FIDE Chess World Cup 2025 trophy christened Viswanathan Anand Cup

With the chess world having assembled in Goa, come Saturday, all the focus will be on the chequered boards. On Friday evening though, at a warm opening ceremony in the coastal city, the winner’s trophy was unveiled.

And the big reveal was the name of the trophy - the Viswanathan Anand Cup.

Nitin Naran, the president of the All India Chess Federation, in a social media post, said that the trophy honours the "King of Chess."

“Extremely proud and delighted to announce the Viswanathan Anand Cup, the FIDE World Cup (Open) Winner’s Running Trophy, instituted in honour of the King of Chess and India’s first Grandmaster, Shri Viswanathan Anand. This running trophy stands as an emblem of the great strides of Indian chess and the remarkable achievements and legacy of @vishy64theking, destined to be cherished and extolled for centuries and passing through generations of chess prodigies,” read his post.

The trophy depicts India national bird, the peacock, and on the 26th of November, the winner will walk away with the glittering memorabilia.

This year’s World Cup offers one of the richest prize funds in chess history, USD 2 million (approx. ₹18 crore).

The 13th edition of the World Cup will take place at Resort Rio in Arpora, North Goa.

The top 50 seeds receive byes into the second round, while the remaining 156 players begin from Round 1 on November 1. The tournament will determine three direct qualifiers for the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026, which in turn decides the next challenger for the World Championship crown.