Since chess was announced as a tournament at the Esports World Cup last year in December, the hype has been rising as we’re slowly getting to know which chess esports players have been signed by the participating teams.
The 2025 Esports World Cup is taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from July 31 to August 3, with a prize fund of $1.5 million. Stay tuned to find out which Grandmasters have joined the cup and learn about the chess esports teams that will take part in the tournament.
More than a dozen esports teams have picked up one or two Grand Masters to represent their rosters at online esports chess tournaments. This is a major development compared to a few years ago when chess esports players didn’t really exist in that form. They still participated at online competitions but without any esports organisation representation. Things are different today thanks to rapid chess esports growth.
Team Liquid picked up probably the greatest player of today, GM Magnus Carlsen. Magnus certainly needs no introduction, as he won both the World Chess Championship and World Rapid Chess Championship five times, and he is the reigning (alongside Ian Nepomniachtchi) eight-time World Blitz Chess Champion.
Carlsen’s lowest rating in the past 12 years is 2822, which is a testament to his consistency and unwavering dominance. In 2019, Carlsen had won nine consecutive super tournaments, and his record of 125 consecutive games won is nothing short of mindblowing. Team Liquid made a brilliant move when they signed Magnus, a decision that is certain to pay off in the tournament. On top of that, he is a big esports fanatic and he’s already made his mark as one of the best chess esports players today.
With GM Fabiano Caruana, Team Liquid created a rock-solid roster with some of the top contenders. Fabiano reached the grandmaster title at the age of 14 in 2007, later winning the first Italian Chess Championship the same year. He went on to win this Championship numerous times in the next few years, soon placing him at the top of Italy’s chess masters.
Fabiano rose to prominence throughout the 2010s, peaking in 2017 when he reached the number 2 spot in the world. This chess wunderkind, who broke Nakamura’s records for America’s youngest chess grandmaster at the time, is definitely a great addition to Team Liquid.
The five-time Speed Chess Champion GM Hikaru Nakamura signed for Team Falcons in February. Currently ranked #2 on chess.com, Hikaru has consistently stayed on top for well over a decade.
He won the U.S. Chess Championship 5 times and is one of today’s best blitz and rapid chess players. Hikaru thrives in the current era of chess, as he is easily the most popular chess streamer, live-streaming on Twitch, YouTube, and Kick. His contributions to the growth in popularity of chess in the digital age make him one of the few true chess pioneers of this millennium, but he’s also one of the best chess esports players presently.
Announced in March, GM Alireza Firouzja joined Team Falcons. Alireza reached the 2700 ELO rating at the age of 16, making him the second youngest player ever to reach this rating (the first being Wei Yi). This two-time Iranian champion and two-time world championship candidate is one of the most exciting new chess prospects today.
Currently, the only player signed by the Serbia-based Team Aurora is “Nepo” – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi. The Russian chess virtuoso won the Candidates Tournament twice, ranking him high up with the greatest players of today. His victories also include the 2016 Tal Memorial and the Aeroflot Open in 2008, 2015, and 2025.
NAVI signed GM Wesley So, the 2022 Global Chess Champion. At only 14 years old, this chess prodigy became the ninth youngest GM in history, and his peak ELO rating places him as the fifth highest-rated player ever. Some of his achievements include winning both the U.S. Chess Championship and the Philippine Chess Championship three times, as well as the first-ever World Fischer Random Chess Championship in 2019.
Another top contender joined NAVI, the 2021 World Rapid Champion GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov. In 2024, he managed to climb to the fourth place in the world in live FIDE rating. This was a major milestone for Nodirbek’s chess career, and we expect to hear much more from him in the following years.
The third grandmaster team NAVI signed is GM Oleksandr Bortnyk. This truly gifted Ukrainian speed chess expert reached the grandmaster title in 2015, when he was only 19. Oleksandr was the Champion of Ukraine in Blitz and Rapid Chess Championships, and is currently considered one of the strongest online Bullet and Blitz players, making him a significant addition to NAVI’s roster.
On April 9, Team Secret announced that they will be signing GM Anish Giri, the five-time Dutch champion who has represented the Netherlands at seven Chess Olympiads. He is infamous for being hard to defeat, as his universal style is sharp and well-rounded. Currently ranked number one in the Netherlands, Anish is expected to rank high up with Team Secret.
In February, LGD picked up GM Ding Liren – the first Chinese player to become World Chess Champion and the first Chinese player to reach the ELO rating of 2800 (peaking at 2816). Ding became the 17th world chess champion in 2023 by defeating Ian Nepomniachtchi, and is a phenomenal draft for LGD.
The 2021 World Blitz Champion, GM “MVL”, was signed by Team Vitality. This French grandmaster has spent an extended time among the top five players in the world since 2016, winning the Biel Grandmaster Tournament five times, the French Chess Championship three times, and the European Blitz Championship two times – a record of achievements few can match.
The Indian grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi signed for Gen.G. Arjun is another chess prodigy who reached the GM title at only 14 years old. In 2024, he reached the rating of 2801, making him the 15h highest rated player of all time, and the second Indian player ever to reach a score higher than 2800, the first being Vishy Anand. He won the WR Chess Masters Cup in 2024, beating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the finals.
On April 9th, Team Spirit signed Daniil Dubov, a Russian chess grandmaster. Like many gifted players listed here, Daniil reached the Grandmaster title fairly young, being only 14 years old when he did so. According to his trainer, Daniil’s play style resembles the play style of the legendary “Iron Tigran”, creating rock-solid defenses paired with strong attacking capabilities. He won the 2018 World Rapid Championship, as well as the Abu Dhabi Masters tournament, taking place in the same year.
Besides Daniil Dubov, the second grandmaster Team Spirit signed in April was Vladislav Artemiev, the 2019 European Chess Champion. He also won the 2021 Russian Blitz Championship, and the following year, Vladislav managed to win both the Moscow Open and the Russian Rapid Championship with impressive scores. His recent achievements include finishing first in both the 76th and 77th Russian Championships, taking place in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
On April 13th, the young Indian chess prodigy GM Nihal Sarin was signed by S8UL. In 2018, the promising chess virtuoso reached a 2600 ELO rating at 14 years old, making him the third youngest player in history to achieve this rating. This year, Nihal won the 18th Tashkent Open “Agzamov Memorial”, so it’s safe to say that there’s more to come from this gifted chess player.
Along with Nihal Sarin, GM Aravindh Chithambaram was picked up by S8UL on April 13th. Aravindh showed potential at a young age, claiming the Grandmaster title in 2015, at age 15. His style can be described as sharp and robust, winning games against a number of chess heavyweights like Vishy Anand, Wesley So, and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.
The winner of the 2024 World Rapid Chess Championship, GM Volodar Murzin, was signed by AG Global. He was just 18 years old at the time this championship took place, yet he managed to defeat several top world players – Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, and Jan-Krzysztof Duda.
The England-based Wolves Esports signed the Chinese chess prodigy, GM Yu Yangyi. He was only 14 when he qualified for the Grandmaster title in 2009. Some of his achievements include winning the Chinese Chess Championship three times and the 2014 Asian Chess Championship.
GM Wei Yi signed for Weibo in February. He won the 2020 Tata Steel Chess Tournament and is a three-time Chinese Chess Champion (a feat GM Yu Yangyi also accomplished), as well as the winner of the 2018 Asian Chess Championship. Wei reached the grandmaster title at the age of 13, and at 15, he reached the ELO rating of 2700, being the youngest player ever to do so.
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