Carlsen wins Esports World Cup @ Riyadh
Still the best. Still the man to beat. That’s World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen for you. In the $1.5 million Esports World Cup at the stunning Boulevard City Riyadh, Magnus Carlsen (Team Liquid) defeated fellow speed demon Alireza Firouzja (Team Falcons) 3-1 in both the sets of the grand final. Carlsen took the first set with two wins & two draws, while the second set saw Firouzja bringing down the Norwegian in the first game. But that was the only silver lining for the Iranian French Grandmaster as Carlsen hit back winning the next three games to take the second set 3-1 and the title.
Carlsen gets the trophy and the winner’s cheque of $ 250,000 while second placed Firouzja takes home $ 190,000. In the match for the third place Hikaru Nakamura (Team Falcons) overcame Erigaisi Arjun (Team Gen G) 3.5-2.5 receiving a cash award of $ 145,000. Erigaisi got $ 115,000 for taking the fourth spot. The four day Esports chess event ran from 29th July to 1st August, 2025.
Chess, getting introduced into Esports World Cup for the first time showcased 16 top Grandmasters turning out for various teams. On display were 25 categories of Esports carrying a total prize money of $70 million plus. In December 2024, Magnus Carlsen – the Norwegian who would go on to win the 2025 Esports World Cup chess title – was announced as the EWC’s chess ambassador.
With each game going through a time frame of 10 minutes (without any increment) there was no dearth of thrill or excitement. Time was also an unseen opponent that these speed legends had to deal with.
The cash rich Esports World Cup is a game changer bringing huge money into the cerebral game of chess. If continued, the best in the business will surely turn up driving more players into the game. This mega 26 event digital festival runs for seven weeks from 8th July to 24th August, 2025.
Final Standings:
1. Magnus Carlsen (Team Liquid) $250,000
2. Alireza Firouzja (Team Falcons) $190,000
3. Hikaru Nakamura (Team Falcons) $145,000
4. Erigaisi Arjun (Team Gen G) $115,000
5-8. Ian Nepomniachtchi (Team Aurora), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Team Na’Vi), Nihal Sarin (Team S8UL), Levon Aronian (Team Reject) $85,000 each
9-12. Andrey Esipenko (Team Virtus Pro), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Team Vitality), Wei Yi (Team Weibo Gaming), Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Team Twisted Minds) $65,000 each
13-16. Vladislav Artemiev (Team Spirit), Anish Giri (Team Secret), Javokhir Sindarov (Team Vitality), Fabiano Caruana (Team Liquid) $50,000 each
Day 4: Results:
Grand finals: (Best of 3 sets of 4 games each): Magnus Carlsen beat Alireza Firouzja 3-1 & 3-1
Third place: (Best of 6 games): Hikaru Nakamura beat Erigaisi Arjun 3.5-2.5
Firouzja Alireza (2754) – Carlsen Magnus (2809) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 h6 6. b4 Bb6 7. a4 a6 8. O-O O-O 9. Nbd2 d6 10. h3 Ba7 11. Re1 Ne7 12. Nf1 Ng6 13. Ng3 c6 14. Bb3 d5 15. exd5 Nxd5 16. Bd2 Re8 17. Qc2 Be6 18. Rad1 Qc7 19. c4 Ndf4 20. Bxf4 Nxf4 21. c5 Bxb3 22. Qxb3 a5 23. d4 exd4 24. Rxe8+ Rxe8 25. Rxd4 Rd8 26. Re4 axb4 27. Rxb4 Rd7 28. Re4 Bxc5 29. Qc4? (failing to notice the danger, white gets check-mated five moves later)
29…Bxf2+ 30. Kxf2 Nd3+ 31. Ke3 Qxg3 32. Re8+ Kh7 33. Qe4+ g6 34. Re7 Qf2# 0-1
Erigaisi Arjun (2708) – Nakamura Hikaru (2738) 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bf4 c6 6. e3 Bf5 7. Nge2 Nd7 8. Ng3 Bg6 9. h3 Nb6 10. Nh5 Bxh5 11. Qxh5 Nf6 12. Qf3 Bb4 13. Qd1 Ne4 14. Qc2 Nf6 15. Bd3 Bd6 16. O-O-O Qe7 17. Kb1 O-O-O 18. Qb3 Kb8 19. a4 Bxf4 20. exf4 Qc7 21. a5 Nc8 22. a6 b6 23. g3 Nd6 24. Rhe1 Qd7 25. g4 h5 26. g5 Nfe8 27. Na4 Nc7 28. Rc1 Ncb5 29. Qb4 Qxh3 30. Bxb5 cxb5 31. Nc3 Qd3+ 32. Ka1 Qc4 33. Na2 Qxb4 34. Nxb4 Rde8 35. Re5 Rxe5 36. dxe5 Nf5 37. Nc6+ Ka8 38. Nb4 h4 39. Rc7 Nd4 40. Rxf7?? (with white rook & knight way off-side, black’s rook pawn decides the game)
40…h3 41. e6 h2 42. e7 h1=Q+ 43. Ka2 Qh5 44. Rf8+ Qe8 45. Rxe8+ Rxe8 46. Nxd5 Kb8 0-1
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Pictures Courtesy: Esports World Cup 2025
Gallery: https://esportsworldcup.com/en/gallery
Official Site: https://esportsworldcup.com/en/competitions/chess
