Overview

• Nihal Sarin clinched his chess quarterfinal spot by defeating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the Last Chance Qualifier, joining Arjun Erigaisi, Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian and Alireza Firouzja.
• The event’s rapid format features no time increments, noise-cancelling headphones, a grand live stage and curated music to blend traditional chess with esports production values.
• A $1.5 million prize pool guarantees $50,000 to all 16 participants and awards $250,000 to the tournament champion.
• Three remaining quarterfinal berths will be decided through losers brackets that include players such as Ian Nepomniachtchi, Anish Giri and Hikaru Nakamura.
• The wider Esports World Cup in Riyadh runs through August 24 with over 2,000 players across 24 titles and a $70 million total prize pool backed by private sponsors and Saudi Arabia.