The chess tournament at the 2026 Esports World Cup was held in Paris, France, from August 11 to 15, 2026. Twenty-two players from fifteen teams took part in this tournament – The reigning Esports World Cup champion, 3 players from 2025 Speed Chess Championship, 3 from 2026 Chess.com Open, 6 players from Champions Chess Tour 2025–2026 standings, 1 player from Road to EWC – India Rising, 3 players from Road to EWC – DreamHack Atlanta and 5 players from the Last Chance Qualifier. Twenty-two players from qualified based on their player's performance in these tournaments. Magnus Carlsen from Team Liquid retained his title by defeating Denis Lazavik from AG.AL in the Grand final with 4 rounds to spare.
It was the second edition of the chess tournament at the Esports World Cup, which is part of a two-year partnership between online gaming platform Chess.com and the Esports Foundation (2025–2026) to bring online chess into the event.
Format In the play-in stage, the three players which qualified from DreamHack Atlanta and five from the Last Chance Qualifier were drawn into a double-elimination bracket, with the top two players advancing to the group stage.
In the group stage, the remaining sixteen players were divided into two groups and competed in a double-elimination bracket, with the first four players to achieve two wins in each group advancing to the quarterfinals.
The playoffs were an eight-player single-elimination bracket. The players that lost in the semifinals had to compete in a third-place match. Quarterfinal matches in the playoffs were best-of-fours, while the semifinal matches and the third-place playoff were best-of-six. The Grand Final was a best-of-three set match, with the first two set consisting of four games each and the third set consisting of two games.
Qualification The reigning Esports World Cup champion automatically qualified along with three players from 2025 Speed Chess Championship, three from 2026 Chess.com Open, six from Champions Chess Tour 2025–2026 standings, one from Road to EWC – India Rising, three from Road to EWC – DreamHack Atlanta and five from the Last Chance Qualifier.
Qualified players Event Qualifier2025 Esports World CupMagnus Carlsen (Team Liquid)2025 Speed Chess ChampionshipMagnus Carlsen (Team Liquid)Alireza Firouzja (Team Falcons)Denis Lazavik (AG.AL)2026 Chess.com OpenMagnus Carlsen (Team Liquid)Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Weibo Gaming)Denis Lazavik (AG.AL)Champions Chess Tour 2025–2026 standingsHikaru Nakamura (Team Falcons)Nihal Sarin (S8UL Esports)Ian Nepomniachtchi (Aurora Gaming)Sina Movahed (Team Stallions)Hans Niemann (GodLike Esports)Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Natus Vincere)Arjun Erigaisi (Gen.G Esports)Alexey Sarana (Fnatic)Pranesh M (S8UL Esports)Road to EWC – DreamHack AtlantaAravindh Chithambaram (S8UL Esports)Alexey Sarana (Fnatic)Lê Quang Liêm (Team Flash)Andrey Esipenko (Virtus.pro)Road to EWC – India RisingBenjamin Bok (Team MGD1)Last Chance QualifierWei Yi (Team Nemesis)Vladislav Artemiev (Team Spirit)Alexander GrischukParham MaghsoodlooOlexandr Bortnyk
Draw A draw was conducted for the group stage on 11 August 2026. Group AGroup BNodirbek Abdusattorov (Natus Vincere)Hikaru Nakamura (Team Falcons)Pranesh M (S8UL Esports)Alexey Sarana (Fnatic)Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Weibo Gaming)Denis Lazavik (AG.AL)Benjamin Bok (Team MGD1)Sina Movahed (Team Stallions)Arjun Erigaisi (Gen.G Esports)Magnus Carlsen (Team Liquid)Nihal Sarin (S8UL Esports)Andrey Esipenko (Virtus.pro)Alireza Firouzja (Team Falcons)Hans Niemann (GodLike Esports)Wei Yi (Team Nemesis)Ian Nepomniachtchi (Aurora Gaming)
Play-in Dates: 11 August 2026 8 players are drawn into a double-elimination-style bracket. The top two players advance to the Group stage. Remaining players are eliminated. Time control: 10+0 In the Armageddon, the player who either wins or draws with the black pieces gets a full point and wins the match.
Group stage Dates: 12–13 August 2026 16 players are drawn into two groups of eight players each. Each group plays a double-elimination-style bracket. The top four players from each group advance to the playoffs. Remaining players are eliminated. Time control: 10+0 In the Armageddon, the player who either wins or draws with the black pieces gets a full point and wins the match.
Group A
Group B
Playoffs Dates: 14–15 August 2026 Eight players will be drawn into matchups based on a draw. Time control: 10+0 In the Armageddon, the player who either wins or draws with the black pieces gets a full point and wins the match.
Ranking A base prize pool of US$1,500,000 was offered for the tournament. The prize pool was spread among the players as seen below: Place Team Prize (USD) 1st Magnus Carlsen (Team Liquid) $250,000 2nd Denis Lazavik (AG.AL) $190,000 3rd Hikaru Nakamura (Team Falcons) $145,000 4th Alireza Firouzja (Team Falcons) $100,000 5th–8th Nihal Sarin (S8UL Esports) $72,500 Hans Niemann (GodLike Esports) Arjun Erigaisi (Gen.G Esports) Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Natus Vincere) 9th–12th Ian Nepomniachtchi (Aurora Gaming) $52,500 Sina Movahed (Team Stallions) Pranesh M (S8UL Esports) Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Weibo Gaming) 13th–16th Alexey Sarana (Fnatic) $40,000 Andrey Esipenko (Virtus.pro) Wei Yi (Team Nemesis) Benjamin Bok (Team MGD1) 17th Vladislav Artemiev (Team Spirit) $32,000 18th Parham Maghsoodloo $27,000 19th–20th Olexandr Bortnyk $25,000 Alexander Grischuk 21st–22nd Lê Quang Liêm (Team Flash) $23,000 Aravindh Chithambaram (S8UL Esports) See also Champions Chess Tour 2025–2026
External links Esports World Cup official website
References