The final of the 2025 FIDE World Cup concluded on the evening of November 26 local time in Goa, India. Yancheng-born chess player and member of the Chinese national team, Wei Yi, fought a thrilling battle against Uzbekistan’s top grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov for the title. After the two classical games ended in draws, Wei Yi narrowly lost in the rapid tiebreak and ultimately claimed runner-up — securing the silver medal.

The FIDE World Cup is one of the highest-level individual tournaments organized by the International Chess Federation. This year’s edition brought together more than 200 of the world’s elite players who qualified through continental championships. As a seeded player, Wei Yi received a bye into the second round and stormed through the knockout stages, defeating a series of strong opponents: he defeated Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland) in Round 2; then he defeated Hungarian Gledura Bence; and in later rounds, he successively eliminated Iranian Masoud Mosadeghpour, American Samuel Sevian, and Indian Arjun Erigaisi. With these victories, he powered his way into the top 4.

In the semifinals, Wei Yi faced Russian GM Andrey Esipenko. After two hard-fought classical games ended level, the match went to a rapid playoff. Wei Yi prevailed with a score of 1 win and 1 draw, eliminating Esipenko and, crucially, securing one of the three direct qualifying spots for the 2026 Candidates Tournament. Per FIDE regulations, the top three finishers at this World Cup earn automatic entry.