The Chess Esports World Cup 2025 will take place from 29 July to 1 August at Boulevard Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia. Notably, one Indian esports club, S8UL, and Indian players like Praggnanandhaa, Aravindh Chithambaram, Nihal Sarin, and Vidit Gujrathi are participating in the Chess EWC 2025 from various teams. The main event will kick off on 29 July, and before that, the Last Chance Qualifiers will take place from 24 to 26 July 2025. Check out everything you need to know about Chess Esports World Cup 2025. 

Chess Esports World Cup 2025: Everything You Need to Know 

Last Chance Qualifiers - 24 to 26 July 2025 

The Last Chance Qualifiers of the Chess Esports World Cup 2025 will take place from 24 to 26 July. 

The Open Qualifiers will be played on 24 and 25 July, and Playoffs on 26 July. The matches will be rapid games where 10 minutes per player no extra time after each move. 

The Open Qualifiers will  follow a Swiss System format (9 rounds, best of 1 matches) and top 4 players from each group move to playoffs. 

Playoffs - 26 July 2025 

The Playoffs will be played in Double Elimination format. Players need to lose twice to get knocked out. The top 4 players from the playoffs will qualify for the Main Event. 

Chess Esports World Cup 2025 Main Event 

The main event of the Chess EWC 2025 will take place from 29 July to 1 August. The format is divided into two stages. 

In Stage 1, there are 4 groups with 4 players each. They play in a GSL format, where each match has 2 games with a time control of 10 minutes per player and no increment. If there’s a tie, an Armageddon game (a special tiebreaker) is used to decide the winner.

In Stage 2, the top players move to a Single Elimination bracket. The time control stays the same: 10 minutes per player, no increment, and Armageddon as a tiebreaker. The Round of 8 (Ro8) has 4 games per match, semi-finals (Ro4) have 6 games, and the Grand Final is played in best-of-3 sets. Each of the first two sets has 4 games, and if needed, the final set has 2 games.

Indian participation in Chess EWC 2025

Last Chance Qualifiers 

  • Aravindh Chithambaram - S8UL (Indian club)
  • Nihal Sarin - S8UL (Indian club)
  • R Praggnanandhaa - Team Liquid 
  • Aarav Dengla 
  • Vidit Gujarathi 

Main Event 

  • Arjun Erigaisi - Gen.G Esports