The Global Chess body, Federation Internationale des Echecs (FIDE), confirmed that India will host the chess World Cup later this year. The announcement is indeed another milestone for India’s growing milestone and exceptional achievements in the domain of world chess.
The Chess World Cup will be hosted in India from October 30 to November 27. In the knock-out tournament, a total of 206 players will compete. The top three finishers of the 2025 World Cup will earn direct qualification for the 2026 tournament. All India Chess Federation Secretary Dev Patel said, “We are considering a few cities to host the event and we will soon make the announcement.”
The CEO of the Global chess body, Emil Sutovsky, reiterated, “FIDE was thrilled to bring the World Cup to India, a country with a deep-rooted passion and support for chess. Indian chess fans’ enthusiasm has always been great. Thus, to enhance the fans’ experience, FIDE is committed to organising numerous side events, featuring tournament participants and chess legends,” the CEO added.
India is hosting the Chess World Cup for the second time. The last time India hosted the tournament was in 2002 at Hyderabad and the chess legend Viswanathan Anand emerged as the champion. Among the leading names who might compete as the representatives of their home country in this year’s tournament are D. Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi. The champion of the previous edition, Magnus Carlsen, has also been qualified for the 2025 tournament.
Latest Milestones of India in Chess
From Viswanathan Anand to Gukesh D., the Indian Chess ecosystem has grown by leaps and bounds over the years. With startling performances and gaining key titles, today the Indian chess fraternity has grabbed global attention and appreciation. 2024 was truly India’s year in chess. In the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad held in Budapest, Hungary both the Indian men and women’s chess teams won gold medals. In a historic victory, D. Gukesh became the youngest World Chess Champion by defeating China’s Ding Liren in the World Chess Championship held in Singapore.
Recently, Praggnananddhaa emerged as India’s No.1 chess player in the aftermath of winning the UzChess Cup Masters. He surpassed the world champion D. Gukesh in live classical ratings and is currently ranked sixth best player in the world. Similarly, Vaishali Rameshbabu emerged as the first Indian woman to become a grandmaster and also won a bronze medal in the 2024 Women’s World Blitz Chess Championship.
In an era of India’s unprecedented performance and growth in the domain of chess, the country hosting the 2025 chess World Cup is a remarkable milestone in the country’s chess history and is a symbol of India’s soft power potential as well. India, being home to globally top-ranking chess players, the tournament will indeed be a feast to the chess enthusiasts.
