Last Chance Qualifier – Group stage
The Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has brought together over two thousand players from more than 200 clubs across various gaming disciplines. For the first time, chess is among the featured events, with a $1.5 million prize fund allocated to the main chess competition, set to begin on Tuesday, 29 July.
The 16-player main event will include 12 invitees from the 2025 Champions Chess Tour leaderboard and four players who qualify through the onsite Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ), currently taking place at the venue.
The Classical Sicilian has stood the test of time as one of the most principled and fighting defences against 1.e4. With its rich history spanning world championship matches and modern elite tournaments, this opening remains a favourite among players who seek a dynamic, counterattacking approach without venturing into extreme theoretical battles like the Najdorf or Sveshnikov.
Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: 6.h3
The LCQ runs from 24 to 26 July and offers its own prize pool of $50,000. While open to all, only players representing clubs or sponsored teams have expenses covered. An exception was made for four players – Oleksandr Bortnyk, Alexey Sarana, Aravindh Chithambaram and Andrew Tang – who earned free entry by winning DreamHack Dallas 2025.
All games are played on chess.com but onsite at Boulevard City, using a rapid time control of 10 minutes for all moves, with no increment.
The qualifier began with a two-day group stage, where the participants were divided into four groups (A to D), each playing a seven-round Swiss tournament. On Thursday, Groups A and B were contested, while Groups C and D followed on Friday. From each group, the top four players advanced to the Playoffs, a 16-player double-elimination knockout that will be held on Saturday. The four remaining players at the end of that stage will secure a place in next week’s main event.
The playing hall
Group stage results
- Group A (32 participants, 12 titled): Four players finished on 5½/7 to take the qualifying spots – Levon Aronian, Alexey Sarana, Marc’Andria Maurizzi and Jules Moussard. Vidit Gujrathi, Dmitry Andreikin and Daniil Dubov failed to advance.
- Group B (46 participants, 7 titled): Oleksandr Bortnyk led the field with 6 points, while Andrey Esipenko, Nihal Sarin and Ahmed Adly followed with 5½. Notably, Nodirbek Yakubboev and Aleksandar Indjic missed out.
- Group C (37 participants, 8 titled): Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu scored 6 points to top the group. Also qualifying were Yu Yangyi, Javokhir Sindarov and Anish Giri, all on 5½. Vincent Keymer, Victor Bologan and Andrew Tang were among those eliminated.
- Group D (45 participants, 10 titled): Both Hans Niemann and Denis Lazavik scored 6 points, while Alexander Grischuk and Bassem Amin qualified with 5½. David Antón and Volodar Murzin did not make the cut.
In this insightful video course, Grandmaster David Navara shares practical advice on when to calculate deeply in a position — and just as importantly, when not to.
Free sample video: Introduction
Free sample video: Invisible moves
Levon Aronian
Alexander Grischuk
Anish Giri
Next stage – Knockout
The 16 group-stage qualifiers will return on Saturday for the final stage: a double-elimination knockout bracket.
Each match will be played over two games. If tied, the result will be decided by a bidding armageddon game, where players secretly bid how much time they are willing to play with for the right to choose colour, starting from a base time of 10 minutes.
The bracket will end once four players remain, which means the Winners Final and Losers Semifinal will not be played.
The four survivors of the knockout will qualify for the main Esports World Cup chess tournament, which starts Tuesday. There, they will join twelve pre-qualified players:
- Magnus Carlsen
- Hikaru Nakamura
- Ian Nepomniachtchi
- Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
- Jan-Krzysztof Duda
- Arjun Erigaisi
- Nodirbek Abdusattorov
- Vladislav Artemiev
- Alireza Firouzja
- Vladimir Fedoseev
- Fabiano Caruana
- Wei Yi
