Esports World Cup 2026: India’s chess hopes extinguish as Arjun, Nihal exit

Gen.G Esports’ Arjun Erigaisi in action during the quarterfinals of chess at Esports World Cup 2026. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

India’s chess challenge in the Esports World Cup 2026 ended on Friday as both Nihal Sarin and Arjun Erigaisi lost in the quarterfinals to Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, respectively, on Friday.

Carlsen and Nihal, playing in a repeat fixture from last Esports World Cup’s quarterfinal, had an identical result, with the defending champion brushing the Indian aside with a 2-0 win, even as the third match finished in a draw. 

Meanwhile, Arjun put on a more competitive show against Nakamura, drawing all four matches and forcing an Armageddon, where the American secured a win to enter the semifinals. Nakamura, however, succumbed later to a major upset, with Denis Lazavik continuing his victorious run.

The 19-year-old Belarusian, who had beaten 2024 Blitz champion Ian Nepomniachtchi to enter the quarters, now stunned Nakamura — a FIDE World Team Blitz Championship winner. Lazavik, who had lost to Nakamura in the upper-bracket playoff, came clutch in the semifinal to eliminate the American, who lost the fifth game by resignation.

READ: Hikaru Nakamura: Classical Chess World Championship could completely lose its value

In the summit clash, Lazavik will face the winner of the game between Carlsen and Alireza Firouzja later in the evening.

Indian players earned a prize pool of USD 225,000, of which Nihal and Arjun earned USD 75,000 (approx. INR 71.7 lakh), while Pranesh M took home USD 55,000 (approx. INR 52.6 lakh). Arvindh Chidambaram, despite losing in the play-ins, will earn USD 20,000 (approx. INR 19 lakh) from the tournament.

For fans of Indian teams at the tournament, the focus will now shift to BGMI, where two esports teams from India – GodLike Esports and S8UL — will be in action over the next two days. Both teams skipped the survival stages with impressive results in the opening rounds, securing their respective spots in the grand finals.

Strangely, with over 10 players having likely fallen sick due to food poisoning, limited action was seen at the event on Friday. Sportstar has reached out to some of the players, and a comment is awaited from the organisers as well.

(The writer is in Paris at the invitation of the Esports Foundation)