The chess tournament at the 2025 Esports World Cup was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from July 29 to August 1, 2025. Sixteen players from thirteen teams took part in this tournament – 12 players from Champions Chess Tour 2025 standings and 4 players from the Last Chance Qualifier. 13 Teams qualified based on their player's performance in these tournaments. Magnus Carlsen from Team Liquid defeated Alireza Firouzja from Team Falcons in the Grand final with 4 rounds to spare.
It was the first chess tournament at the Esports World Cup, which is part of a two-year partnership between online gaming platform Chess.com and the Esports World Cup Foundation until 2026 to bring online chess into the event.
Format In the group stage, the sixteen players from thirteen (13) teams were divided into four groups and competed in a GSL-style double elimination bracket, with the first two players to achieve two wins advancing to the quarterfinals. The opening matches were best-of-twos but the remaining matches were best-of-threes.
The playoffs were an eight-player single-elimination bracket. The players who lost in the semifinals competed in a third-place match. Quarterfinal matches in the playoffs were best-of-fours, while the semifinal matches and the third-place playoff were best-of-six. The Grand Final were a best-of-three set match, with the first two set consisting of four games each and the third set consisting of two games.
Qualification Twelve players qualified through their standings in the Champions Chess Tour 2025, and four from the Last Chance Qualifier. Qualified teams Event QualifierChampions Chess Tour 2025Magnus Carlsen (Team Liquid)Hikaru Nakamura (Team Falcons)Ian Nepomniachtchi (Aurora Gaming)Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Twisted Minds)Arjun Erigaisi (Gen.G Esports)Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Natus Vincere)Vladislav Artemiev (Team Spirit)Alireza Firouzja (Team Falcons)Vladimir Fedoseev Fabiano Caruana (Team Liquid)Wei Yi (Weibo Gaming) Last Chance QualifierJavokhir Sindarov (Team Vitality)Nihal Sarin (S8UL Esports)Levon Aronian (REJECT)Anish Giri (Team Secret)Andrey Esipenko (Virtus.pro)
Draw A draw was conducted for the group stage on 28 July 2025. Group A Group B Group C Group D Andrey Esipenko (Virtus.pro)Anish Giri (Team Secret)Alireza Firouzja (Team Falcons)Fabiano Caruana (Team Liquid)Ian Nepomniachtchi (Aurora Gaming)Arjun Erigaisi (Gen.G Esports)Hikaru Nakamura (Team Falcons)Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Twisted Minds)Levon Aronian (REJECT)Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Team Vitality)Javokhir Sindarov (Team Vitality)Magnus Carlsen (Team Liquid)Vladislav Artemiev (Team Spirit)Nihal Sarin (S8UL Esports)Wei Yi (Weibo Gaming)Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Natus Vincere)
Group stage Dates: 29–30 July 2025 16 players from thirteen teams were drawn into four groups of four players each. Each group plays a double-elimination-style bracket. The top two players from each group advance to the Playoffs. Remaining players are eliminated. Time control: 10+0 In the Armageddon, the player who either wins or draws with the black pieces gets a full point and wins the match.
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Playoffs Dates: 31 July – 1 August 2025 Eight players will be drawn into matchups based on a draw. Time control: 10+0 In the Armageddon, the player who either wins or draws with the black pieces gets a full point and wins the match.
Ranking A base prize pool of US$1,500,000 had been offered for the tournament. The prize pool was spread among the players as seen below: Place Team Prize (USD) 1st Magnus Carlsen (Team Liquid) $250,000 2nd Alireza Firouzja (Team Falcons) $190,000 3rd Hikaru Nakamura (Team Falcons) $145,000 4th Arjun Erigaisi (Gen.G Esports) $115,000 5th–8th Ian Nepomniachtchi (Aurora Gaming) $90,000 Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Natus Vincere) Levon Aronian (REJECT) Nihal Sarin (S8UL Esports) 9th–12th Andrey Esipenko (Virtus.pro) $65,000 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Team Vitality) Wei Yi (Weibo Gaming) Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Twisted Minds) 13th–16th Vladislav Artemiev (Team Spirit) $50,000 Anish Giri (Team Secret) Javokhir Sindarov (Team Vitality) Fabiano Caruana (Team Liquid)
External links Esports World Cup official website
References