FIDE World Cup 2025 qualification quotas updated
Apart from the medals in Chess Olympiad, it also has World Cup implications. Even though the non-podium finishers may not win a medal, they can still secure a spot for their compatriot in next year's World Cup. In the Open section, only 80 teams will get a spot at the World Cup for their federations. Europe will get 11 less and for Americas, it will be nine less. In the Women's section of the Olympiad, 35 instead of 50 will gain Olympiad spots. The total number of players who can qualify remains unchanged - 206. Africa has three spots, Americas 21, Europe 41 and Asia 35. In the Women's event, Asia will have 20. So far, GM Sethuraman S P and GM Karthik Venkataraman in the Open, IM Padmini Rout in the Women's World Cup 2025 have already secured their respective places. Photo: FIDE
Asia gets 35 spots in Open and 20 in Women
The key changes for the 2025 edition include an updated distribution of continental spots based on 2024 ratings.
FIDE has updated the qualification quotas for the 2025 World Cup, and the Women’s World Cup – one of the most important global chess events, next to the Olympiad and the World Championship matches.
“The World Cup represents a flagship event for FIDE, and each cycle, we carefully consider changes and adjustments. The final distribution of continental spots was determined after the ECU and ACC used their rights (described in the Rules: World Cup - Art 2.1.VII; Women’s World Cup – Art 2.1.VI) and transferred numbers of Olympiad spots to their Continental Events,” said Grandmaster Pavel Tregubov, secretary of FIDE’s Global Strategy Commission.
“It should be noted that in the Open section of the Olympiad, only 80 teams will gain Olympiad spots for their federations, as the number of spots is reduced accordingly. Particularly, Europe will get 11 fewer Olympiad spots, and Americas - 9 fewer Olympiad spots. In the Women’s section of the Olympiad, 35 teams instead of 50 will gain Olympiad spots”, he added.
For the World Cup, the number of players who can qualify remains the same – 206 – but the allocation of spots has changed, reflecting the new ratings and standings as of January 2024.
Africa now has three spots, while the Americas have 21. Europe is on 41, while Asia is on 35. The nominations by FIDE President have increased from three to four.
For the Women’s World Cup, the continental spots distribution has been adjusted based on updated rating lists. A slight modification in the number of spots has been made: Europe will now have 21 spots and Asia 20. Additionally, nominations by the FIDE President have increased from one to two.
Final Distribution of Qualification Spots for Continental Events
| SPOTS | Africa | Americas | Asia | Europe |
| World Cup | ||||
| Granted | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Top 8 juniors | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
| Top 60 players | 0 | 9 | 26 | 25 |
| Transferred Olympiad spots | - | 9 | - | 11 |
| TOTAL | 3 | 21 | 35 | 41 |
| Women’s World Cup | ||||
| Granted | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Top 4 girls | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Top 23 players | 0 | 0 | 13 | 10 |
| Transferred Olympiad spots | - | 7 | - | 8 |
| TOTAL | 3 | 10 | 20 | 21 |
Qualification regulations can be found here:
For any questions and further information, please contact the Global Strategy Commission - gsc@fide.com