Nihal Sarin and Arjun Erigaisi reach EWC 2026 chess quarterfinals

Nihal Sarin (S8UL Esports) and Arjun Erigaisi (Gen.G Esports) advanced to the quarterfinals of Chess at the Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026 on August 13 in Paris, progressing through Group A’s lower bracket on the final day of the group stage. The duo will represent India in the quarterfinals on August 14 as part of an eight-player playoff bracket competing for a $1.5 million prize pool.

Sarin opened with a lower-bracket win over Team Nemesis’ Wei Yi after two draws and an Armageddon tiebreaker. He then beat Weibo Gaming’s Jan-Krzysztof Duda by drawing the first game and winning the second to secure his playoff spot. “Firstly, I am just extremely happy to make the top eight again and to have managed to play some good chess in some really tough matches. The format is very short, and you need to be sharp from the start. Getting just one win can make a huge difference psychologically. I am relieved to pull through and hope to do well tomorrow,” Sarin said.

In the same Group A lower bracket, Sarin’s teammate Pranesh M defeated Team MGD1’s Benjamin Bok after an Armageddon tiebreaker ended in a draw, with Pranesh advancing as Black. That set up an all-Indian decider against Erigaisi, who won 2-0 to take the final Group A quarterfinal berth and end Pranesh’s run.

“I am happy I got the job done. It is not going to be easy (to lift the trophy) with strong players like Alireza, Magnus and others, but I’ll just focus on giving my best,” Erigaisi said. He finished fourth at last year’s edition, according to the organisers.

Group B’s remaining quarterfinalists will be decided via two lower-bracket matchups: Aurora Gaming’s Ian Nepomniachtchi versus AG.AL’s Denis Lazavik, and Team Stallions’ Sina Movahed versus GodLike Esports’ Hans Moke Niemann. The organisers said the quarterfinal field also includes defending champion Magnus Carlsen (Team Liquid), Team Falcons’ Alireza Firouzja and Hikaru Nakamura, and Natus Vincere’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov. The playoffs run August 14-15 in a single-elimination format, with four-game quarterfinals, six-game semifinals, and a best-of-three sets grand final.