FIDE Chess World Cup 2025 Round 1 Preview: Pairings, Live Streaming - All You Need To Know

The new trophy of the FIDE Chess World Cup, being held in Panjim, was on Friday (October 31, 2025) christened as the Viswanathan Anand trophy, in honour of the five-time world champion Indian legend.

The trophy, made of brass and gold-plated, was unveiled during a colourful opening ceremony which was attended by Union sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant and FIDE chief Arkady Dvorkovich.

The rolling trophy will be passed on to future champions of the FIDE World Cup.

After a colourful ceremony which showcased Goa’s rich culture, and the 'Spirit and Story of Chess', the tournament was officially declared open by Prime Minister Narendra Modi through a letter read out by All India Chess Federation president Nitin Narang.

"...As the Chess World Cup returns to the 'home of chess', it feels as though the game has come full circle. India’s growing role as a host to major international sporting events continues and augurs well for both India and the world. I declare the FIDE Chess World Cup 2025 open," the PM said in his message.

The USD 2 million prize money tournament, commencing Saturday, will feature 206 players from 82 countries vying for the coveted title and three spots for Candidates 2026: the gateway to the next World Championship match.

World Women Chess Cup title holder Divya Deshmukh performed the draw of colours ceremony for the players in Round 1.

Since she picked black for number one player, India's D Gukesh, all odd number players will begin with black pieces in their matches on Saturday.

"The last time India hosted the FIDE World Cup we had less than 10 Grandmasters. Now we have 90 and India holds the Olympiad titles in both open and women category and the Women’s World Cup title won by Divya Deshmukh," Mandaviya said while addressing the gathering.

"India has come a long way in these 23 years and I am confident that hosting this world cup will only help us produce more champions in the future." AICF chief Narang said he's extremely proud and delighted to announce the Viswanathan Anand Cup, the FIDE World Cup (Open) Winner’s Running Trophy, instituted in honour of the "King of Chess and India’s first Grandmaster, Shri Viswanathan Anand".

The World Cup will be an eight-round, single-elimination knockout event, where each match consists of two classical games played under standard time controls.

If the score is tied after those, the players return on the third day for a series of rapid and blitz tie-breaks to decide who advances.

The top 50 seeds -- comprising many of the world's highest-rated Grandmasters -- receive byes into the second round, while the remaining 156 competitors begin their campaigns on November 1.

Reigning world champion, India's D Gukesh, has been seeded straight into round two.

According to the tournament format, the top 50 players have received a bye in the opening round.

Turkey’s GM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus will be the highest ranked player in the opening round and will take on the lowest-ranked player in the tournament, CM Nagi Abugenda of Libya.

Among the Indians, reigning world junior champion Pranav V will be the highest rated player in action in Round 1.

He will face Ala Eddine Boulrens of Algeria.

Top seed and world champion D Gukesh, second seed Arjun Erigaisi, last edition runner-up R Praggnanandhaa will only be seen in action from November 4.

This is the first time since 2002 that the FIDE World Cup is being held in India.

On that occasion, Anand had defeated Rustam Kasimdzhanov in the two-game final in Hyderabad.

More than two decades later, India boast of a young world champion in Gukesh, Olympiad team titles in both the Open and women's sections, and Divya Deshmukh, the current Women's World Cup winner and the only female participant in this year's World Cup.

FIDE World Chess Cup 2025: Round 1 Pairings

Check out the round one pairings for Indian players below:

Raja Rithvik R - Kazybek Nogerbek

Harshavardhan GB - Mustafa Yilmaz

SL Narayanan - Steven Rojas Salas

Pranav Venkatesh - Ala Eddine Boulrens

Iniyan Pa - Dylan Isidro Berdayes Ason

Lalit Rohit - Max Warmerdam

Diptayan Ghosh - Xiongjian Peng

Karthik Venkataraman - Roberto Garcia Pantoja

Raunak Sadhwani - Daniel Barrish

Neelash Saha - Georg Meier

Leon Luke Mendonca - Shixu Wang B

Surya Sekhar Ganguly - Ahmad Ahmadzada

Divya Deshmukh - Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis

Pranesh M - Satbek Akhmedinov

Aronyak Ghosh - Mateusz Bartel

Himal Gusain - Andy Woodward

For the full list of round one pairings and results, click HERE.

FIDE World Chess Cup 2025 Round 1: Live Streaming Details

When and where will the FIDE World Chess Cup 2025 round one be held?

The FIDE World Chess Cup 2025 round one will take place at Resort Rio in Goa from November 1 to 3, starting at 3pm IST every day.

Where will the FIDE World Chess Cup 2025 round one be telecast and live streamed?

The FIDE World Chess Cup 2025 round one will be live streamed on FIDE's official YouTube channel and chess.com. It will not be telecast on any platform in the country.

(With PTI inputs)