Overview
- The new World Cup silverware was unveiled as the Viswanathan Anand Trophy during an opening ceremony in Panjim attended by Indian and FIDE officials, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi declaring the event open via a letter.
- World Women’s Cup champion Divya Deshmukh drew black for top seed D Gukesh, meaning all odd-numbered players start Round 1 with the black pieces.
- Play begins at Resort Rio in North Goa with the top 50 seeds receiving byes to Round 2, while 156 players contest the opening stage to complete a 128-player field.
- India fields a record 24 participants and holds the top three seeds with D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanandhaa, as several global stars including Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana are not participating.
- The $2 million event is streamed on FIDE’s YouTube channel as well as Chess.com and ChessBase, with no live television broadcast in India.