Bengaluru: Goa is likely to be announced as the host of the Chess World Cup, scheduled to take place in India later this year, HT has learnt.
The October 31-November 27 tournament was originally supposed to be held in New Delhi.
HT understands that after concerns over Delhi hosting the event arose, Chandigarh, Jaipur and Goa were considered as alternate venue options. Goa has now emerged as the preferred choice.
“There are some opinions from players and the chess community. Many players (had) different places, and I told them that let’s try to do something new. Not repeating New Delhi, but doing it in some new location. So why not? It is good,” Fide president Arkady Dvorkovich told reporters in Stavanger a few days ago.
India previously hosted a Fide World Cup over two decades ago. Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand had won that edition held in Hyderabad in 2002.
One of Fide’s flagship competitions, the World Cup, a knockout tournament held once every two years, will have 206 players participating.
With a prize fund of around $2 million, the World Cup that Goa is set to host is particularly significant for the World Championship cycle.
So far only one player – Fabiano Caruana of USA, has booked a spot in next year’s eight-player, double round-robin Candidates tournament that will decide the challenger to reigning world champion Gukesh in the 2026 match.
Of the seven remaining spots, three will be decided at the World Cup and will go to players who finish in the top three. In the previous edition of the World Cup held in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 2023, R Praggnanandhaa had made a historic run to the final – the first Indian player to do so after Anand. He lost to eventual champion, world No 1 Carlsen but had earned a spot in the Candidates for his performance.