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Esports World Cup 2026 Chess Group Stage starts. 16 top players, including Carlsen, Nakamura, Erigaisi, compete for $1.5M prize.
Arjun Erigaisi playing against Nihal Sarin
The Group Stage of Chess at the Esports World Cup 2026 gets underway on Wednesday, with 16 of the world’s leading players starting their campaigns for the title and a share of the $1.5 million (Rs 14.3 crore) prize pool.
The groups are as follows:
Group A
– Arjun Erigaisi – Gen.G Esports
Nihal Sarin – S8UL Esports
– Nodirbek Abdusattarov – Natus Vincere
– Pranesh M – S8UL Esports
– Jan-Krzysztof Duda – Weibo Gaming
– Benjamin Bok – Team MGD1
– Alireza Firouzja – Team Falcons
– Wei Yi – Team Nemesis
Group B
– Magnus Carlsen – Team Liquid
Andrey Esipenko – Virtus.pro
– Hikaru Nakamura – Team Falcons
– Alexey Sarana – Fnatic
– Hans Moke Niemann – GodLike Esports
– Ian Nepomniachtchi – Aurora Gaming
– Denis Lazavik – AG.AL
– Sina Movahed – Team Stallions
In Group A, India’s only chess representatives at EWC 2025, Grandmasters Arjun Erigaisi and Nihal Sarin, will face each other in a repeat of last year’s Group Stage opener. Meanwhile, another Indian Grandmaster, Pranesh M, will start his campaign against Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
Elsewhere, Polish Grandmaster Jan-Krzysztof Duda will face Benjamin Bok, who earned his place through the India Rising qualifier. EWC 2025 runner-up Alireza Firouzja will meet Wei Yi, who bagged qualification via the Last Chance Qualifier and Play-Ins, in another repeat of last year’s Group Stage clash.
Group B will see defending champion Magnus Carlsen of Team Liquid start his title defence against Andrey Esipenko, who qualified through the Play-Ins. American speed-chess star Hikaru Nakamura, meanwhile, will take on Alexey Sarana, who is making his EWC Group Stage debut.
Hans Moke Niemann, representing Indian organisation GodLike Esports, will face Ian Nepomniachtchi, who reached the EWC Playoffs last year. The group’s other opening-round clash will feature Group Stage debutants Denis Lazavik and Sina Movahed going head-to-head.
The Group Stage will be held on August 12 and 13, with each game comprising two 10-minute matches without increments. An Armageddon match will decide the winner if required, while the players will compete in double-elimination brackets using the same game format.
The top four players from each group will advance to the Playoffs.
The Playoffs will be held on August 14 and 15 in a single-elimination format. The quarterfinals will consist of four games, followed by six-match semifinals, while the Grand Final will be contested as a best-of-three sets showdown.
The first two sets will consist of four matches each, with a potential third and final set comprising two matches.
S8UL Esports’ Aravindh Chithambaram bowed out during the Play-Ins and took home $23,000 (almost Rs 22 lakh) for his performance at EWC 2026.
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August 12, 2026, 3:49 PM IST
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