PANJIM, Nov. 1 -- Team Herald [emailprotected]

Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa will spearhead India's challenge as the FIDE World Cup kicks off in Goa on Saturday, promising four weeks of world-class chess featuring 206 of the planet's best minds from 80 countries. The knockout event, carrying a prize pool of USD two million, will unfold over eight intense rounds. Each match consists of two classical games under standard time controls, followed, if necessary, by rapid and blitz tiebreaks on the third day to decide the victor. With world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen and the American heavyweights Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana skipping the event, the focus shifts to India's young elite - reigning World Champion D Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa, and Arju...