Latest news with #EsportsWorldCup2025
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First Post
37 minutes ago
- Sport
- First Post
Nihal Sarin reaches Esports World Cup quarters as Anish Giri slams his mouse after loss to Indian Grandmaster; watch video
Indian Grandmaster Nihal Sarin underlined his prowess in fast formats as he defeated Anish Giri and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to reach the quarter-finals of Esports World Cup. Giri's video of slamming his mouse in frustration is going viral. read more Nihal Sarin is the second Indian Grandmaster to reach the chess tournament quarter-finals at the Esports World Cup 2025. Images: ChessBase India/@S8ulesports on X India's Nihal Sarin stormed into the quarter-finals of the chess tournament at the Esports World Cup (EWC) 2025 on Wednesday by winning his Loser Brackets matches, as he joins world No.1 Magnus Carlsen and compatriot Arjun Erigaisi in the next round. Sarin defeated Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri (2-0) and French player Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (1.5-0.5) in Group B matches to qualify for the quarter-finals of the tournament being played in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Also Read | Meanwhile, Ian Nepomniachtchi (Group A), Hikaru Nakamura (Group C) and Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Group D) have also qualified for the final eight-stage. While Vladislav Artemiev, Andrey Esipenko, Anish Giri, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Javokhir Sindarov, Wei Yi, Fabiano Caruana and Jan-Krzysztof Duda have been eliminated. The biggest shock elimination was that of Duda, who resigned on move five in Armageddon after a mouse slip forced a blunder from his end and cost him at least $20,000 in prize money earnings. Nihal reaches quarters; Giri slams his mouse On Tuesday, Levon Aronian (Group A), Erigaisi (Group B), Alireza Firouzja (Group C) and Carlsen (Group D) had qualified for the quarter-finals by winning their respective groups. Meanwhile, Kerala GM Nihal's victory over Anish Giri is going viral on social media after the veteran Dutch Grandmaster banged his mouse in frustration. Giri's instinctive action was reminiscent of Carlsen banging the table in June after losing a match against world champion D Gukesh at Norway Chess 2025. Anish bangs his mouse as S8UL star Nihal Sarin defeats Anish Giri 2-0! Nihal now moves to the lower bracket Decider Match against MVL - whoever wins moves to the Quarterfinals. — ChessBase India (@ChessbaseIndia) July 30, 2025 Also going viral is Nihal attending the event of Giri's key getting crushed at the Esports World Cup 2025. As a symbolic act, a player's key is crushed at the tournament after they are eliminated. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD From LCQ to playoffs for @NihalSarin 🚀 Nihal Sarin CRUSHES Anish Giri's key following his 2-0 win — EWC Extra (@EWC_Extra) July 30, 2025 The chess tournament at the EWC has a mega prize pool of $1.5 million. The eight players reaching the quarter-finals are guaranteed at least $85,000 (approximately Rs 75 lakh) together. The winner of the chess tournament will earn $250,000 (approximately Rs 2.2 crore).
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First Post
9 hours ago
- Sport
- First Post
'Magnus respects Gukesh, his words are being misinterpreted': Nihal Sarin defends World No. 1 after table slam reaction
In an exclusive chat with Firstpost, Indian Grandmaster Nihal Sarin reacted to Magnus Carlsen's remarks on Gukesh, and shared his thoughts on India's growing dominance in world chess. He has also qualified for the quarterfinals of the Esports World Cup 2025 in Riyadh, representing Team S8UL. read more Indian Grandmaster Nihal Sarin is making headlines again, this time in the world of esports chess. The 20-year-old has qualified for the quarterfinals of the Esports World Cup 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, after beating France's Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 1.5-0.5 in the group stages. He has now joined fellow Indian Arjun Erigaisi in the knockout rounds. Sarin, who represents Team S8UL, bounced back strongly after losing to Arjun in his opening match on Tuesday, July 29. He went on to defeat Dutch GM Anish Giri 2-0 before his impressive win over Vachier-Lagrave. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD In an exclusive chat with Firstpost, Nihal shared his thoughts on a range of topics, including Magnus Carlsen's recent comments, where he downplayed Gukesh's potential, to Carlsen's table slam reaction after losing to the World Champion at Norway Chess earlier this year. On Carlsen's remarks on Gukesh, table-slam reaction & more On Carlsen's remarks about Indian GM Gukesh, Nihal said that the World No. 1 player's words are being misinterpreted and overdramatised. Carlsen had said he was not fully convinced about Gukesh's skills in rapid and blitz formats. He mentioned that Gukesh hasn't really proven himself in those formats, and that he would treat games against him like he is playing a weaker opponent. But after losing to him in the SuperUnited Rapid and blitz tournament, Carlsen changed his stance and acknowledged Gukesh's abilities. 'I feel like Magnus' words are being misinterpreted, and he has said it himself as well. Magnus definitely respects Gukesh. He's an amazing player. Gukesh's results in classical have been significantly better than rapid and blitz. His style is a bit more like that, very precise. In classical, you have much more time to sit and calculate, and rapid-blitz is much more instincts-based. So, I guess Gukesh has trained much more in the calculation way; it's more natural for him. And it's normal. Obviously, he is improving in other formats too. He finished first in Rapid in Zagreb, I believe, ahead of a very strong field including Magnus,' Nihal said. 'I feel Gukesh right now is a bit like how Fabiano Caruana used to be a few years ago. He used to be the one considered weaker in rapid and blitz. In classical, he was a beast. Around lockdown, there was a lot more rapid and blitz, and he just started to adapt, started to take maybe more interest in it, focused a bit more on it, and now he is among the best in those two. I feel Magnus' words are being overdramatised a bit,' he added. Talking about what makes Magnus still such a strong player even today, Nihal said that the Norwegian is like a machine when in good form. 'He's [Magnus] just so good. You could say form is temporary and class is permanent. I kind of know the level, having had some opportunities to face him myself. I have felt that, because when Magnus is playing well, it's like playing against a machine. It's not something you feel against many people.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Nihal also reacted to Carlsen's emotional reaction after losing to Gukesh recently, when he banged the table. 'It's not that common and it's not desirable for anyone. No one wants to actively do it. Having been in that kind of position, I totally understand the reaction. Magnus was completely outplaying Gukesh and was winning. When all hope seemed lost, Gukesh started resisting brilliantly, and Magnus, very atypical of him, went a bit astray and it got a bit out of hand, and he ended up losing the game. Having been in a similar position, I completely understand the reaction. Later, I saw Magnus saying in an interview that 'it's like a tennis player smashing a racquet.' So, I don't think it's anything personal.' Nihal congratulates Divya and talks about India's growing dominance Nihal also had praise for India's rising women's chess star Divya Deshmukh, who recently won the FIDE Women's World Cup and became a Grandmaster. 'Massive congrats to her [Divya]. That is a crazy achievement and something incredibly special and historic. In general, I wish her the very best and hope that it's the beginning of many more results to come. I believe that she has just shown a glimpse of what she is capable of.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD When asked if India could rule both men's and women's chess at the same time, Nihal sounded hopeful and confident and compared India's position to that of Soviet Union. 'Yeah, definitely and I can also kind of say that it need not be future actually. We are already leading in chess. Like for example, this olympiad was an absolutely standout performance double gold and also in a very dominant fashion. I believe that is already something huge and I definitely hope that it won't be a one-time thing at all. Like a lot of great players, obviously, there are many other strong countries too, but I don't think it's a thing of the far future. It's extremely possible and with the trend I hope it will be how Soviet Union used to be at some point. It's not going to be easy, of course at all but there is potential for sure. I totally believe.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD When asked what skill he would borrow from another top player, Nihal replied with admiration for Carlsen again. 'There are many good options to choose from but let's say Magnus' technique in conversion. How he used to convert slightly better positions, it was just something completely extraordinary.'
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First Post
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
- First Post
'I treat it as I am playing from home': Carlsen reflects on unique experience of playing at Esports World Cup
Magnus Carlsen enjoyed a fruitful day as he reached the quarter-finals of the chess tournament at Esports World Cup 2025. He also reflected on the uniqueness of the tournament. read more Magnus Carlsen reached the quarter-finals of the chess tournament at Esports World Cup 2025 without much issue. Image: Esports World Cup 2025 World No.1 Magnus Carlsen enjoyed the first day out at the Esports World Cup 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, competing as chess made its debut at the event on Tuesday. The first day of the inaugural chess tournament at the Esports World Cup 2025 began with the group stage matches. The 34-year-old Carlsen topped Group D after beating Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Jan-Krzysztof Duda as he reached the quarter-finals. Besides the five-time world champion Carlsen, Levon Aronian (Group A), India's Arjun Erigaisi (Group B) and Alireza Firouzja (Group C) also qualified for the quarter-finals. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Also Read | Explained: Why chess and Carlsen's appearance at Esports World Cup 2025 is causing controversy Four more players will join them after fighting it out in the Losers Brackets playoffs. Ian Nepomniachtchi, Vladislav Artemiev and Andrey Esipenko from Group A; Anish Giri, Nihal Sarin and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave from Group B; Javokhir Sindarov, Wei Yi and Hikaru Nakamura from Group C; and Abdusattorov, Fabiano Caruana and Duda from Group D can still reach the last eight stage. The unique things about the chess tournament at the Esports World Cup are that players are required to play the matches online, sitting in front of each other. They are required to use noise-cancelling headphones due to the presence of the live audience and the music playing in the arena. Carlsen speaks on unique Esports World Cup experience The unique format, where the matches are being played in a 10-minute Rapid format without any time increment, also increases the challenge for the players. 'These games were incredibly complicated and definitely out of control at times. But at the end of the day you only need to play better than your opponent. When it's complicated then both players are going to make mistakes. I felt for the most part that I was in the driver's seat,' Carlsen told Take Take Take, talking about the challenge of playing in front of a live audience and amid blaring music from speakers. 'I don't know if it's helping my game (having the crowd on the main stage). But it's nice to have with the set-up: the noise-cancellation, with the music and everything. I sort of treat it as if I am playing from home,' Carlsen added. The chess tournament at the Esports World Cup 2025 has a total prize pool of $1.5 million, with the winner set to earn $25,000.
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First Post
2 days ago
- Sport
- First Post
Exclusive: Nihal Sarin to make Esports World Cup 2025 debut, says new format is the 'future of chess'
Indian Grandmaster Nihal Sarin is set to compete at the Esports World Cup 2025 in Riyadh, representing Team S8UL. In an exclusive chat with Firstpost, he shared thoughts on his preparation, tournament format, and why he believes this is the future of chess. read more Advertisement Nihal is the sole Indian to secure his spot in the Esports World Cup via LCQ. Image: Special arrangement Indian chess Grandmaster Nihal Sarin is all set to compete in the Esports World Cup 2025 in Riyadh, where he will represent Team S8UL. Speaking exclusively to Firstpost, the 21-year-old shared his thoughts on preparation, format, and the experience of playing in this unique environment. Nihal earned his place at the World Cup after a superb run in the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ). 'Of course, it was a very tough field. I was just trying to enjoy and not take any pressure,' Nihal said. 'There was some pressure, but I was really enjoying everything. Fortunately, I managed to show a pretty good level.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The youngster put on an impressive display in the LCQ group stage, registering five wins and finishing with 5.5 points to secure a spot in the top four of Group B. In the playoffs, he produced a remarkable comeback against Belarusian player Denis Lazavik, and followed that up with another 1.5-0.5 win over Anish Giri. Sarin on his preparation for Esports World Cup He sealed his ticket to Riyadh by beating Andrey Esipenko 2.5-1.5 in a thrilling winners' bracket match. When asked about his preparation for the main event, Nihal said, 'In regard to preparation, nothing special. Just trying to relax and reset and be well rested before the new tournament.' Nihal, who is currently ranked 8th in India and 37th in the world with a FIDE rating of 2692, will join 15 of the world's top players at the Esports World Cup. The lineup includes Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Alireza Firouzja, and fellow Indian Arjun Erigaisi. Nihal also praised his team, S8UL, for the support and opportunity to be part of the event. 'I am very, very thankful to my team S8UL for giving me the opportunity to be part of this fantastic event. I have never really seen anything like this. They are supporting in every way possible. They are taking care of me extremely well. I will remember this experience for a lifetime.' Sarin on future of chess and the best format Nihal backed the tournament format, calling it the future of the sport. 'I strongly feel that this format, or a similar format, is the future of chess,' he said. 'The traditional, classical chess is the purest form and of highest quality — it's like Test cricket. But this Esports format, with live commentary, a faster pace, and even a video game element, is great for viewership. That's what sports need to grow.' The Esports World Cup 2025 chess event will have a $1.5 million prize pool (over Rs 13 crore). Each player will get 10 minutes for the whole game and there won't be any extra time added after each move. If the match ends in a tie, it will be decided by one final Armageddon game. The final will be played as a best-of-three sets match.
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Sport
- Indian Express
Magnus Carlsen praises Nihal Sarin: ‘Saw how incredibly good he is with very little time on clock'
World No. 1 chess player and five-time World Champion Magnus Carlsen will be in action at the ongoing Esports World Cup 2025 in Riyadh, representing Team Liquid. Ahead of the event, Carlsen spoke about the unique time format (10 minutes with no increment), which creates additional pressure with no increment, unlike the many rapid and blitz events played online. Carlsen said his mouse speed is slow, and if he runs into someone like young Indian Nihal Sarin, it might turn into a dangerous match-up. 'I only played the two qualifier events to get here with this time control, but for me, it worked out okay. My mouse speed is not necessarily the best, but I play fast and well enough that it doesn't usually bother me,' said Carlsen to Chessbase India ahead of the Esports World Cup. 'We will see, however, you could run into really dangerous matchups here. For instance, we saw in the qualifier how incredibly good Nihal (Sarin) is with very little time on the clock. There could be certain players like him and Alireza (Firouzja); I think, especially if they have a good event, they can use that mouse speed to their advantage,' he said. Speed demon, Nihal carries a moniker for being one of the best players when it comes to speed chess. 'But overall, it is entertainment, but it's also esports, and therefore, motor skills should matter a little bit more in over-the-board play. I generally like events that are unforgiving in terms of time control, where time management actually is an important part of the game. So overall, it may make the players uncomfortable at times, but that's part of the game, and overall, I like it.' Speaking on the players he should be wary of in the 16-player event, Carlsen said: 'I think the Falcons players, Hikaru and Alireza, are on paper the most dangerous. Hikaru is probably quite clearly the most consistent among the others. But there are many players who could make a dent. I would say practically all the players here have some sort of chance to make a deep run. There really isn't that much in between them. I might have personal preferences about whom I would like to play, but if you talk to one of the other top players, they might be different. So, it's a really stacked field, and everybody's very strong.' Nihal and Arjun Erigaisi are the two Indians who will feature in the EWC 2025.
