GM Nihal Sarin became only the second Indian after Arjun Erigaisi to qualify for the Esports World Cup (2025) happening in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh.
After failing to qualify at EWC through the two qualifiers, Nihal had to play through the Last Chance Qualifier in Riyadh, where he reached the finals of the Winner’s Bracket after beating Russia’s Andrey Esipenko, thus qualifying for the main event.
Apart from Nihal, Anish Giri, Javokhir Sindarov and Levon Aronian also qualified for the EWC to complete the 16-player field for the main event. Nihal, representing Indian esports organisation S8UL, will now take on Sindarov in the final of the LCQ.
GM R. Praggnanandhaa came agonisingly close to qualifying for the EWC but Anish Giri handed him a tough loss in the Armageddon in their match-up.
Earlier, 12 players were finalised in the EWC roster for chess through the two-leg Champions Chess Tour 2025. Five-time world champion and world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, world No. 3 and popular Twitch and YouTube streamer Hikaru Nakamura and reigning co-world blitz champion Ian Nepomniachtchi qualified for EWC after finishing in the top three of CCT’s first event, the Chessable Masters, which was played in February.
Nine other players, including Arjun confirmed their spots through the second leg of CCT, the Chess.com Classic 2025.
What is the Esports World Cup?
The Esports World Cup brings together top esports clubs across 24 popular titles. EWC 2025 is happening in Riyadh from July 7 to August 24, featuring chess as an online event for the first time. The inaugural 2024 edition spanned eight weeks, while the 2025 event will be history’s largest multi-title esports tournament with 2,000+ players, 200+ teams, and a $70 million (≈₹602 crore) prize pool.
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16 qualified players for EWC
- Magnus Carlsen (Norway)
- Hikaru Nakamura (USA)
- Ian Nepomniachtchi (Russia)
- Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France)
- Jan Krzysztof Duda (Poland)
- Arjun Erigaisi (India)
- Vladislav Artemiev (Russia)
- Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan)
- Alireza Firouzja (France)
- Vladimir Fedoseev (Slovenia)
- Fabiano Caruana (USA)
- Wei Yi (China)
- Nihal Sarin (India)
- Javokhir Sindarov (Uzbekistan)
- Anish Giri (Netherlands)
- Levon Aronian (USA)
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