Magnus Carlsen faces Alireza Firouzja in Esports World Cup Chess finals after thrilling semi-final

The chess tournament at the Esports World Cup has not failed to impress yet. The major event kicked off its playoffs recently, pitting some of the best grandmasters in the world against one another for the right to be dubbed champion. Yesterday, an epic semi-final took place when we got to see Norway’s Magnus Carlsen facing off with the United States’ Hikaru Nakamura, a match that went the distance.

After a gruelling match-up that saw the two stars trade blows across seven games, with Carlsen winning the first, fourth, and seventh games, Nakamura winning the third and sixth, and the pair tying the second and fifth, the match ultimately went in favour of Carlsen, who will now take on France’s Alireza Firouzja in the grand finale.

This will be played today, shortly after Nakamura takes on India’s Arjun Erigaisi in the third-place match. The winner will lift the first EWC trophy of this week and head home with a quarter of a million dollars in their pocket too.