Rising stars and top performers Faustino Oro, Andy Woodward, Abhimanyu Mishra and Volodar Murzin will join well-known GM Kirill Alekseenko at the FIDE World Cup this November in India.
FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich has officially granted the invitations for this year’s FIDE World Cup, which will take place in Goa from 30th October to 27th November. The World Cup will be a unique chance for these top talents to compete in one of the most prestigious tournaments on the chess calendar.
Among the players are Americans Abhimanyu Mishra (the youngest player in history to become a Grandmaster) and Andy Woodward (this year’s winner of the Junior’s Closed US Championship) who had a spectacular run at the recent FIDE Grand Swiss in Samarkand, finishing 5th and 7th respectively.
World Rapid Champion, 19-year-old Volodar Murzin, who is on the path of reaching 2700 ELO (currently at 2670), also got an invite, alongside 28-year-old Kirill Alekseenko (representing Austria), a participant of the 2020/21 Candidates tournament and a well-known player at strong individual and team events.
The youngest joiner is 11-year-old Faustino Oro, the Argentinian prodigy often called the “Messi of Chess” and considered one of the most promising young talents in the game.
“FIDE always works hard to find ways to give talented players a chance to improve and make their mark. The decision to award invites to these five players is based on a mix of recent performance, high-level potential and their contribution to the sport,” FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich said.
“The World Cup is one of the most difficult and most exciting chess events, given its knockout format, and will be a great opportunity for these players to show their best facing the best,” Dvorkovich added.
There is one more invitation place to be decided before the World Cup starts in November.
The FIDE World Cup takes place every two years, lasts for three weeks, and is one of the hardest chess tournaments to win. It features 206 top world players competing in a knock-out format consisting of mini-matches. At stakes are not just the title or the prizes but, crucially, three top spots leading to the Candidates tournament where the challenger for the title of World Champion will be determined.