FIDE World Cup: Different orbits of Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa

Knockout World Cup in Goa starts today with Indian duo enjoying their elevated status

So much has changed since the previous World Cup two years ago. For D Gukesh and R Praggnanandhaa; and for the sport itself.

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Gukesh had suffered a heartbreaking loss to Magnus Carlsen in the quarterfinals of the Baku event in 2023, thus raising a question mark over his qualification for the 2024 Candidates tournament. Pragg had knocked out Hikaru Nakamura and Erigaisi Arjun to announce himself on the world stage, reached the final and sealed the Candidates spot.

Cut to the present and Gukesh has stolen a march over Pragg. The 19-year-old is now the world champion making himself the reason for the Candidates tournament. On the other hand, 20-year-old Pragg (Elo 2768), who shared the team Olympiad gold with Gukesh, has proved himself in Classical round-robin events for the last 24 months and is ahead of Gukesh (2762) in Classical Elo rating. Even if he doesn’t finish in the top-3 in Goa, he can still make it to the Candidates, thanks to his almost-decisive lead in the FIDE Circuit points this year.

From being sparkling kids desperate for success, Gukesh and Pragg have become established names. Of course, like Carlsen in 2023, even Gukesh wants to prove himself with a good show in the knockout World Cup, the difference being undisputed world No. 1 Carlsen had vacated his throne then while official world champion Gukesh finds himself frequently outside the top-five.

The Norwegian needed to underline his royal supremacy in Baku in this format while Gukesh needs a good show to make his crown more deserving by adding jewels to it.

The neutral chess followers would hope that world No. 4 Vincent Keymer (Germany), No. 12 Nodribek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan) and No. 20 Hans Niemann (USA) would be able to prove their Candidates credentials via results, having already won the hearts and earned respect.

Players in fray having the experience of playing the Candidates: Vachier Lagrave (France), Anish Giri (Holland), Wesley So, Levon Aronian (both USA), Richard Rapport (Hungary), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan), Vassiy Ivanchuk (Ukraine) and Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia). Nepo won it twice but is seeded 12th now.

CHESS WORLD CUP 2025: IN A NUTSHELL

• 206 players will battle it out in Goa in knockout format.
• A record 24 Indians have qualified — the highest from the country in any FIDE World Cup .
• Each ‘two-game mini match’ is played over three days with games starting at 3pm IST. The first two days for one Classical game each with either colour. The third day is reserved for faster time control tiebreaks. Those who clinch the match without needing tiebreaks will get a rest day.
• Time control for first two Classical games: 90 minutes each for the first 40 moves and 30 more mins each for the rest of the game with 30sec increment from the first move.
• Provision for rapid and blitz matches in faster time control tiebreaks. If still equal, one Armageddon sudden death game with white getting more time than black but must win to survive. In the Armageddon game, a draw is enough for black to advance.
• The top-50 get first-round bye.
• Remaining 156 players will play 78 first-round matches this Saturday, Sunday and Monday. These 78 winners will join the top-50 for seven more knockout rounds.