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20 First-Round Matches Head to Tiebreaks at FIDE World Cup in Goa

Rapid and blitz deciders begin Monday in the 206-player knockout that awards three 2026 Candidates berths.

Overview

  • Out of 78 round-one matches, 20 will be settled in tiebreaks starting Monday at 4:30 a.m. ET / 10:30 a.m. CET / 3:00 p.m. IST.
  • IM Shixu Wang upset GM Leon Mendonca, while Felix Blohberger and Martin Petrov also posted lower-rated match wins.
  • The top 50 seeds received byes to round two, with world champion Gukesh Dommaraju entering as the number one seed on Tuesday.
  • Indian participation saw five players eliminated after the classical games, five set for tiebreaks, and seven advancing directly to round two, according to local reports.
  • The event runs November 1–26 with a $2 million prize fund, and live coverage is available on Chess.com/TV, Chess24, Twitch and YouTube with commentary by IMs Jovanka Houska and Anna Rudolf.