Remaining spots in playoffs to be decided in Thursday's lower bracket matchups
The group stage of the Esports World Cup began on Wednesday in Paris, with 16 players competing for 8 places in the playoffs. Chess is making its second appearance at the event, which runs from 11 to 15 August at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles and offers a total prize fund of $1.5 million. Magnus Carlsen is the defending champion, having won the inaugural chess competition last year.
The players are divided into two groups of 8, with 4 competitors from each group advancing. Each group follows a double-elimination bracket, with matches consisting of two games at a 10+0 time control. If the score is tied, an Armageddon game decides the match. Both players bid for Black's time; the lower bidder receives the black pieces and draw odds, while White starts with 10 minutes and must win.
Group A: Firouzja and Abdusattorov qualify
Alireza Firouzja and Nodirbek Abdusattorov became the first two players from Group A to secure places in the playoffs. Both won their opening two matches on Wednesday, although they reached that result in markedly different ways.
Firouzja needed Armageddon in each of his matches. He first faced Wei Yi and then Arjun Erigaisi, with both two-game encounters finishing level. On each occasion, Firouzja submitted the lower bid for the deciding game, took Black with draw odds and succeeded in qualifying through the upper bracket.
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Abdusattorov had a more straightforward route. The Uzbek grandmaster scored two 2–0 victories, first against Pranesh Munirethinam and then against Jan-Krzysztof Duda. Four wins from four games secured his place in Friday's playoffs without requiring a tiebreak.
The other six players in Group A remain involved in the double-elimination bracket. Wei, Arjun, Pranesh and Duda all suffered defeats against one of the two qualifiers, while Benjamin Bok and Nihal Sarin are also still in contention. Thursday's lower-bracket matches will determine which two of them join Firouzja and Abdusattorov in the next stage.
Group B: Carlsen and Nakamura advance
In Group B, chess superstars Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura won both of their matches. Carlsen defeated Andrey Esipenko and Hans Niemann by identical 1½–½ scores, winning the first game with white in each match and then drawing the second to secure progression.
Nakamura followed the same scoring pattern, though his victories came with the opposite colour. He beat Alexey Sarana and Denis Lazavik 1½–½, scoring his decisive wins with black. The results ensured that both Carlsen and Nakamura could bypass Thursday's lower-bracket play and move directly into the playoffs.
One of the more notable incidents of the day came in the match between Niemann and Ian Nepomniachtchi. Their upper-bracket quarterfinal went to Armageddon, with Nepomniachtchi playing black and therefore needing only a draw. He came close to achieving that result, but a blunder on move 48 allowed Niemann to find an immediate tactical win.
It seems like Black is completely lost, but 48...Kg8 here leads to a drawn position. After 49.Nxg5 Rb1+ 50.Kf2 Rb2+ 51.Qxb2 Black grabs the queen with 51...Nd3+ (diagram), leading to an equal knight endgame.
In the first diagrammed position, Nepomniachtchi played 48...Kg7??, though, when the critical line shown above no longer helps Black, since the queen captures the rook on b2 with check!
The Alapin Variation (1.e4 c5 2.c3) offers a simple yet highly effective solution to all major Sicilian lines, by sidestepping them with 2.c3.
Facing the Sicilian doesn’t have to be complicated. The Alapin Variation (1.e4 c5 2.c3) offers a simple yet highly effective solution to all major Sicilian lines, by sidestepping them with 2.c3. Whether your opponent plays the Najdorf, Taimanov, or Dragon, the Alapin lets you take control of the game as early as move two.
Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: 2...g6
Nepomniachtchi reacted by striking the table in frustration, with the decisive mistake apparently caused by a mouse slip.
Niemann nevertheless went on to lose his next match to Carlsen, leaving him among the players who must continue through the lower bracket. Esipenko, Sarana and Lazavik are also still alive, alongside Nepomniachtchi and Sina Movahed. Two of those six players will eventually accompany Carlsen and Nakamura into the playoffs.
The 8-player playoff stage begins on Friday and continues on Saturday, again using a double-elimination knockout format but with longer matches.
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