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Indian chess will have its biggest-ever representation at the Esports World Cup 2026 in Paris, with four Grandmasters—Nihal Sarin, Aravindh Chithambaram, Pranesh M and Arjun Erigaisi—set to compete. Three qualified directly, while Aravindh enters through the Play-In stage. They will battle Magnus Carlsen and other global stars for a USD 1.5 million prize pool.

Paris: Indian chess will enjoy its strongest-ever representation at the Esports World Cup (EWC), with four Grandmasters set to compete in the Chess tournament at EWC 2026, scheduled to take place in Paris from August 11 to 15.

Grandmasters Nihal Sarin, Aravindh Chithambaram, and Pranesh M, representing esports and gaming content powerhouse S8UL Esports, will be joined by Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi, who will compete under the banner of Gen.G Esports. Together, they will take on the world’s best players for a share of the USD 1.5 million (~INR 14.2 crore) prize pool.

Nihal, Pranesh and Arjun secured direct qualification to the Group Stage through their performances in the Champions Chess Tour (CCT) 2025-2026, while Aravindh earned his place through DreamHack Atlanta earlier this year and will begin his campaign in the Play-In stage.

This marks a significant milestone for Indian chess at the EWC. Last year, Nihal and Arjun were the only Indians to compete in the tournament. Nihal, who qualified through the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ), reached the quarterfinals, while Arjun, who qualified through the Champions Chess Tour (CCT), finished fourth. This year, the number of Indian participants has doubled, making it the country’s largest-ever contingent at the event.