India will host the FIDE World Cup 2025 in the state of Goa for the second time from October 30 to November 27, 2025. Earlier, India hosted the World Cup in Hyderabad in 2002, when Viswanathan Anand became the champion.

Goa will host the FIDE World Cup 2025 from October 30 to November 27, 2025. In this prestigious event organized by the International Chess Federation (FIDE), 206 top players from more than 90 countries will come together to compete for a prize fund of 2 million dollars and three prestigious spots in the 2026 Candidates Tournament.
This event will be based on an eight-round knockout format, in which the top 50 players will begin their campaign from the second round. Each match will have two classical games, followed by rapid and blitz tie-breaks if necessary.

India hosts the World Cup for the second time

This is the second time India is hosting the World Cup. India hosted the World Cup in Hyderabad in 2002, when Viswanathan Anand became the champion. Since then, Indian chess has become much stronger and players like World Champion D. Gukesh, R. Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi will be contenders for the title in the World Cup.
The last major FIDE event in the country was the 2022 Chess Olympiad, which was a great success in Mamallapuram near Chennai.

FIDE World Championship 2024

The final match of the FIDE World Championship 2024 in Singapore was the first such match in 138 years in which two competitors from Asia, the reigning world champion, Ding Liren of China and the challenger from India, Dommaraju Gukesh, competed for the title and a prize fund of 2.5 million US dollars. D. Gukesh was crowned the 18th FIDE World Champion.
India has recently hosted several major events, including the 2022 Chess Olympiad, Tata Steel Chess India, the 2024 World Junior Under-20 Championship and the fifth leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix this April.