Esports World Cup Welcomes Chess to 2025 Games LineupNews

Esports World Cup Welcomes Chess to 2025 Games Lineup with a $1.5 Million Prize Pool

One of History’s Most Enduring and Popular Games Joins the World’s Largest Gaming and Esports Festival to Bring Competitive Chess to New Audiences

Riyadh/New York, December 17, 2024 — Today, the Esports World Cup Foundation (“EWCF”), and Chess.com announced a multi-year partnership that will bring competitive online chess to the 2025 Esports World Cup (EWC), the world's largest esports and gaming festival, set to return to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, next summer. Chess is one of the most popular games on the planet, with more than 600 million players, and Chess.com is the leading website for playing, learning, and enjoying chess with nearly 200 million members. Additionally, Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen will join Chess at the Esports World Cup as a Global Ambassador.

As part of the partnership, the Champions Chess Tour (CCT), a fast chess.com tournament circuit, will become the primary path for the world’s best chess players to qualify for the EWC championship event. In 2025, there will be two online Tour events, in February and May, boasting a combined $300k prize pool, offering players opportunities to compete on the world’s biggest esports stage.

“Bringing chess, a game that has been played for 1,500 years, to the Esports World Cup is a truly exciting moment,” said Ralf Reichert, CEO of the Esports World Cup Foundation. “It’s the perfect example of how games evolve: from boards to screens, the core competition stays the same. Chess's rich history, global appeal, and thriving competitive scene make it a perfect fit for our mission to unite the world's most popular games and their passionate communities under one competitive umbrella. Partnering with the leading online platform for the game, Chess.com, and appointing the legendary Magnus Carlsen, a true GOAT of the sport, as the game’s ambassador, allows us to not only showcase chess on a massive stage but also to drive innovation and growth within its already vibrant ecosystem. We're eager to see how our Clubs embrace this new challenge.”

Magnus Carlsen, widely regarded as one of the greatest chess players in history, joins the Esports World Cup as an ambassador, bringing his unparalleled expertise to the partnership. With his legendary career and ability to captivate audiences, Magnus has elevated chess from a traditional board game to a modern global online phenomenon, setting it on a path into the esports ecosystem.

As an ambassador, Magnus will help connect chess with the broader esports community by showcasing the mental strategy and competitive spirit that chess shares with other top-tier esports titles. Working with the Esports World Cup Foundation, his involvement will help inspire a new generation of players and fans, emphasizing the intellectual depth and excitement of chess on a global stage.

“I’m thrilled to see chess join some of the biggest games in the world at the Esports World Cup," said Magnus Carlsen, Grandmaster. "This partnership is an incredible opportunity to grow the game, by introducing chess to new audiences and inspiring the next generation of players. Being part of the esports family is an amazing opportunity for chess to broaden its reach to a massive group of esports fans."

The top 12 players from the CCT will be invited to the EWC Chess tournament, which will take place between July 31 and August 3, 2025, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ), open to both amateur and professional players, will be held in Riyadh and will determine four remaining spots to round out the field of competitors. Players will compete for a share of the $1.5 million prize pool, and valuable Esports World Cup Club Championship points.

The format of the competition has been designed to bring competitive chess to a new esports audience. Matches will be played in the rapid 10+0 chess format, giving games a quick pace while still showcasing the strategic brilliance of the players. Should a match be tied after regulation, there will be a single Armageddon game as a tiebreaker.

Chess joins the 2025 lineup of the world’s most popular gaming titles at the Esports World Cup, bringing together the top clubs, players, and fans under one banner for the largest celebration of gaming as a global sport. The tournament’s unique cross-game competition format across over 20 titles, rewarding Clubs for their performance in each, connects audiences to their favorite games and promotes the growth and innovation of the broader esports and gaming ecosystem.

With origins tracing back over 1,500 years to ancient India, chess has evolved through centuries into a global intellectual pursuit and one of the world’s most popular forms of entertainment. Chess’ transition to online platforms began in the late 1990s, but its popularity exploded in the 2010s with platforms like Chess.com offering accessible gameplay, lessons, puzzles, and global competitions. This shift was further accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the increasing popularity of streaming platforms and influencers, alongside hit cultural phenomena like The Queen’s Gambit, have cemented chess as a dynamic and widely celebrated digital sport.

The Champions Chess Tour is a premier online chess competition bringing the world’s top players together in a series of rapid-format tournaments. Launched in 2020, the Tour revolutionized the chess landscape by offering a fully digital, viewer-friendly experience, complete with live commentary and interactive features. The 2024 Tour will conclude in Oslo, Norway this week as eight finalists battle for the final $500K out of a total season prize pool of $1.7 million.