Four Indian Grandmasters Set for Esports World Cup Chess Event in Paris
Paris — India will field its largest-ever contingent in the Esports World Cup chess tournament, with four Grandmasters set to compete in Paris from August 11 to 15.
Grandmasters Nihal Sarin, Aravindh Chithambaram and Pranesh M will represent S8UL Esports, while Arjun Erigaisi will compete for Gen.G Esports. The players will compete against some of the world’s top chess talent for a share of the $1.5 million prize pool.
Nihal, Pranesh and Arjun earned direct qualification to the group stage through their performances in the 2025-26 Champions Chess Tour, while Aravindh qualified through DreamHack Atlanta and will begin in the play-in stage.
The four-player contingent doubles India’s representation from last year, when Nihal and Arjun were the only Indian players in the tournament. Nihal advanced to the quarterfinals after qualifying through the Last Chance Qualifier, while Arjun earned his spot through the Champions Chess Tour and finished fourth.
The 2026 competition will feature a revised two-phase format. The newly introduced play-in stage will include nine players who qualified through the Last Chance Qualifier and DreamHack Atlanta. They will compete in a double-elimination bracket, with each match consisting of two games.
The leading players from the play-in stage will advance to the 16-player group stage, joining competitors who qualified directly through the Champions Chess Tour and other events.
The group stage will feature two groups of eight players, each using a double-elimination format with two-game matches. The top four players from each group will move on to the playoffs.
The playoffs will switch to a single-elimination format, with four-game quarterfinal matches and six-game semifinals. The championship will be decided in a Grand Final played over three sets.
The field includes defending champion Magnus Carlsen of Team Liquid, along with Hikaru Nakamura and Alireza Firouzja of Team Falcons, Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Natus Vincere and Hans Moke Niemann of GodLike Esports.
With four Grandmasters competing this year, India will seek to build on its showing at last year’s tournament and capture its first Esports World Cup chess title. (Source: IANS)
