What do Magnus Carlsen and Faker have in common? A few things: they’re both five-time world champions (in chess and League of Legends, respectively), and, as of July 31, 2025, they’ll have both competed at the Esports World Cup (EWC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Yes, you read that right: chess pro Magnus Carlsen will be competing at the 2025 Esports World Cup, in its newly introduced chess category. Carlsen, alongside fellow chess pro Fabiano Caruana, will be playing for esports organisation Team Liquid under its brand-new Team Liquid Chess division.
Chess is set to be one of the most hotly contested categories at the EWC, happening from July 31 to August 3 later this year. Many major esports organisations have added chess grandmasters to their roster ahead of the event – Hikaru Nakamura will play for Falcons, the winner of the Esports World Cup 2024; Maxime Vachier-Lagrave for Team Vitality, and Arjun Erigaisi for Gen.G, just to name a few.
The addition of chess aims to help expand the scope of the EWC to be larger and more inclusive on a global scale. To help chess fit in with the high-octane nature of an esports event, the games will be played digitally, using a high-speed “10/0” format where players will only have ten minutes to beat the game. This format hopes to produce tense and exciting matches, putting each player to the test as they have to carefully manage their time.
It remains to be seen if chess will become a mainstay of the EWC, let alone esports as a whole, but Ralf Reichert, CEO of the EWC, is optimistic. He told Arab News: “Everything we do in the Esports World Cup is with a long-term horizon. We are trying to establish this as one of the largest sports properties. With chess, we have officially announced a three-year partnership at least.”
Fans can tune in to the EWC chess championship, as well as matches for 24 other game titles, on YouTube and Twitch later this July.
