FIDE World Cup

The FIDE World Cup is one of the major individual competitions of FIDE, the International Chess Federation, and an important route into the Candidates Tournament, the competition that decides who earns the right to challenge the World Champion. Winning it is valuable in its own right, while top finishes can also earn places in the next World Championship cycle.

From 2005 through 2025, the event became known for a knockout format. Players met in short matches; the loser was eliminated and the winner advanced. In 2025, for example, 206 players took part and the top three earned places in the 2026 Candidates.

The format changes from 2027

FIDE approved a two-stage structure for 2027. The event will begin with Swiss-system pools, where players contest a fixed number of rounds and are paired mainly with opponents on similar scores. The leading players from that stage advance to a 16-player knockout. Describing the World Cup simply as a straight knockout is therefore no longer correct for every future edition.

Qualification places can change as well. For the 2028 Candidates, FIDE approved places for the two finalists of the 2027 World Cup. These changes show why the format and qualification spots should always be tied to a specific championship cycle.

The World Cup is not the World Chess Championship. Winning the World Cup makes a player champion of that event and may move them closer to a world-title match, but it does not automatically make them World Chess Champion.