Nihal Sarin qualifies for Esports World Cup’s chess event
Indian Grandmaster Nihal Sarin, representing esports and gaming content outfit S8UL, has qualified for the chess event of the upcoming Esports World Cup (EWC) in Paris through the Champions Chess Tour (CCT) leaderboard.
He has joined teammate Aravindh Chithambaram, becoming only the second Indian player to qualify for the prestigious tournament so far. This year’s EWC chess competition will have a prize pool of USD 1.5 million (Rs 14.3 crore) and will take place from August 11 to 15.
Overall, the EWC is set to take place from July 6 to August 23, featuring over 2,000 players from 200 clubs across more than 100 countries competing for a record-breaking prize pool of USD 75 million (Rs 718 crore).
The CCT season featured two major events, the Speed Chess Championship (SCC) 2025 and Chess.com Open (CCO) 2026. Nihal narrowly missed out on direct qualification through the CCO after finishing fourth, just one spot away from qualification, but still secured 100 crucial leaderboard points from the event.
He further added points through consistent performances across the TTGP circuit, including one point in the Autumn Split and four points in the Winter Split.
A standout second-place finish in the Spring Split ultimately helped him accumulate 34 points and finish with a total of 139 points in the standings to secure his berth at the EWC 2026.
The top three players from both SCC and CCO secured direct qualification to the EWC, while players finishing between fifth and ninth in SCC, along with the remaining participants in CCO, earned points toward the CCT leaderboard based on their performances.
In addition to these events, players also accumulated points through the Titled Tuesday Grand Prix (TTGP) circuit, which was divided into Autumn, Winter, and Spring splits featuring 13 Titled Tuesday tournaments each.
Players earned leaderboard points in every Titled Tuesday event across the season. At the end of the season, the top nine players in the final CCT leaderboard standings, excluding already-qualified players, secured their spots at EWC 2026.
Nihal was one of only two Indians representing the country at the EWC 2025 after qualifying through the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ). He went on to reach the quarterfinals before falling to eventual champion Magnus Carlsen.
“This season required consistency across multiple formats and tournaments over several months, and I’m happy that the hard work paid off. Last years’ experience at the EWC gave me a real understanding of how competitive and intense the event is, and it has only motivated me to come back stronger this time,” Sarin was quoted as saying in a press release.
“Representing India and S8UL on such a global stage is always special, and I’m looking forward to competing against some of the very best players in the world once again.”
Meanwhile, fellow S8UL Grandmaster Pranesh M, finished just four spots behind the final qualifying position in the CCT Leaderboard standings and also reached the quarterfinals of the India Rising qualifier. He still remains in contention for EWC qualification through the upcoming LCQ, from which four additional players will qualify for the tournament.
This year’s EWC Chess competition will be held in a revised two-phase format.
The tournament will begin with the newly introduced Play-In stage, where eight players qualified through the LCQ and DreamHack Atlanta will compete in a double-elimination bracket featuring two-game matches.
Aravindh, who secured qualification through DreamHack Atlanta earlier this year, will compete in this stage. The top-performing players from the Play-In stage will advance to the Group Stage.
Nihal has directly qualified for the Group Stage through the CCT rankings. The Group Stage will feature 16 players divided into two groups of eight, once again competing in double-elimination brackets with two-game matches. The top four players from each group will advance to the Playoffs.
