While it’s not really an esport, chess has become incredibly popular among gamers, so much so that the Esports World Cup decided to feature a major chess event at this year’s festival.
It has technically already begun, as the Road to EWC qualifier concluded last week, meaning we now know the 16 competitors who will be battling it out to claim their slice of the $1.5 million prize pool. To this end, the groups have even been arranged, meaning we know the initial match-ups too.
It’s worth keeping in mind that each group will offer a double-elimination format, where every competitor is allowed to lose one match, until they reach the eight-person playoffs where its single elimination and no second chances.
Group A:
- Andrey Esipenko vs. Ian Nepomniachtchi
- Vladislav Artemiev vs. Levon Aronian
Group B:
- Anish Giri vs. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
- Nihal Sarin vs. Arjun Erigaisi
Group C:
- Javokhir Sindarov vs. Hikaru Nakamura
- Alireza Firouzja vs. Wei Yi
Group D:
- Nodirbek Abdusattorov vs. Magnus Carlsen
- Jan-Krzysztof Duda vs. Fabiano Caruna
Who do you think will come out on top of this event?