), 2674 (E24)
36.   Thai Dai Van Nguyen  (CZE), 2674 (FN)
37.   Vladislav Artemiev  (FIDE), 2672 (Z3.8)
38.   Nikita Vitiugov  (ENG), 2671 (E24)
39.   Sam Shankland  (USA), 2670 (AM25)
40.   Shant Sargsyan  (ARM), 2669 (E25)
41.   David Navara  (CZE), 2662 (E25)
42.   Aleksandar Inđić  (SRB), 2661 (E24)
43.   Ivan Šarić  (CRO), 2661 (E25)
44.   Matthias Blübaum  (GER), 2660 (E25)
45.   Grigoriy Oparin  (USA), 2660 (FN)
46.   Frederik Svane  (GER), 2659 (E24)
47.   Rauf Mamedov  (AZE), 2659 (E24)
48.   Michael Adams  (ENG), 2654 (FN)
49.   Ediz Gürel  (TUR), 2652 (E25)
50.   Radoslaw Wojtaszek  (POL), 2651 (FN)
51.   Shamsiddin Vokhidov  (UZB), 2650 (AS25)
52.   Karthikeyan Murali  (IND), 2650 (AS25)
53.   Benjamin Gledura  (HUN), 2648 (E25)
54.   Daniil Yuffa  (ESP), 2647 (E24)
55.   Jeffery Xiong  (USA), 2646 (AM24)
56.   Maxim Rodshtein  (ISR), 2645 (E25)
57.   Johan-Sebastian Christiansen  (NOR), 2642 (FN)
58.   Vasily Ivanchuk  (UKR), 2641 (FN)
59.   Bardiya Daneshvar  (IRI), 2640 (Z3.1)
60.   Velimir Ivić  (SRB), 2639 (E24)
61.   Aryan Tari  (NOR), 2636 (E25)
62.   Bassem Amin  (EGY), 2633 (AF24)
63.   Étienne Bacrot  (FRA), 2631 (FN)
64.   Ivan Cheparinov  (BUL), 2630 (E24)
65.   Robert Hovhannisyan  (ARM), 2629 (E24)
66.   Maksim Chigaev  (ESP), 2628 (E24)
67.   Haik Martirosyan  (ARM), 2628 (E25)
68.   Daniel Dardha  (BEL), 2627 (E24)
69.   Salem Saleh  (UAE), 2627 (FN)
70.   Gabriel Sargissian  (ARM), 2626 (E24)
71.   Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus  (TUR), 2626 (E25)
72.   Nikolas Theodorou  (GRE), 2625 (FN)
73.   David Antón Guijarro  (ESP), 2625 (FN)
74.   José Martínez Alcántara  (MEX), 2622 (AM25)
75.   Rasmus Svane  (GER), 2619 (E24)
76.   Maxime Lagarde  (FRA), 2618 (E25)
77.   Max Warmerdam  (NED), 2618 (FN)
78.   Evgeniy Najer  (FIDE), 2614 (Z3.8)
79.   Alexander Donchenko  (GER), 2608 (E24)
80.   Baadur Jobava  (GEO), 2605 (E25)
81.   Arseniy Nesterov  (FIDE), 2601 (Z3.8)
82.   Cristobal Henriquez Villagra  (CHI), 2599 (AM24)
83.   Ivan Zemlyanskii  (FIDE), 2599 (AS25)
84.   Jorge Cori  (PER), 2599 (FN)
85.   S L Narayanan  (IND), 2597 (AS25)
86.   Alexander Motylev  (ROU), 2595 (E24)
87.   Ante Brkić  (CRO), 2594 (FN)
88.   Pouya Idani  (IRI), 2593 (Z3.1)
89.   Pranesh M  (IND), 2592 (AS25)
90.   Niclas Huschenbeth  (GER), 2591 (E25)
91.   Ahmed Adly  (EGY), 2589 (AF25)
92.   Mustafa Yilmaz  (TUR), 2586 (FN)
93.   Arturs Neiksans  (LAT), 2584 (FN)
94.   Mateusz Bartel  (POL), 2581 (E24)
95.   Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis  (GRE), 2580 (E25)
96.   Tin Jingyao  (SGP), 2579 (Z3.3)
97.   Nijat Abasov  (AZE), 2578 (WC)
98.   Constantin Lupulescu  (ROU), 2578 (E24)
99.   Diptayan Ghosh  (IND), 2576 (Z3.7)
100.   Nikita Petrov  (MNE), 2576 (FN)
101.   Kacper Piorun  (POL), 2575 (E24)
102.   Gergely Kantor  (HUN), 2573 (E25)
103.   Luis Paulo Supi  (BRA), 2573 (FN)
104.   Bai Jinshi  (CHN), 2571 (Z3.5)
105.   Ju Wenjun  (CHN), 2570 (WWC)
106.   Surya Shekhar Ganguly  (IND), 2566 (Z3.7)
107.   Krikor Mekhitarian  (BRA), 2564 (Z2.4)
108.   Alexandr Fier  (BRA), 2562 (AM25)
109.   P Iniyan  (IND), 2558 (AS25)
110.   Raja Rithvik R  (IND), 2557 (AS25)
111.   Vladislav Kovalev  (FIDE), 2557 (E24)
112.   Lorenzo Lodici  (ITA), 2554 (FN)
113.   Titas Stremavičius  (LTU), 2549 (FN)
114.   Jan Šubelj  (SLO), 2549 (FN)
115.   Sergei Lobanov  (FIDE), 2548 (AS25)
116.   Sebastian Bogner  (SUI), 2543 (FN)
117.   Emre Can  (TUR), 2542 (E24)
118.   Ahmad Ahmadzada  (AZE), 2541 (E25)
119.   Diego Flores  (ARG), 2541 (FN)
120.   Kazybek Nogerbek  (KAZ), 2540 (U20)
121.   Karthik Venkataraman  (IND), 2540 (Z3.7)
122.   Paul Velten  (FRA), 2536 (E25)
123.   Temur Kuybokarov  (AUS), 2535 (Z3.6)
124.   Denis Makhnev  (KAZ), 2535 (FN)
125.   Martin Petrov  (BUL), 2534 (FN)
126.   Jose Cardoso Cardoso  (COL), 2532 (AM25)
127.   Read Samadov  (AZE), IM, 2522 (E25)
128.   Peng Xiongjian  (CHN), 2520 (Z3.5)
129.   Felix Blohberger  (AUT), 2516 (FN)
130.   Aronyak Ghosh  (IND), IM, 2514 (Z3.7)
131.   Bojan Maksimović  (BIH), 2514 (FN)
132.   Jegor Lashkin  (MDA), 2514 (FN)
133.   Bilel Bellahcene  (ALG), 2513 (AF25)
134.   Roberto Garcia Pantoja  (COL), 2512 (AM24)
135.   Lalit Babu MR  (IND), 2512 (Z3.7)
136.   Kirk Ghazarian  (USA), 2511 (AM24)
137.   Mircea-Emilian Parligras  (ROU), 2505 (FN)
138.   Saparmyrat Atabayev  (TKM), 2505 (FN)
139.   Karen H Grigoryan  (ARM), 2502 (FN)
140.   Adham Fawzy  (EGY), 2498 (FN)
141.   Alisher Suleymenov  (KAZ), 2497 (Z3.4)
142.   Sion Galaviz  (MEX), IM, 2494 (Z2.3.1)
143.   Santiago Avila Pavas  (COL), 2490 (FN)
144.   Aldiyar Ansat  (KAZ), IM, 2489 (Z3.4)
145.   Dylan Isidro Berdayes Ason  (CUB), 2488 (FN)
146.   Himal Gusain  (IND), IM, 2477 (Z3.7)
147.   Mukhammadzokhid Suyarov  (UZB), IM, 2473 (Z3.4)
148.   Neelash Saha  (IND), IM, 2466 (Z3.7)
149.   Kevin Cori Quispe  (MEX), 2461 (FN)
150.   Jagadeesh Siddharth  (SGP), 2459 (FN)
151.   G B Harshavardhan  (IND), IM, 2454 (AS25)
152.   Wang Shixu  (CHN), IM, 2452 (Z3.5)
153.   Fy Antenaina Rakotomaharo  (MAD), 2450 (FN)
154.   Pablo Salinas Herrera  (CHI), 2435 (FN)
155.   Tran Thanh Tu  (JPN), IM, 2430 (FN)
156.   Ganzorig Amartuvshin  (MGL), IM, 2430 (FN)
157.   Steven Rojas  (PER), IM, 2425 (Z2.4)
158.   Facundo Vazquez  (URU), IM, 2417 (Z2.5)
159.   Mohammad Fahad Rahman  (BAN), IM, 2416 (FN)
160.   Ranindu Liyanage  (SRI), IM, 2410 (FN)
161.   Ilan Schnaider  (ARG), IM, 2404 (Z2.5)
162.   Shiyam Thavandiran  (CAN), IM, 2398 (Z2.2)
163.   Angel Cordova Roa  (COL), FM, 2396 (Z2.3.2)
164.   Uurtsaikh Agibileg  (MGL), IM, 2380 (Z3.3)
165.   Farai Mandizha  (ZIM), IM, 2375 (FN)
166.   Manon Reja Neer  (BAN), IM, 2373 (Z3.2)
167.   Satbek Akhmedinov  (KAZ), IM, 2365 (Z3.4)
168.   Chitumbo Mwali  (ZAM), IM, 2365 (FN)
169.   Felix Xie  (NZL), FM, 2365 (FN)
170.   Igor Efimov  (MCO), 2326 (Z1.10)
171.   Jaloliddin Ilkhomi  (TJK), FM, 2315 (FN)
172.   Orlando Husbands  (BAR), IM, 2291 (Z2.3.3)
173.   Daniel Barrish  (RSA), FM, 2284
174.   Bomo Kigigha  (NGR), FM, 2263 (FN)
175.   Akar Ali Salih Salih  (IRQ), FM, 2212 (FN)
176.   Zoubaier Amdouni  (TUN), FM, 2186 (FN)
177.   Mohamed Allam  (PLE), CM, 2100 (FN)

Qualifier explanation

The following 206 players qualified, or will qualify, for the World Cup: ^[6]

• The world chess champion as of 1 June 2025
• The women's world chess champion as of 1 June 2025 (WWC)
• The top four players in the Chess World Cup 2023 (WC)
• The 2024 World Junior Champion U20 (U20)
• 100 players qualifying from Continental and Zonal events:
  • Europe (30+11) including European Championships 2024 (E24, 20) and 2025 (E25, 20), and Zonal 1.10 (Z1.10, 1)
  • Americas (12+9) including American Continental Championships 2024 (AM24, 4) and 2025 (AM25, 4), and Zonals 2.1 (Z2.1, 5), 2.2 (Z2.2, 1), 2.3.1 (Z2.3.1, 1), 2.3.2 (Z2.3.2, 1), 2.3.3 (Z2.3.3, 1), 2.4 (Z2.4, 2), and 2.5 (Z2.5, 2)
  • Asia (35) including Asian Championships 2025 (AS25, 10), and Zonals 3.1 (Z3.1, 2), 3.2 (Z3.2, 1), 3.3 (Z3.3, 2), 3.4 (Z3.4, 4), 3.5 (Z3.5, 3), 3.6 (Z3.6, 1), 3.7 (Z3.7, 7), and 3.8 (Z3.8, 5)
  • Africa (3) including African Championships 2024 (AF24, 1) and 2025 (AF25, 2)
• The 13 highest rated players from the June 2025 FIDE World Rankings ^[a] (R)
• 80 federation spots selected according to the final standings of the 45th Chess Olympiad (FN) ^[9]
• 4 nominees of the FIDE president (PN)
• 2 nominees of the organiser (ON)

Notes

1. Players who appear inactive at least once in the 6 FIDE rating lists from January to June 2025 are not eligible.

References

1. "India to host FIDE World Cup in 2025; three Candidates spots up for grabs". The Indian Express. 22 January 2025. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
2. "FIDE World Cup to take place in India". Chess News. 23 July 2025. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
3. "FIDE World Cup 2025 heads to Goa, India". fide.com. 26 August 2025. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
4. "India to Host FIDE Chess World Cup 2025, Marking a Major Milestone". 23 January 2025. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
5. Selkirk (beccrajoy), Rebecca (24 August 2023). "FIDE World Chess Cup (Final): Carlsen Wins, Caruana Places 3rd". Chess.com. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
6. "2025 World Cup regulations, FIDE" (PDF).
7. "FIDE World Championship Cycle". International Chess Federation (FIDE). Retrieved 26 August 2025.
8. "Participants – FIDE World Cup 2025" . Retrieved 26 August 2025.
9. "Olympiad qualification spots for 2025 World Cup and Women's World Cup announced".