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Indian Grandmaster Nihal Sarin has qualified for the Esports World Cup 2026 chess event in Paris through the Champions Chess Tour leaderboard.
Indian GM Nihal Sarin (X)
Nihal Sarin has officially qualified for the chess event at the upcoming Esports World Cup 2026 in Paris after securing his place through the Champions Chess Tour (CCT) leaderboard.
Representing S8UL, Nihal becomes only the second Indian player to qualify for the prestigious tournament this year, joining fellow Grandmaster Aravindh Chithambaram.
The EWC chess event, scheduled from August 11 to 15, will feature a prize pool of USD 1.5 million (approximately Rs 14.3 crore). The broader Esports World Cup will run from July 6 to August 23 and is set to feature more than 2,000 players from over 100 countries competing for a record-breaking USD 75 million prize pool.
Nihal secured qualification after a consistent campaign across the Champions Chess Tour season, which included the Speed Chess Championship (SCC) 2025 and Chess.com Open (CCO) 2026.
The Indian Grandmaster narrowly missed direct qualification through the CCO after finishing fourth, just one place outside the automatic qualification spots. However, he still earned 100 valuable leaderboard points from that performance.
He added further points through the Titled Tuesday Grand Prix (TTGP) circuit across the Autumn, Winter and Spring splits. A standout runner-up finish in the Spring Split ultimately helped Nihal finish with 139 points overall and seal his berth at EWC 2026.
“This season required consistency across multiple formats and tournaments over several months, and I’m happy that the hard work paid off,” Nihal said in a press release.
“Last year’s experience at the EWC gave me a real understanding of how competitive and intense the event is, and it has only motivated me to come back stronger this time.”
Nihal had also represented India at EWC 2025 after qualifying through the Last Chance Qualifier, eventually reaching the quarterfinals before losing to Magnus Carlsen.
Meanwhile, fellow S8UL Grandmaster Pranesh M remains in contention for qualification through the upcoming Last Chance Qualifier.
The 2026 edition of the chess competition will feature a revised two-phase format, with Nihal directly entering the Group Stage while Aravindh begins from the Play-In stage after qualifying through DreamHack Atlanta earlier this year.
(with PTI inputs)
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