Arjun Erigaisi First Indian Chess Player is Eligible for the 2025 Esports World Cup

Indian Grand Master Arjun Erigaisi made history by becoming the first Indian chess player to earn a spot in the Esports World Cup, which will take place later this year in Saudi Arabia. The 21-year-old Grandmaster placed in the top 12 of the Champions Chess Tour, confirming his attendance at the forthcoming tournament.

The Saudi Arabian city of Riyadh will host the 2025 EWC.

After earning enough points to got a spot in the top 12, Erigiasi advanced to the 2025 Chess.com Classic Playoffs, a Champions Chess Tour (CCT) event. When he finished in the semifinals of the Chessable Masters earlier this year, he had already earned 40 points.

After making it to the Playoffs round, Arjun defeated Dubov 2.0 with both White and Black pieces in the two-leg Match Play, guaranteeing his spot in the EWC. Prior to facing Grigoriy Oparin of the USA in the Match Play round, Praggnanandhaa also finished the Swiss format with the same number of points as Arjun. Pragg, the winner of the Superbet Chess Classic, defeated Oparin 1.5-0.5 in the Match Play before falling to Ding Liren, the former World Champion from China, in the Playoffs round.

D. Gukesh the current world champion was invited straight to the playoffs stage but quickly left after falling to Fedoseev in the winners’ bracket’s opening round. He later fell in the loser’s bracket as well to his countryman Arjun.

Magnus Carlsen, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Hikaru Nakamura, and Jan Krzysztof Duda have all confirmed their eligibility in addition to Arjun. In the Indian community, Arjun is the only person who has yet to be eligible for EWC.