On the eve of Esports World Cup Riyadh 2025, esports's chess branch has been of interest to major esports companies. Esports Insiders reveals that professional chess players are in discussions to be recruited by Team Spirit and Virtus.pro.

In particular, Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, aged 34, is in final discussions with one of the world's top esports organizations, Team Liquid, and is going to sign a contract with them. In their first Esports World Cup, Team Liquid won $4,000,000, finishing in second place just after Saudi's Team Falcons. Apparently, their goal in the present Riyadh tournament is to win as much money in prizes as possibl

The addition of chess to the 2025 World Championship is an important milestone for the Championship. It can give popularity to intellectual games in the esports sector. The chess tournament will take place from July 31 to August 3, 2025 in Riyadh, with 16 players competing for a prize pool of $1.5 million.

In addition to Magnus Carlsen, the championship will feature no less famous chess player Ding Liren, a Chinese grandmaster who signed a contract to play for LGD Gaming and will soon compete for this team in all tournaments, such as the World Championship. Ding Liren also became the world chess champion in 2023

As such, leading esports companies are going beyond their typical business realms by inviting professional chess players to compete in their tournaments and strengthening chess in esports.

Ukrainian esports organization NaVi has officially announced its chess roster, featuring three highly skilled grandmasters. The team is led by Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who holds the 6th position in the world ranking, alongside Wesley So (#11) and Oleksandr Bortnyk (#166). This is an ambitious move for NaVi, showcasing their commitment to expanding into the world of chess esports.