Chess Is Coming To EWC 2025

In partnership with Chess.com, top chess players from around the world, including EWC Ambassador and five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen, will meet in Riyadh to throw down online 10-minute Rapid Chess with $1,500,000 USD up for the taking!

Prepare yourself to witness the greatest strategic minds test their wits on the largest stage in esports!

ENTER: Esports World Cup Chess

In the past five years, online chess has seen an unprecedented boom in popularity.

Over the board chess is one of the world's most enduring sports and chess was one of the first games to be ported to the computer. And the release of Netflix’s Queen’s Gambit alongside the rise of chess influencers like Magnus Carleson, Hikaru Nakamura, the Botez Sisters, and GothamChess, the world of online chess has discovered fresh audiences around the globe.

As part of its rise, the online chess community embraced the title of esport, pointing to premoves and automatic time controls as distinguishing factors that make online chess distinct from traditional over the board competition. In return, esports orgs embraced chess, with Hikaru Nakamura famously breaking through that barrier in 2020 by signing to the esports org TSM, followed swiftly by the Botez Sisters signing with OpTic Gaming.

Now a new wave of signings is underway as orgs look to secure talent ahead of the Esports World Cup! Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana signed with Team Liquid, 2023 world champion Ding Liren joined LGD Gaming, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave went to Team Vitality, Arjun Erigaisi signed to Gen.G, and All Gamers Global picked up Voldar Murzin.

And that is just scratching the surface! Chess is looking to dominate the esports scene with high IQ strategies, intense rivalries, and engaging storylines. Maybe we’ll see some heated battles play out at EWC, as competitors look to conquer an entirely new landscape.

“I’m thrilled to see chess join some of the biggest games in the world at the Esports World Cup," said Magnus Carlsen. "This partnership is an incredible opportunity to grow the game, by introducing chess to new audiences and inspiring the next generation of players. Being part of the esports family is an amazing opportunity for chess to broaden its reach to a massive group of esports fans.”

The EWC Chess 2025 Dates and Tournament Format

The competition will take place from July 31 - August 3. Matches will be played in a 10+0 rapid format, which means players will each have ten minutes in total to play their moves, with no additional time to be added.

Sixteen players total will compete at the EWC Chess 2025 main event. The first 12 will be determined by the results of two online events that comprise the 2025 Champions Chess Tour. Chessable Masters already took place February 16-21, and Leg 2 is scheduled for May 18-23. So far, Team Liquid Magnus Carlsen, Team Falcons Nakamura, and Aurora Gaming Nepomniachtchi have qualified via the 2025 Champions Chess Tour.

The final four competitors will be decided in a high-stakes Last Chance Qualifiers taking place in Riyadh.

EWC Chess 2025 Prize Pool

The Prize Pool for this event is a whopping $1,500,000 USD, one of the largest prize pools in the history of online chess competition.

About the Esports World Cup

The Esports World Cup is a global celebration of competitive excellence and esports fandom. Making its return to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in the summer of 2025, the annual Esports World Cup features a unique cross-game format that pits the world’s top esports Clubs and more than 1,500 players against one another for a share of the largest prize pool in esports history.