Four Chess Titans Advance to Quarterfinals at 2025 Esports World Cup

Chess competitions at the 2025 Esports World Cup (EWC 25) began at the Boulevard Riyadh City, with the group stage showcasing intense matchups between the top stars of the game.
 Four chess titans advanced to the quarterfinals, including Norwegian Magnus Carlsen from Team Liquid, who secured his spot by defeating Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Jan-Krzysztof Duda. French player Alireza Firouzja frm Team Falcons also progressed after winning against his teammate Hikaru Nakamura and player Wei Yi.
 India’s Arjun Erigaisi from Gen.G Esports earned his place in the quarterfinals by overcoming Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Nihal Sarin, while American Levon Aronian of REJECT qualified after victories over Andrey Esipenko and Vladislav Artemiev.
 The competitions continue today to determine four additional players who will complete the lineup for the quarterfinals.
 Chess is one of three games that have been introduced to the second annual EWC. More than 600 million people play chess, making it one of the most popular games in the world.
 The EWC will run through August 24, featuring over 2,000 professional players representing 200 clubs from more than 100 countries worldwide.