The FIDE Chess World Cup 2025 is taking place in Goa, India, from October 31 to November 27. World champion D Gukesh enters as the top seed, leading a strong 24-member Indian contingent.Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanandhaa are seeded second and third, respectively. The tournament includes wildcard entry Divya Deshmukh representing India.Defending champion Magnus Carlsen has opted to skip this year’s tournament. This biennial event offers qualifying spots for the Candidates 2026 tournament, with the top three players advancing to compete for a chance to challenge Gukesh for the World Championship.
The tournament follows an eight-round knockout format. The top 50 seeded players receive automatic byes to the second round, while the semifinal losers compete for third place.Each round consists of two classical time control games over the first two days. Players receive 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by an additional 30 minutes for the remainder, with a 30-second increment per move.If needed, rapid format tie-breaks will be played on the third day. This three-day structure applies to all rounds throughout the tournament.
FIDE Chess World Cup Live Streaming : When and where to watch?
- The matches will take place at Resort Rio in North Goa, with daily start times set for 3 PM IST
- While there will be no television broadcast in India,
chess enthusiasts can follow the tournament through live streaming on FIDE’s official YouTube channel - The tournament schedule spans eight rounds: Round 1 (November 1-2), Round 2 (November 4-6), Round 3 (November 7-9), Round 4 (November 11-13), Round 5 (November 14-16), Quarterfinals (November 17-19), Semifinals (November 21-23), and Finals (November 24-26).
The Indian contingent features prominent players including D Gukesh (Seed 1), Arjun Erigaisi (Seed 2), R Praggnanandhaa (Seed 3), Vidit Gujrathi (Seed 19), and Aravindh Chithambaram (Seed 20).Additional Indian participants include Nihal Sarin (Seed 22), Pentala Harikrishna (Seed 24), Karthikeyan Murali (Seed 38), Pranav V (Seed 60), and Sadhwani Raunak (Seed 62).The roster continues with Pranesh M (Seed 70), Mendonca Leon Luke (Seed 78), Narayanan SL (Seed 81), Iniyan Pa (Seed 92), and Karthik Venkataraman (Seed 109).Completing the Indian lineup are Diptayan Ghosh (Seed 117), Ganguly Surya Shekhar (Seed 118), Raja Rithvik R (Seed 129), Aronyak Ghosh (Seed 143), and Lalit Baby MR (Seed 149).The final entries include wildcard Divya Deshmukh (Seed 150), Gusain Himal (Seed 159), Harshavardhan GB (Seed 160), and Neelash Saha (Seed 163).ALSO READ: Pranesh M, son of anganwadi worker, carrying hopes of India’s record contingent at Chess World Cup
