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Indian Grandmasters Arjun, Nihal Secure Top-Eight EWC Chess Finishes

Indian Grandmasters Arjun, Nihal Secure Top-Eight EWC Chess Finishes
Esports World Cup 2026: Arjun Erigaisi And Nihal Sarin Finish In Top 8 As India’s Chess Campaign Ends In Quarterfinals · freepressjournal.in

The Esports World Cup is a big tournament for video game competitions, and it also has a chess event.

Two chess players from India, Arjun Erigaisi and Nihal Sarin, played very well and reached the last eight players in the world.

That is the best India has ever done in this tournament.

Arjun's four games all ended in draws, so he had to play a special tiebreaker called Armageddon.

In that tiebreaker, his opponent Hikaru Nakamura beat him, so Arjun finished in the top eight.

Nihal played against Magnus Carlsen, the champion who had won last year and is one of the best chess players ever.

Magnus won the first two games and then drew the third, so he won the match 2.5 to 0.5.

Even though they lost, Arjun and Nihal each won $75,000 in prize money.

The semifinals will now be Nakamura against Lazavik and Carlsen against Firouzja.

India can be proud of Arjun and Nihal for doing so well against the best chess players in the world.

Key facts

Event
Esports World Cup 2026 – Chess tournament
Venue
Paris
India's Best Result
Quarterfinals / top-eight finish, strongest showing ever at the event
Arjun Erigaisi's Result
Eliminated by Hikaru Nakamura in Armageddon tiebreak
Nihal Sarin's Result
Lost 2.5-0.5 to Magnus Carlsen
Prize Money per Player
USD 75,000 (~Rs 71.5 lakh)
Total Prize Pool
USD 1.5 million (~Rs 14.3 crore)
Semifinal Line-up
Nakamura vs Lazavik; Carlsen vs Firouzja

Quotes

Arjun Erigaisi

Indian Grandmaster and Gen.G Esports player

“"I got a great position out of the opening. I took his bishop and I was in an extremely good situation. To be honest, I didn't see how I could lose this, because he's the one who had to try and make a draw in such a position ... at that point, I was only maybe one and a half or two minutes behind on a draw. So this was the first moment where it went wrong."”
rediff.com CNBC TV 18

Sources

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