FIDE Chess World Cup 2025 Round 1 Game 1 LIVE Updates: Follow Indians in action in Goa. (Photo: Michal Walusza/FIDE)FIDE Chess World Cup 2025 Round 1 Results and Standings Highlights: The FIDE Chess World Cup 2025 is underway at the Resort Rio in North Goa, with the Round 1 Game 1 matches to be played on Saturday. The showpiece event has returned to Indian soil after 23 years. The 11th edition will feature 206 top players from around the world competing against one another, and the tournament will conclude on November 27.
FIDE CHESS WORLD CUP 2025 ROUND 1 GAME 1: LIVE STREAMING CHECK HERE
D. Gukesh, who became the World Champion earlier this year, will make his first appearance and is one of the top-seeded players. Additionally, R. Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Vidit Gujrathi, Pentala Harikrishna, and Nihal Sarin will also be part of the Indian contingent. Reigning Women’s World Cup champion Divya Deshmukh is the only female player to have received a wild card, awarded for her extraordinary recent performances.
An unprecedented 24 Indians will take part in this prestigious biennial event. The top 50 seeded players, which includes eight Indians, have received byes for the opening round. As a result, the remaining 16 Indian players will be in action from the start.
The top three finishers in the competition will earn spots in the 2026 Candidates Tournament.
You can check out the move-by-move action from Chess World Cup and also play along in the interactive below. For all our live updates straight from Amit Kamath from Arpora, Goa, in real time, scroll down.
SCROLL DOWN TO CATCH ALL THE LIVE UPDATES OF FIDE World Cup 2025 ROUND 1 GAME 1 FROM GOA
Round 1 | Top Results | 2025 FIDE World Cup
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) November 1, 2025
Find pairings here: https://t.co/KoEE0LdcNb#fideworldcup pic.twitter.com/uIlouwNIDm
Pranav V (2641) 1-0 vs Ala Eddine Boulrens (2214) - WIN
Raunak Sadhwani (2641) ½-½ vs Daniel Barrish (2284) - DRAW
M Pranesh (2630) 1-0 vs Satbek Akhmedinov (2372) - WIN
Leon Luke Mendonca (2620) ½-½ vs Shixu B Wang (2402) - DRAW
S L Narayanan (2617) ½-½ vs Steven Rojas Salas (2413) - DRAW
Pa Iniyan (2599) 1-0 vs Dylan Isidro Berdayes Ason (2453) - WIN
G B Harshavardhan (2476) 0-1 vs Mustafa Yilmaz (2591) - LOSS
Himal Gusain (2476) 0-1 vs Andy Woodward (2557) - LOSS
M R Lalit Babu (2502) ½-½ vs Max Warmerdam (2591) - DRAW
Divya Deshmukh (2498) 0-1 vs Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis (2583) - LOSS
Neelash Saha (2466) 0-1 vs Georg Meier (2596) - LOSS
Karthik Venkataraman (2579) ½-½ vs Roberto Garcia Pantoja (2502) - DRAW
Ghosh Aronyak (2514) 0-1 vs Mateusz Bartel (2581) - LOSS
Diptayan Ghosh (2573) ½-½ vs Xiongjian Peng (2521) - DRAW
Surya Shekhar Ganguly (2573) 1-0 vs Ahmad Ahmadzada (2523) - WIN
Rithvik R Raja (2541) ½-½ vs Kazybek Nogerbek (2543) - DRAW
Diptayan Ghosh and Lalit Babu MR have drawn their respective games. While Ghosh was pitted against China's Peng Xiongjian, Lalit played Dutch GM Max Warmerdam.
Turkish GM Mustafa Yılmaz has beaten Indian IM Harshvardhan GB in their Game 1 Round 1 clash.
Turkish teenage sensation Erdogmus Yagiz Kaan won his opening round after checkmating his opponent Abugenda Nagi in just 17 moves. He speaks about his future goals. Watch
The youngest GM in the world Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş 🇹🇷 shared his goals with us! #fideworldcup pic.twitter.com/S8bCOimq8C
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) November 1, 2025
Pa Iniyan turned out to be too good to handle for Cuban GM Berdayes Ason Dylan Isidro as the Tamil Nadu GM starts with a clean win.
IM Aronyak Ghosh, who was playing with dark pieces, has been handed a defeat by Polish GM Bartel Mateusz.
Local boy Luke Leon Mendonca draws with China's IM Wang Shixu B in their game.
Another win for an Indian, as Pranesh M has beaten Kazakhstan’s IM Akhmedinov Satbek with white pieces.
Raunak Sadhwani, who was under some sort of pressure against South African IM Daniel Barrish, has managed to hold his opponent to a draw. A result he would not have fancied ahead of the round but would have taken midway during their round.
World Junior Champion, Pranav V, has beaten Algeria's Ala Eddine Boulrens. A strong game, comfortable win for him to get off the mark in Goa.
And there comes the confirmation, Divya Deshmukh has conceded to Stamatis. She starts her campaign in Goa with a loss. Not an ideal way to start for the sole female competitor of the event but she has all the potential in the world to mount a quick comeback and beat her opponent on demand.
Big news coming in, Surya Shekhar Ganguly has beaten IM Samadov Read of Azerbaijan and starts his World Cup campaign on a high.
Meanwhile, GM SL Narayanan has been held to a draw by Peruvian IM Steven Rojas Salas. He needs to win tomorrow in order to qualify for round 2.
The Women's World Champion, Divya, is in a completely hopeless position. Not the result she would have wanted. The engine is showing nearly +5.0 advantage for Stamatis. Fortunately, she has a chance to make a comeback should she win Game 2 tomorrow to enforce the tiebreak.
Meanwhile, Pranesh M has a completely winning position against Kazakhstan's IM Akhmedinov Satbek. This game should also end soon.
Meanwhile, we have the legend of Indian chess, Viswanathan Anand, holding the Viswanathan Anand Cup in Goa!
Divya somehow manages to continue in an inferior position. She exchanges her bishop for black's knight while also exchanging one of the pawns on the left flank. She still has to make 14 moves while her clock has 3 minutes and 55 seconds. Mind you, a player gets 30 seconds increment per move and that's how Divya has been surviving.
This is not looking good for Divya. She is a pawn down, an exchange down in the position and has nearly 3 minutes to make 18 more moves to reach time control. Stamatis has played a really good game until now, well poised to take 1 full point from this clash.
Local lad Luke Leon Mendonca has a fairly better position in the middle game where his active queen is on the pounce against China's Wang Shixu. He is also better clock-wise.
Raunak Sadhwani moves into the endgame after exchanging queens. He has a knight for Black's active dark-squared bishop which means he is playing in an inferior position. Interesting to see how he manages to fare in the endgame against his opponent, who is nearly 400 Elo ratings adrift.
Divya has only made 18 moves, and she has to make the next 22 moves with just 12 minutes remaining on her clock. This is not looking promising for the Women's World Cup champion.
90 minutes are given for the first 40 moves, then 30 extra minutes for the rest of the game, plus a 30-second increment per move starting from move 1.
1. GM Pranav V (IND) vs Boulrens Ala Eddine (ALG)
2. GM Sadhwani Raunak (IND) vs FM Barrish Daniel (RSA)
3. GM Pranesh M (IND) vs IM Akhmedinov Satbek (KAZ)
4. GM Mendonca Leon Luke (IND) vs IM Wang Shixu B (CHN)
5. GM Narayanan S L (IND) vs IM Rojas Salas Steven (PER)
6. GM Iniyan Pa (IND) vs GM Berdayes Ason Dylan Isidro (CUB)
7. IM Harshavardhan G B (IND) vs GM Yilmaz Mustafa (TUR)
8. IM Gusain Himal (IND) vs GM Woodward Andy (USA)
9. GM Lalit Babu M R (IND) vs GM Warmerdam Max (NED)
10. GM Divya Deshmukh (IND) vs GM Kourkoulos-Arditis Stamatis (GRE)
11. IM Neelash Saha (IND) vs GM Meier Georg (URU)
12. GM Karthik Venkataraman (IND) vs GM Garcia Pantoja Roberto (COL)
13. IM Aronyak Ghosh (IND) vs GM Bartel Mateusz (POL)
14. GM Ghosh Diptayan (IND) vs GM Peng Xiongjian (CHN)
15. GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar (IND) vs IM Samadov Read (AZE)
16. GM Raja Rithvik R (IND) vs GM Nogerbek Kazybek (KAZ)
Divya is down to 40 minutes against Stamatis who still has 1 hour and 19 minutes to his clock. The position is nearly equal but the engines are slightly favouring black here, a very minute difference but Divya still needs to play accurately and look at her time management.
The ceremonial first moves of Round 1 of the 2025 #fideworldcup were made by:
— International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) November 1, 2025
♟️ FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich on the board of 🇺🇸 Jeffery Xiong (highest-rated player in Round 1) vs Li Yiheng 🇭🇰
♟️ AICF President Nitin Narang on the board of 🇮🇳 Pranav V (highest-rated Indian… pic.twitter.com/GSXXqzyPEj
1. e4 c6
2. d4 d5
3. e5 c5
4. Nf3 cxd4
5. Nxd4 Nc6
6. Nxc6 bxc6
7. Bd3 еб
8. 0-0 a5
9. Nd2 Ba6
10. Qe2 Bxd3
11. cxd3 a4
Meanwhile, Raunak Sadhwani goes into the Advanced Variation of the Caro-Kann Defense against South African IM Daniel Barrish. He started with e4 and followed it up with d4 after Barris responded with c6.
Amit Kamath from the venue: There is no such thing as being over-prepared for any eventuality at a top-tier chess tournament. This also means bringing an extra pen to the playing hall like Raja Neer Manon seems to have done. He doesn't seem to want to take any chances with a pen malfunction.
Amit Kamath from the venue: Besides Divya, India's charge in Round 1 of the event is being spearheaded by Pranav V, home hero Leon Luke Mendonca and Raunak Sadhwani.
Amit Kamath from the venue: Despite the top 50 players being given direct entry into the second round, there are plenty of top players in action. This ranges from the 56-year-old Vasyl Ivanchuk to the 12-year-old phenom Faustino Oro.
1. d4 Nf6
2. c4 e6
3.Nc3 Bb4
4. e3 0-0
5. a3 Bxc3+
6. bxc3 d6
7. Ne2 c5
8. Ng3 Nc6
Amit Kamath from the venue: Not just for the fans allowed for the first 10 minutes to the playing arena, for FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich too, the game of Divya Deshmukh seems to hold particular interest. Right after making the ceremonial first move, the FIDE president takes a walk around the playing arena and takes a few minutes to look at Divya's position on the board
Divya Deshmukh has the white pieces. She starts with a central pawn push d4 and her opponent, Kourkoulos-Arditis Stamatis of Greece, replied with knight to f6, Divya quickly plays c4 and the counter was e6 from Stamatis as we enter Nimzo-Indian Defense quite early on in the game.
All set for some live action. 78 boards, 156 players are ready to kick off FIDE Chess World Cup 2025.
With the Chess World Cup officially beginning on Saturday, the winner’s trophy was unveiled in a glittering opening ceremony in Goa on Friday with the silverware being named after the legendary Indian chess player Viswanathan Anand.
All India Chess Federation president Nitin Narang tweeted about the news as well, saying that the trophy will be called Viswanathan Anand Cup. “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. This running trophy stands as an emblem of the great strides of Indian chess and the remarkable achievements and legacy of @vishy64theking, destined to be cherished and extolled for centuries and passing through generations of chess prodigies,” he said.
| Seed | Player Name | Rating | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gukesh D | 2752 | 2006 |
| 2 | Erigaisi Arjun | 2773 | 2003 |
| 3 | Praggnanandhaa R | 2771 | 2005 |
| 19 | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | 2716 | 1994 |
| 20 | Aravindh Chithambaram VR | 2711 | 1999 |
| 22 | Nihal Sarin | 2700 | 2004 |
| 24 | Harikrishna Pentala | 2697 | 1986 |
| 38 | Karthikeyan Murali | 2662 | 1999 |
| 60 | Pranav V | 2641 | 2006 |
| 62 | Sadhwani Raunak | 2641 | 2005 |
| 70 | Pranesh M | 2630 | 2006 |
| 78 | Mendonca Leon Luke | 2620 | 2006 |
| 81 | Narayanan S L | 2617 | 1998 |
| 92 | Iniyan Pa | 2599 | 2002 |
| 109 | Karthik Venkataraman | 2579 | 1999 |
| 117 | Ghosh Diptayan | 2573 | 1998 |
| 118 | Ganguly Surya Shekhar | 2573 | 1983 |
| 129 | Raja Rithvik R | 2541 | 2004 |
| 143 | Aronyak Ghosh | 2514 | 2003 |
| 149 | Lalit Babu M R | 2502 | 1993 |
| 150 | Divya DeshmukhWILD CARD | 2498 | 2005 |
| 159 | Gusain Himal | 2476 | 1993 |
| 160 | Harshavardhan G B | 2476 | 2003 |
| 163 | Neelash Saha | 2466 | 2002 |
The FIDE World Cup 2025 Round 1 will take place from 3.00 PM IST from November 1-3 (including tie-breakers), Round 2 will take place from Nov 4 to 6 (including tie-breakers), followed by Round 3 from Nov 7-9 (including tie-breakers). Then there’ll be Round 4 from Nov 11 to 13 (including tie-breakers) and round 5 from Nov 14-16 (including tie-breakers). The knockouts start with the quarterfinals scheduled to take place on Nov 17-19 (including tie-breakers), followed by the semifinals from 21-23 (including tie-breakers). The final will take place from Nov 24 to 26 (including tie-breakers).
The FIDE World Cup 2025 will feature 206 players competing in a head-to-head, two-game knockout format over eight rounds. Each round spans three days: two classical games (between two players) on the first two days, followed by tie-breaks on the third day, if necessary. In the first round, the top 50 players receive byes, while players seeded from 51 to 206 compete, with pairings based on the principle of the top half versus the reversed lower half. The FIDE World Cup is the event that offers the top three finishers direct qualification for the 2026 Candidates Tournament, which determines the challenger for the World Chess Championship.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the FIDE Chess World Cup 2025, kicking off at the Rio Resort Convention Centre in Goa. Today, for Round 1 Game 1, we'll see 156 players from across the world in action. While the top 50-seeded players — a group that includes eight Indians — have received byes in this round, 16 other Indian competitors will take to the boards today.
Stay tuned as we bring you all the live action straight from the famous coastal state of Goa!
Grandmasters’ getaway: India’s vacation capital Goa turns into chess arena as it prepares to host the World Cup
The prestigious FIDE World Cup chess tournament is set to begin at the five-star Resort Rio in Arpora, Goa, a state known as India's vacation capital. Despite the relaxing location, the 156 participating grandmasters will face a brutal competition with no time for leisure, as they battle for three coveted spots in the Candidates Tournament. Working behind the scenes is a dedicated workforce of about 200 people who have spent days and sleepless nights transforming the convention center into a grand arena, reflecting Goa's determination to impress while hosting this major international chess event. (Read more from Amit Kamath)
