Praggnanandhaa joins Magnus Carlsen at Team Liquid before Esports World Cup 2025
R. Pragnanandhaa has joined Magnus Carlsen at Team Liquid, a Dutch esports organisation, a week before the Esports World Cup begins in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Online chess is making its debut at the second edition of the Esports World Cup, and the Indian grandmaster is the third member of a team that has World No. 1 Carlsen and four-time U.S. Champion Fabiano Caruana.
The announcement came a day after Praggnanandhaa won the 2nd UzChess Cup, and he becomes the third Indian in contention to secure a spot in the World Cup finals.
So far, only Arjun Erigaisi (Generation Gaming) has a confirmed spot while Nihal Sarin and Aravindh Chithambaram from Indian esports organisation, S8UL, will look to seal a berth in the Last Chance Qualifiers, along with Praggnanandhaa.
List of confirmed chess players at Esports World Cup 2025 finals:
Magnus Carlsen (Team Liquid)
Fabiano Caruana (Team Liquid)
Hikaru Nakamura (Team Falcons)
Alireza Firouzja (Team Falcons)
Arjun Erigaisi (Generation Gaming)
Ian Nepomniachtchi (Aurora)
Nodirbek Abdusattorov (NAVI)
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Team Vitality)
Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Twisted Minds)
Wei Yi (Weibo)
Vladislav Artemiev (Team Spirit)
Vladimir Fedoseev.
'Before chess conquered the world, it was born in India. For centuries, India has shaped the game. Now, it shapes the future. Praggnanandhaa R. carries that legacy forward — and today, he joins ours. Welcome to Team Liquid. The future of chess starts here,' the esports organisation wrote on X.
This is not the first time Praggnanandhaa and Carlsen are in the same team, with the two previously featuring as teammates in Global Chess League in consecutive seasons, in 2023 and 2024.
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