Chess's evolution will take another giant stride in July 2025, when for the first time, it will be played at the eSports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. And like with anything chess in 2025, how can the Indians be left behind?
One of India's highest-rated classical players, Arjun Erigaisi, has been signed by Gen G eSports, as teams bid to have the best talent in their ranks, with only 16 qualifying for the final tournament. The eSports World Cup will happen between July 31 and August 3, where the world's top chess players will be competing for a $1.5 million prize pool.
Alongside Erigaisi, the 2024 world rapid champion Volodar Murzin has also been signed by Vietnamese-Chinese esports organization AG Global. Although not confirmed yet, Erigaisi said that he thinks there's a good chance even the world's leading players like Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura will be there at this competition.
It was, in fact, conversations with Carlsen and Nakamura that made Erigaisi consider the possibility of getting into the eSports World Cup circuit. Qualification will happen through the 2025 Champions Chess Tour, with 12 players making it Riyadh through that route, before four more get the opportunity in a last chance qualifier just before the final tournament.
Hearty congratulations to @VolodarMurzin on his signing with esports org @AGGlobalEsports and to @ArjunErigaisi on his signing with @GenG . The @EWC_EN is going to be HUGE for chess in 2025 and hopefully beyond. Stay tuned for more announcements!! ��
- Hikaru Nakamura (@GMHikaru) February 5, 2025
There were also a host of other factors that swayed Erigaisi's mind towards taking up this challenge. First of all, chess at the eSports World Cup will happen with unique time controls, with players given ten minutes for the whole game, with no increments at any time. Generally, in over-the-board chess, Erigaisi is not a fan of time controls with no increments since it leads to chaos in the final moments with pieces falling on the board as players scramble to save time. However, since this will be played over a computer, he said he was happy to give it a shot. In addition to his chess skills, speed with the mouse will also be a factor in determining his fate at the eSports World Cup.
"I am decent with the mouse, but that is one thing I need to train at to become even faster," Erigaisi told ESPN. Even though the starting time of 10 minutes is similar to rapid chess, Erigaisi declined to call this format rapid. "It's more of a slow blitz," he said.
"It is a fact that I have performed better in classical and blitz compared to rapid, in general. But the world rapid went pretty well, that's also a point that makes me feel I'm getting better at this," he added.
That he hasn't visited Saudi Arabia before was another fact in Erigaisi's mind, as qualifying for the final tournament would give him an opportunity to visit a new country. Beyond all that, it also isn't that time-consuming in what is a very important year for him in the FIDE circuit. If he does make the final, it is only a four-day tournament, that finishes more than a month before the first qualification tournament for the Candidates - the FIDE Grand Swiss - begins.
Despite his willingness to experiment with new formats, Erigaisi's main goal for 2025 is pretty clear - he wants to qualify for next year's Candidates tournament, the winner of which will face Dommaraju Gukesh in the next world championship. He missed out narrowly to Fabiano Caruana in the FIDE Circuit last year, but there are seven more spots left to be taken, the bulk of which will come through the Grand Swiss and the FIDE World Cup later this year. His start to the year hasn' t been great, as he struggled at the Tata Steel Chess Masters in Wijk Aan Zee, even though he finished with wins against Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Gukesh.
"Of course, it's a very bad start to the year, but it's a very important year in terms of qualification for the Candidates," he said.
"I'm confident of qualifying if I play at my best. The first qualification tournament is in September - the Grand Swiss. That is still a lot of time away, so first my focus is to play well and do well in whatever tournaments that I play in. If I maintain my rating, even if I miss out on the other spots, I can get in to the Candidates through my rating, he added.
The rating has taken a bit of a hit from the heights of the 2800s, after his poor run in Wijk Aan Zee, but Erigaisi has already shown that he's capable of bouncing back and beating the best players on his day. He has the chance to do it on chess's newest stage now, at the eSports World Cup. His openness to new avenues of the sport is great for chess and its desire to become a truly global sport, but through all the experiments and innovations, Erigaisi's eyes are firmly fixed on the ultimate crown - the classical world championship.