Magnus Carlsen wins the inaugural Chess Esports World Cup

The current no.1 Chess player, Magnus Carlsen, has won the inaugural Chess Esports World Cup by defeating Alireza Firouzja in the Grand Finals.

With the win, Magnus has won $250k for himself and 1000 Club Championship points for Team Liquid.

Chess at EWC 2025: A Recap

The EWC 2025 Chess action kicked off with the LCQs featuring 16 players. Only five of them made it through:

• Nihal Sarin
• Javokhir Sindarov
• Levon Aronian
• Anish Giri
• Andrey Episenko

These joined the 11 directly qualified players. A total of 16 players played the Group stage, concluding in eight Playoffs participants.

The eight players qualified for the playoffs were:

• Ian Nepomniatchi
• Arjun Erigiasi
• Alireza Firouzja
• Nodirbek Abdusattorov
• Magnus Carlsen
• Nihal Sarin
• Levon Aronian
• Hikaru Nakamura

After a thrilling set of Quarterfinals, only Arjun, Alireza, Magnus & Hikaru survived.

Semifinal 1 - Arjun vs. Alireza

In the battle of youngsters, Alireza dominated Arjun, winning games with the white pieces & drawing the game on black to secure the Grand Finals.

Semifinal 2 - Magnus vs. Hikaru

Magnus started the game winning as white, gaining an early advantage. The second game ended in a draw, but Hikaru's win with the black pieces in Game 3 equalized the series. Magnus then won back with the black pieces, securing yet another lead, but failed to close out in Game 5 with the white pieces.

Hikaru needed to win with the white pieces to force a tie-breaker, and he won Game 6, pushing the match to Armageddon. Unfortunately, he couldn't hold against Magnus, and lost the match in the end.

Third Place Decider - Arjun vs Hikaru

To decide third place, Arjun struck first, winning with the white pieces and defended as black in the following game.

Hikaru did not back down as he won two games in a row to go 2.5-1.5 up. Arjun quickly equalized for the players to head to a final game for all the marbles.

Game 6 was a long drawn affair, coming down to the wire. But under the pressure, Hikaru's experience reigned supreme with him winning the match 3.5-2.5.

Grand Finals: Old Guard vs. New Generation

Leading up to the finals, both competitors had a phenomenal tournament. Magnus couldn't be bothered to lose. Alireza, who has been largely missing for the past two years, was tearing the competition apart.

Many expected the match to be a tight affair, especially since Magnus holds (at least held) Alireza in high regard. Unfortunately, the Grand Finals were anticlimactic at best.

The match started with a four-game set, kicking off with Magnus taking a lead after capitalizing on Alireza's mistake. Despite advantageous positions, Alireza's suboptimal time management landed him in deep waters throughout the first set. This led to Magnus drawing Game 2 & 3 and winning Game 4 to go up 1-0.

The second set started with a Magnus blunder leading to an Alireza win, but the former World Champion only got sharper from there, completely blowing Alireza out of the water to win the second set 3-1 and the Chess Esports World Cup Finals  2-0.

While Magnus was expected to win, he too admitted to feeling the nerves of playing on the stage. But he won't be the Greatest Player of all Time if nerves affect the outcome of his matches.

Was Chess a Successful EWC event?

Incorporating Chess into the Esports World Cup was definitely a good plan. While not technically considered an esport, Chess events have similar logistics, especially modern day events.

Additionally, having some of the biggest names competing at the EWC brought in a new set of eyes to the event itself. Not to mention the esports fans that were introduced to Chess players, the lore, and the game itself.

In terms of viewership, Chess clocked an impressive 243k peak viewers (according to Esports Charts); a solid number for a first time event. Overall, the inclusion of Chess has done a phenomenal job of bringing the two worlds closer together.

To find out more about the Esports World Cup 2025, make sure to check out our guide.

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Featured Image Credit: Esports World Cup