Anand drops Chess World Cup prediction for Erigaisi, praises Divya's challenge

Round 1 of the FIDE Chess World Cup 2025 begins on Saturday (1 November), but some of the top GMs won't be in action. The top 50 players have received a bye in the opening round, which includes top seed D. Gukesh, second and third seeds Arjun Erigaisi, R Praggnanandhaa.

Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, and Fabiano Caruana won't be in action as they have decided to skip the event. Spots for Candidates 2026 are also at stake. The top three finishers will qualify for the Candidates. The winner of the Candidates will face Gukesh in the World C'ship next year. Speaking to WION, chess legend Viswanathan Anand was asked about his favourite to win the Chess World Cup in Goa.

Anand didn't name his favourite, but stated that Erigaisi 'needs to win the tournament the most'. Despite being world No. 4, Erigaisi has not bagged a spot in the Candidates tournament yet.

"I think of the Indians, Arjun needs to win this tournament the most. And perhaps one of the other youngsters from India, I mean, there are quite a few, they really need this to nail this qualifying opportunity", he said.

"And from the others, I would pick Vincent Kyma. He's having a spectacular year right now, and he narrowly missed qualification. So I think he would really love to qualify here," he added.

Women's World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh will also be in action as she has received a wild card. "I think she's (Divya) very impressive. She's had a spectacular year and it really culminated in the World Cup, but subsequently as well. She's rising up the rankings and she's taking on these bold challenges. I mean, playing in the open section is going to be difficult, but I applaud her willingness to take part and push herself," said Anand.

The Chess World Cup will be an eight-round knockout event. The losing players of the two semifinals will face each other for a third-place finish.

Source: HindustanTimes
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