TWIC is 31. First issue 17th September 1994.FIDE World Cup 2025 (7)
Wei Yi and Javokhir Sindarov reach the FIDE World Cup final and qualify for the Candidates tournament
Mark Crowther - Sunday 23rd November 2025
Wei Yi, photo by Michal Walusza. | https://worldcup.fide.com
The FIDE World Cup final will be between Wei Yi of China and Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan, this result mean both have qualified for the FIDE Candidates tournament in Pegeia, Cyprus, 28th March to 16th April 2026. These players join Fabiano Caruana, Anish Giri, Matthias Bluebaum who have already qualified for the Candidates, Hikaru Nakamura is almost certain to qualify on rating, in addition, the winner of the 3rd-4th playoff in this World Cup will also earn a place.
This year's World Cup has been a wild ride, full of surprises with many of the favourites departing in the third and fourth rounds. Both finalists earned their Grandmaster titles at an early age, Wei Yi (13 years, 8 months, 23 days in 2013) and Sindarov (12 years, 10 months, 8 day in 2018).
Wei Yi was also the youngest player to achieve a 2700 rating at the age of 15, between 2018 and 2024 his chess career took a back seat whilst he completed his education, he won the Tata Steel tournament in 2024 but has had slightly inconsistent results since then, he is ranked 11th in the World and is 26 years old. His run to the final saw him beat Kacper Piorun, Benjamin Gledura, Parham Maghsoodloo (6 tie-break games were needed), Sam Sevian, Arjun Erigaisi and Andrey Esipenko (Wei Yi won the second rapid game where at one stage he was lost.).
Sindarov is 19 years old, is on the rise and currently ranked 25th in the World. After the 2023 FIDE Grand Swiss where he finished tied for 8th place he crossed the 2700 barrier. His route to the final was Nikita Petrov, Nikolas Theodorou, Yu Yangyi, Frederik Svane, Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara and his friend and fellow countryman Nodirbek Yakubboev.
The final takes place 24th to 26th November 2025. Alongside is the 3rd-4th playoff between Andrey Esipenko and Nodirbek Yakubboev, one could almost claim this as being the more important match as it carries with it a single Candidates place.
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