NEW DELHI: The FIDE World Cup 2025 in Goa has entered its final stretch, with only four players left in the hunt for the crown and the top three guaranteed a place in the 2026 Candidates. While the on-board action has delivered its share of drama, controversies here and there have also left a mark on the tournament.
The biggest flashpoint came courtesy of Russian Grandmaster (GM) Ian Nepomniachtchi. Coming into Goa, the two-time Candidates winner had only one goal: win the World Cup or miss the 2026 Candidates altogether.
But when India’s GM Diptayan Ghosh stunned him in Round 2, Nepomniachtchi took to his Telegram channel, writing: “I'd played in India before (in 2019 in Kolkata), so I had a general idea of what the conditions would be like. But FIDE, to their credit, managed to surprise me. There's nothing to say about the chess aspect. It's one of those places you won't regret leaving.”
In the days that followed, he detailed a long list of grievances: Goa’s heat, humidity, mosquitoes, jet lag and air-conditioning failures caused by frequent power cuts. He described the hotel as substandard, mentioning noise, construction views, and inconvenient access to basic facilities.
Food, he said, was another struggle, claiming he could get “almost no meat except chicken” and had to rely largely on rice, flatbreads and fruit.
His comments quickly split the chess world. While some agreed with him, many dismissed the comments as exaggerated or simply excuses.
'I don’t like to get bullied by anyone'
Among those responding was one of India’s top GMs Vidit Gujrathi, whose own World Cup journey ended in Round 3 at the hands of American GM Sam Shankland.
However, instead of heading home, Vidit stayed back in Goa and soon posted on X: “Goa is amazing!! Those who were criticising it, probably didn’t even explore it:”
In an exclusive conversation with TimesofIndia.com, Vidit explained why he felt compelled to speak up.
"The tournament was very stressful because of the format, the knockout format. It's the best of two, and one mistake can be very costly. You don't have time to come back. So after my tournament ended, since it was so intense, I decided I’d stay back in such a beautiful place, and I went sightseeing. I realised, wow, that’s amazing, there’s so much natural beauty there. I was really mesmerised by it, and that’s why I made the post, because there are some criticisms which I just don’t understand, like about the food, because I think the food was really good," he said.
GM Vidit Gujrathi during Round 3 (Picture Credit: Eteri Kublashvili/FIDE)
"They had made a lot of arrangements for vegetarians and non-vegetarians; there were multiple restaurants within the hotel itself, etc., and everything in terms of hospitality was next level.
"For example, on the rest day, they provided a personal car to everyone who wanted to go out for sightseeing, even the people who had been knocked out, which I have not heard happening in any of these places. And I remember when I had gone to Khanty-Mansiysk in Russia, when I played the World Cup there, I had to survive on rice and water because there were no vegetarian options made there.
"So I never complained, and I realised that I had to figure out a solution to it. And that way, the complaints were completely illogical. And I don’t like to get bullied by anyone, so I felt like I needed to stand up for it. And Nepo also has a history of complaining after tournaments and whenever it doesn’t go his way, so I don’t take it seriously."
Friendships in a zero-sum world
Over the past few weeks, Goa has also served as a meeting ground for top Grandmasters. For Vidit, one of the highlights has been reconnecting with his long-time friend and Dutch No. 1, Anish Giri, who has already qualified for the 2026 Candidates by winning the FIDE Grand Swiss, yet still came to Goa for the competition and camaraderie.
"I first met him in 2015. It was also at the end of the World Cup. It was my first World Cup, I got knocked out, and I thought, okay, I’ll ask Anish, 'Do you want some help in your tournament?' And that’s when we started to speak. At that time, he had a coach, but later on, he connected with me, and then we started to work," the 31-year-old, who was even seen wearing Giri’s accreditation card during interviews, recalled.
GM Vidit Gujrathi (Picture Credit: Eteri Kublashvili/FIDE)
"We are both the same age, and with him, I felt like I could just be very free. He is very witty, funny, and a good human being, which I like, because it’s very hard to be friends with your peers since chess is a zero-sum game: if you win, if I win, somebody has to lose. So there’s huge competition, unlike, let’s say, some team events where you can collectively win something.
"With him, I just got along; with other peers, there’s too much rivalry and competitiveness, and everybody has their guards up, but with him, I just felt free. So we connected. And thankfully, I have at least a few good friends from the chess world."
Life after marriage and burnout before it
Vidit tied knots with Nidhi Kataria in April earlier this year in a grand ceremony attended by the who’s who of chess. Since then, Nidhi has been his constant companion on gruelling tours and long tournament days.
But Vidit revealed that the bigger shift came not from marriage, but from exhaustion.
"Mentally, things have changed, but it's not necessarily connected to marriage because last year in November, I felt a burnout because from 2021 to 2023, I had given everything that I had to this dream of becoming a top chess player," he told this website.
"And after the end of two, two and a half years, I felt a big burnout and I just didn't have that energy in me to go at the same pace, working like 12 hours, 14 hours a day, day in, day out, travelling so much, living out of a suitcase. That's when I also made the shift that, now I cannot go at this speed. I'll reduce my playing and training and everything.
"Coincidentally, it also happened that my marriage got finalised during that phase, and I also got busy with it. But they are two different things. But it happened at the same time."
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From D Gukesh to R Praggnanandhaa: Is everything all right with top chess players? Early World Cup exits expose harsh truthsPutting the World Cup heartbreak behind him, Vidit will return to action for the Triveni Continental Kings at the Global Chess League (GCL) 2025, with the league making its India debut from December 13 to 24.
"I always wanted a league to happen in chess because we saw the success of the IPL and, in other sports too, we could see that the model could be implemented. So in chess, I always felt it was missing… As a player, I'm very happy that this is happening," he concluded.
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