Praggnanandhaa to join Magnus Carlsen’s Team Liquid ahead of chess’ Esports World Cup debut

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Praggnanandhaa Chess 2025 Praggnanadhaa will represent Team Liquid for the Last Chance Qualifiers which will see some heavy-hitters in action trying to secure one of the four remaining spot. (File Photo)

A day after R Praggnanandhaa won the 2nd UzChess Cup, the 19-year-old from Chennai was announced as the newest member of Team Liquid, a move that sees him join forces with the likes of five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana. Praggnanandhaa thus becomes the fourth Indian chess player to sign up with an esports franchise with chess making its debut at the Esports World Cup soon to be staged in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from July 29 to August 1.

Before Praggnanandhaa, his close friend Arjun Erigaisi was snapped up by Generation Gaming (Gen.G) while Nihal Sarin and Aravindh Chithambaram have been named on the roster of India-based S8UL. So far Arjun is the only player to have assured himself a spot in the Esports World Cup, which has spots for only 16 players. Both Carlsen and Caruana are also among the 12 grandmasters who have qualified. The others are Hikaru Nakamura (Team Falcons), Alireza Firouzja (Team Falcons), Ian Nepomniachtchi (Aurora), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (NAVI), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Team Vitality), Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Twisted Minds), Wei Yi (Weibo), Vladislav Artemiev (Team Spirit), Vladimir Fedoseev.

Praggnanadhaa will represent Team Liquid for the Last Chance Qualifiers which will see some heavy-hitters in action trying to secure one of the four remaining spots. This includes former world champion Ding Liren (LGD), Wesley So (NAVI), Oleksandr Bortnyk (NAVI), Anish Giri (Team Secret) and Daniil Dubov (Team Spirit).

“Before chess conquered the world, it was born in India. For centuries, India has shaped the game. Now, it shapes the future. Praggnanandhaa R. carries that legacy forward — and today, he joins ours. Welcome to Team Liquid. The future of chess starts here,” the team posted on its X handle announcing the move.

Before chess conquered the world, it was born in India.
For centuries, India has shaped the game. Now, it shapes the future.
Praggnanandhaa R. carries that legacy forward — and today, he joins ours.

Welcome to Team Liquid. The future of chess starts here. 💙🇮🇳
Pragg உன்னை… pic.twitter.com/50yLIJgGd3

— Team Liquid (@TeamLiquid) June 28, 2025

In response, Praggnanandhaa posted: “Super excited to be part of Team Liquid! From India to the world, let’s take chess to the next level together!”

Carlsen’s admiration for Praggnanandhaa is well documented. During the FIDE World Cup in 2023, where Praggnanandhaa had ended up reaching the final before losing to the world no 1 from Norway, Carlsen had famously patted the Indian teenager on the back and exchanged a few words while still in the middle of his own game after the boy from Chennai had upset Hikaru Nakamura via tiebreakers. Carlsen had revealed that at his club Offerspill in Norway, Pragg’s coach RB Ramesh had used the phrase “Be Like Pragg” while explaining to young players the level of dedication they needed to have to succeed. Carlsen had in turn reminded Praggnanandhaa about the “Be Like Pragg” catchphrase when he had defeated Nakamura.

Carlsen and Praggnanandhaa were also teammates in the first season of the Global Chess League.

Team Liquid started off as a StarCraft clan in 2000, and then grew into a championship-winning team. It has three training facilities around the world, at Los Angeles, São Paulo and Utrecht (The Netherlands).

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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).

Chess was also included as an Esports at the Khelo India Youth Games 2025 in Patna.

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