Panaji, Oct 30 (NationPress) A formidable Indian team, spearheaded by World Champion Grandmaster Gukesh Dommaraju, along with the entire squad that triumphed at the Olympiad, is set to reaffirm the nation's dominance on the global chess stage as they vie for the prestigious FIDE World Cup 2025 title starting this Saturday.

The FIDE World Cup, recognized as one of the most esteemed chess tournaments worldwide, returns to India after a 23-year hiatus. Over these two decades, Indian chess has flourished, with the nation now proudly hosting over 85 Grandmasters—almost eight times the number present during the last World Cup held in India.

In this edition, GM Gukesh Dommaraju, GM Arjun Erigaisi, and GM R Praggnanandhaa have earned the top three seedings, while every tenth participant in this 206-player lineup is from India. Dutch GM Anish Giri ranks as the highest-seeded international player at number four.

Only past champion Levon Aronian from the USA, seeded 15th, will compete among previous winners in Goa. Notably, reigning champion GM Magnus Carlsen will not defend his title, and 2021 victor GM Jan-Krzystof Duda of Poland has also withdrawn.

The FIDE World Cup 2025 features a prize pool of $2,000,000 and utilizes a knockout format, where each round consists of two classical matches followed by a tiebreaker if necessary. The tiebreaker will include two rapid games, and if a winner is still undecided, an Armageddon match will determine the outcome.

This event grants three spots for the Candidates 2026, which will establish Gukesh's challenger for the upcoming World Championship cycle.

Among the competitors, GM Anish Giri and GM Matthias Bluebaum from Germany have already secured their places in the Candidates via the FIDE Swiss Tour. If they or Gukesh finish in the top three, the Candidates slot will transfer to the next highest-ranked player.

Legendary player Viswanathan Anand clinched victories in the first two World Cup editions held in Shenyang, China, and Hyderabad, India, both of which utilized a round-robin combined with knockout format.

Since 2005, the World Cup has adopted a single-elimination system, increasing the number of players to 206 since 2021, with the top 50 players receiving a bye in the initial round.

Third seed Praggnanandhaa, who reached the finals in the last edition in 2023, aims to advance even further on home soil. His initial match is likely against 126th-ranked Jan Subelj of Slovakia in the second round, with Raunak Sadhwani as a potential third-round adversary.

Gukesh's second-round opponent is expected to be Kazybek Nogerbek from Kazakhstan, while Arjun might face Krikor Mekhitarian from Brazil at the same phase.

In addition to this trio, India's aspirations will also depend on Vidit Gujrathi, P Harikrishna, Aravindh Chithambaram, Nihal Sarin, Karthikeyan Murali, and others, who will all enter the fray in the second round.

Divya Deshmukh, reigning FIDE Women’s World Cup champion, is the sole female participant after receiving a wild card entry. The Nagpur-born talent will commence her journey against Greek GM Stamatis Kourkoulos Arditis, and if successful, she will meet compatriot Nihal Sarin in the subsequent round.

The youngest competitor is Argentinian prodigy Faustino Oro, who turned 12 just two weeks before the competition and will face Croatian GM Ante Brkic in his opening match. Having already earned one Grandmaster Norm, Oro could accelerate his path to becoming a GM if he reaches the Round of 16.

Among the 30 teenagers in the tournament, Igor Efimov, the eldest participant at 65, originally from Georgia and now representing Monaco, qualified by winning the 2024 Small Nations Open Championships and will contend with Turkish GM Ediz Gurel, who is 49 years his junior.

Every player eliminated in the first round will receive $3500, while the champion will walk away with a grand prize of $120,000.