Chess infrastructure gets major push to elevate competitive set-up through esports ecosystem

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Chess-Maharashta-Open Chess infrastructure gets major push to elevate competitive set-up through esports ecosystem (File Photo)

With the ever-growing popularity of chess and esports, the best of both worlds come together to develop chess infrastructure and push chess as an esports in the country. For this, Nodwin Gaming has partnered with Chess.com and ChessBase India to collaborate on competitive chess development in India.

The partnership brings together three organisations involved in esports production, online chess platforms, and grassroots community engagement. Under this arrangement, Nodwin Gaming will oversee production, broadcasting, and commercial planning. ChessBase India will contribute its network within the Indian chess community, while Chess.com will provide platform support, tournament infrastructure, and creator tools. The partnership is aimed at focusing on creating new tournament formats, community events, and content initiatives aimed at expanding participation and viewership.

This comes on the back of chess’ inclusion in the upcoming Esports World Cup (EWC), where multiple Indian stars have signed contracts with Esports organisations. Arjun Erigaisi was among the first few players in the world to sign such a contract. He signed the deal with Gen.G. Earlier, Nihal Sarin and Aravindh Chithambaram also signed contracts with the Indian Esports organisation S8UL.

At the time of writing, from India, only Arjun has confirmed his qualification in the EWC. Nihal and Aravindh participated in the qualifiers but failed to book their spot for the mega showdown in Riyadh. Aravindh participated in the first tier of “Last Chance Qualifier” (LCQ) and can still participate in EWC through this.

What is the Esports World Cup?

The Esports World Cup will be an event where the world’s biggest esports clubs compete across 24 of the most popular esports titles. For the first time, the World Cup will also feature chess, which will be played online.

The first edition of the Esports World Cup was held in 2024 and saw teams compete over eight weeks.

The Esports World Cup 2025 is set to be the largest multi-title esports event in history which is expected to have at least 2,000 players and 200 teams competing for a combined prize pool of $70 million (approx. Rs 602 crore).

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