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Esports World Cup: Aronian, Arjun, Firouzja and Carlsen advance to the Quarterfinals

by Shahid Ahmed - 30/07/2025

GM Levon Aronian (Team Reject), GM Arjun Erigaisi (Gen.G Esports), GM Alireza Firouzja (Team Falcons) and GM Magnus Carlsen (Team Liquid) have advanced to the Quarterfinals from Group A, B, C and D respectively. Arjun defeated GM Nihal Sarin (S8UL) 2-0 and then won against GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Team Vitality) 2-1 via Armageddon to secure his place in the Knockout stage. Nihal will now have to go through GM Anish Giri (Team Secret) and MVL in the Losers Brackets to earn his place in the Quarterfinals. Apart from our youtube channel, watch the live stream commentary also on Sony Liv by IM Sagar Shah, Amruta Mokal and GM Harshit Raja without the seven-minute delay. Photo: Esports World Cup 2025

Nihal must climb back up from Losers Bracket

The time control for all games is 10 minutes with no increment. All players are allowed to wear noise-canceling headphones and also listen to their choice of music if they wish to. This is on par with all chess esports events. Apart from US$ 1.5 Million prize fund, the chess players are also part esports teams of a shared $27 Million prize fund. The groups were decided by four top players handpicking the rest of the group members - GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, GM Hikaru Nakamura and GM Magnus Carlsen drafted the groups.

Top players deciding the groups | Video: GMHikaru

Group A: Levon Aronian (Team Reject)

GM Levon Aronian (Team Reject) defeated GM Andrey Esipenko (Virtus.pro) 2-0 to secure his place in the Quarterfinal. Esipenko replaced GM Vladimir Fedoseev who had to withdraw from the event.

GM Levon Aronian (Team Reject) | Photo: Esports World Cup 2025

Replay all Group A games

Group A brackets | Graphic: chess.com

Group B: Arjun Erigaisi (Gen.G Esports)

GM Arjun Erigaisi (Gen.G Esports) first defeated GM Nihal Sarin (S8UL) 2-0. Then he won against GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Team Vitality) 1-2 via Armageddon to advance to the Quarterfinals. Nihal will now have to go through GM Anish Giri (Team Secret) and MVL if he wants to get into the Quarterfinals.

GM Arjun Erigaisi (Gen. G Esports) | Photo: Esports World Cup 2025
Arjun Erigaisi vs Nihal Sarin, Commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

Group B brackets | Graphic: chess.com

Replay all Group B games

Group C: Alireza Firouzja (Team Falcons)

GM Alireza Firouzja (Team Falcons) first defeated GM Wei Yi (Weibo Gaming) 1.5-0.5. Then he won against his teammate, GM Hikaru Nakamura (Team Falcons) 1-1.5 to secure his place in the Quarterfinals.

GM Alireza Firouzja and GM Hikaru Nakamura of Team Falcon | Photo: Esports World Cup 2025

Group C brackets | Graphic: chess.com

Replay all Group C games

Group D: Magnus Carlsen (Team Liquid)

GM Magnus Carlsen (Team Liquid) defeated GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (NAVI) 1.5-0.5. Then, Carlsen won against GMJan-Krzysztof Duda (Twisted Minds) with the same score to advance to the Quarterfinals.

GM Magnus Carlsen (Team Liquid) | Photo: Esports World Cup 2025

Group D brackets | Graphic: chess.com

Replay all Group D games

The 16 players of the main event | Graphic: chess.com

All matches are played on a stage in front of a live audience | Photo: Esports World Cup

For more photos, click here.

Replay live stream

Replay Main event Day 1 live commentary (Hindi audio) by IM Sagar Shah, Amruta Mokal and GM Harshit Raja | Video: ChessBase India

Main event prize fund | Graphic: chess.com

The dozen players who have already qualified to the main event | Graphic: chess.com

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