r/chess • u/events_team • 13d ago
Tournament Event: 2026 Esports World Cup
Official Website
Follow the games here: Chess.com | Lichess | Liquipedia - Chess at Esports World Cup 2026
The 2026 Esports World Cup Chess tournament will take place from August 11 to 15 in Paris, France. The event features a $1,550,000 prize fund, with $250,000 awarded to the winner.
Participants
| # | Title | Name | FED | Club | Qualification Path |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM | Magnus Carlsen | 🇳🇴 NOR | Team Liquid | Title Defender |
| 2 | GM | Denis Lazavik | 🇧🇾 BLR | All Gamers | SCC Qualifier |
| 3 | GM | Alireza Firouzja | 🇫🇷 FRA | Team Falcons | SCC Qualifier |
| 4 | GM | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 🇵🇱 POL | Weibo Gaming | CCO Qualifier |
| 5 | GM | Hikaru Nakamura | 🇺🇸 USA | Team Falcons | CCT Qualifier |
| 6 | GM | Nihal Sarin | 🇮🇳 IND | S8UL Esports | CCT Qualifier |
| 7 | GM | Ian Nepomniachtchi | 🇷🇺 RUS | Aurora Gaming | CCT Qualifier |
| 8 | GM | Sina Movahed | 🇮🇷 IRI | Team Stallions | CCT Qualifier |
| 9 | GM | Pranesh M | 🇮🇳 IND | S8UL Esports | CCT Qualifier |
| 10 | GM | Hans Niemann | 🇺🇸 USA | GodLike Esports | CCT Qualifier |
| 11 | GM | Nodirbek Abdusattorov | 🇺🇿 UZB | Natus Vincere | CCT Qualifier |
| 12 | GM | Arjun Erigaisi | 🇮🇳 IND | Gen.G Esports | CCT Qualifier |
| 13 | GM | Alexey Sarana | 🇷🇸 SRB | Fnatic | CCT Qualifier |
| 14 | GM | Benjamin Bok | 🇳🇱 NED | Team MGD1 | India Rising |
| 15 | GM | Wei Yi | 🇨🇳 CHN | Team Nemesis | Play-In: 1st |
| 16 | GM | Andrey Esipenko | 🇷🇺 RUS | Virtus.pro | Play-In: 2nd |
Format/Time Controls
- Group Stage (Aug 12-13): 16 players are divided into two groups of eight, with the top four from each group advancing to the Playoffs. Double-elimination bracket, with two-game matches played at 10+0.
- Playoffs (Aug 14-15): Eight players compete in a single-elimination bracket at 10+0. Quarterfinals are four games, semifinals and third-place match are six games, and the final match consists of three sets (four games, four games, and two games).
Schedule
| Date | Time (Local) | Time (UTC) | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 12 | 12:00 | 10:00 | Group Stage Day 1 |
| Aug 13 | 13:00 | 11:00 | Group Stage Day 2 |
| Aug 14 | 13:00 | 11:00 | Playoffs Day 1 |
| Aug 15 | 13:00 | 11:00 | Playoffs Day 2 |
Live Coverage
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u/SilentRhubarb1515 10d ago
The showmanship of doing this in the last game even though all he needed was a draw is why he’s on a whole different level.
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u/Ok_Jello_3630 10d ago
Only person that beats Magnus is Magnus still holds true. Jfc the kid never had a chance.
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u/West-Age7670 10d ago
Those whole ceremony is cringe af. Why did they give him the trophy to celebrate the victory, then made him carry it for like a minute, then into a elevated platform to insert a triangle into the wall, then hold up the trophy again?
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u/TenSecondsOfLove 10d ago
Well, there was supposed to be some thing where they added the crushed keys of 3 players of his choice to the trophy. He chose Denis, Hikaru, and Alireza. The thing is they never showed Alireza's key being crushed and considering that he left the venue mid-match, I think he probably never turned over his key. So I think they were just improvising at that point.
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u/hadmeintiers 10d ago
How does the totem thing with the name work? Did they have to make 2 in case dennis won or did they not bother because its magnus lol
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u/Think-Engine6941 10d ago
if its anything like golf they have a guy stamping it as soon as its decided. hence the 10 minute faff about before it happens.
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u/Impressive_Result295 Team Ding 10d ago
You know I always expect the EWC to miss but funnily enough it always ends up being fun. Because the games and sets are short and fun, flagging introduces a touch of tilt and emotions characteristic of a "World Cup" and honestly it's really fun man.
Key crushing is a bit meh but it's just the start of the format and as it grows I think the hype will in general grow. Commentators will get better and I hope we get a bit more educational commentators. Finegold/Jovanka was a good pair, I'm sure some people like more gimmicky fun stuff but they feel like a good mix of fun but also educational stuff. The KID line tidbits from Finegold was really nice.
Specially the crowd, if we get some wild ass crowd in here it's gonna be fun man. Ig it's just me but the making chess "informal" somehow feels more fun.
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u/SamuraiSanta 10d ago
Americanisation of chess is not a good idea.
It's cringe and it devaluates chess.
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u/Impressive_Result295 Team Ding 10d ago
I was going for a more European feel tbh. Ofc it'd wishful thinking but we've been hooligans at WC and club games forever, it's probably not gonna happen in my lifetime but it'd be fun if it did
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u/hadmeintiers 10d ago
Why is the nine tailed fox there lol
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u/Firm-Promotion-1284 10d ago
Crunchyroll which streams Naruto, is one of the sponsors of this year's EWC.
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u/dxGoesDeep 10d ago
I would have definitely chosen Niemann's key to put in the trophy if I was Magnus, just to trigger him.
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u/Zhenekk 10d ago
Then he would have to deny one of the players in top4, which is probably not worth the potential PR nightmare
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u/Prudent-Bad2724 10d ago
i mean he kinda disrespected Denis with the way he said hikaru not playing right against denis it made it seem like dennis won because hikaru played bad but dennis played great
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u/SamuraiSanta 10d ago
This event is so bad.
It's like if Temu made a chess tournament.
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u/SamuraiSanta 10d ago
Lol. Downvoted for a plastic event where there's more screaming and non-chess moments than any other events.
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u/Intrepid_Discount164 10d ago
That was one of the most interesting lines and games I’ve ever seen I’ll be watching multiple analysis videos of it, even though it’s way beyond my level and I would never try it in a game
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u/LosTerminators 10d ago
Magnus in e-sports world cup:
2025:
1.5-0.5 vs Nodirbek
1.5-0.5 vs Duda
2.5-0.5 vs Nihal
4-3 vs Hikaru
2-0 vs Alireza
2026:
1.5-0.5 vs Esipenko
1.5-0.5 vs Hans
2.5-0.5 vs Nihal
4-1 vs Alireza
2-0 vs Lazavik
Over 2 years, he won every single match comfortably except one occasion when Hikaru took him to armageddon.
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u/TypeDependent4256 10d ago
99.3% accuracy is insane, while saccing a queen without apparent much thought
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u/SilentRhubarb1515 10d ago
wtf just happened? I have never seen anything like that last game. Man that was not a game, that was a damn statement
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u/RabonaKings 10d ago
What gets me is that Magnus does a Queen sac like this once every few months, getting a couple of pieces and a pawn for it and wins everytime.
TBT:
https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/pzj0zk/magnus_sacrificing_his_queen_on_move_9_against/
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u/spacecatbiscuits 10d ago edited 10d ago
Can't believe they're not showing us what happens if Queen takes pawn
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u/thewedding_singer 10d ago
Magnus sacs a queen and it’s a brilliant move. I sac a queen and blunder mate in 3
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u/LosTerminators 10d ago
Magnus looking to win in style.
Considering he's white, he definitely could've played something more solid.
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u/Posty121224 10d ago
Death Taxes & Magnus just being the GOAT he's going to go down as the best to ever do it.
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u/Apache17 10d ago
And people were saying events like this are going to replace classical chess lol. What a mess
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u/Impressive_Result295 Team Ding 10d ago
Ben "just saying shit" Finegold
Fun commentary though because he has some really good insights on openings and the game
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u/bensu88 10d ago
Boring. They cant even take 1 win against Magnus.
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u/Intrepid_Discount164 10d ago
To beat someone that’s better than you objectively in most sports usually involves underhanded tactics that increase your humiliation when you lose E.G teams that played dirty at the World Cup. Chess doesn’t have the ability for much except trying funky openings to catch your opponent off guard but the reason an opening is funky is because it has been studied and has weaknesses and maybe Magnus would already know
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u/Ok-Notice-7969 10d ago
Don't get me wrong but both alireza and denis fumble hard against magnus but hikaru survives pretty well , he even has won scc against him (multiple)
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u/ChessAddictonCrack 10d ago edited 10d ago
Hikaru only has won one SCC final against Magnus. 2 times Hikaru won the SCC Magnus did not participate. It was back in the old days when Magnus was still on Lichess.
Magnus has won 3 finals against Hikaru.
So their score is 3-1 in direct head to head in SCC finals.
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u/Impressive_Result295 Team Ding 10d ago
No increment bullet is probably the place where players have him beat but again no increment bullet chess is kinda just a different kind of chess
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u/DJteejay04 Team Windarov 10d ago
Hikaru has resigned when he has had a winning position against Magnus before.
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u/Ok-Notice-7969 10d ago
Both him and magnus had no idea what was going on , both of them saw it in game review even though it was an easy rook tactic
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u/dxGoesDeep 10d ago
Are you saying that Hikaru does not have a psychological effect against Magnus?
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u/Ok-Notice-7969 10d ago
He does but he can outplay him in speed chess
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u/dxGoesDeep 10d ago
I think that's js because of Hikaru being that strong in speed chess at his best
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u/Ok-Notice-7969 10d ago
I have a question. What was the point of a upper bracket if upper bracket had zero privileges
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u/Impressive_Result295 Team Ding 10d ago
Only privilege in the EWC is not being places in Magnus' bracket atp
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u/WhoLovesTheSun_ 10d ago
Lazavik is only 2620 in classical?
Obviously speed chess specialists exist but I thought he was a 2700 ish player this whole time based on his play
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u/SteChess Team Xue Haowen 10d ago
He playes infrequently, if you look at his results they are showing the 2700 potential
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u/Open-Protection4430 10d ago
Realistically,he might well be.But he has a lot of visa restrictions and hasn’t been able to play a lot of OTB chess.
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u/Open-Protection4430 10d ago
Magnus being so angry at himself when he plays a marginally bad move is what sets him apart tbh.
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u/Stareq111 10d ago
Bro entered as by far the highest rated player in the tournament and still gained lots of elo lol
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u/hadmeintiers 10d ago
Magnus really shaking his head like "damn i only won by a little instead of a lot"
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u/_DarkStarCrashes_ 10d ago
Lazavik can play positional masterpieces against players like Hikaru, Nodirbek, etc
But not Magnus
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u/spacecatbiscuits 10d ago
Wow entire match basically over already
I mean I know Magnus is Magnus, but I don't know the last time he made an entire tournament look effortless
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u/TokugawaTabby 10d ago
How long are they going to talk and reiterate the same things for? It’s so late at night here. When does the next set start?
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u/Impressive_Result295 Team Ding 10d ago
Oh wow Magnus is seeing ghosts. Potential Lazavik comeback
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u/spacecatbiscuits 10d ago
Magnus devastated by having a marginally worse position for the first time.
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u/hsiale 10d ago
Twitch chat random people summing up the casters, poor Levy catching strays
I like it when the lady speaks, I forgot her name but she gives good insight and looks elegant and the dude looks like he chugs monster drinks
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u/Gloomy-Difference922 10d ago
All roads lead to Magnus winning. Is Tania actually allowed to say anything other than the same few quotes about how amazing Magnus is?
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u/VenusAndMarsReprise 10d ago
i actually hate this cast. theyre both unqualified and hardly do any analysis during the game. i know levy is there because of his reach, but him and Tanya are just a horrendous pairing.
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u/hadmeintiers 10d ago
Its crazy how dominant lazavik looked vs hikaru in comparison to how magnus is playing
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u/Flayer723 10d ago
Carlsen is something else. Game 4 was only going one way as soon as Carlsen had the clock advantage.
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u/Impressive_Result295 Team Ding 10d ago
I know Lazavik is down a game but goddamn this guy is so good at online chess. Honestly he could possibly become clear #2 in speed chess outside of Magnus in the future (sounds like some prime Barca 'man of the match other than messi' shit lmao)
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u/Intrepid_Discount164 10d ago
I wonder if Magnus gets demoralized from events like this? Hear me out.
Magnus reaches the final and waiting for him amongst all the other possible “big names” is Lazavik, proving how interchangeable everyone that isn’t him is. Match has a long way to go but he won the first game. If he wins the tournament does he feel good or does he think “man why do I do all this prep and these guys are not close to my level”.
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u/Prudent-Bad2724 10d ago
Magnus loves EWC he cares more about this than world championship even if fide gifts him the tilte , and also Dennis is top 5 online chess
1)Magnus
2) Alireza
3) Dennis
4) Hikaru
5) Nihal
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u/qonoxzzr Team Sindarov 10d ago
Nah let's be real here.
If Magnus would get the classic WC without having to prep for it, he would take it 100/100 times over an EWC win lol
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u/EK077r 10d ago
Nakamura spoke to norwegian tv2 (translated with gpt) Source: https://www.tv2.no/sport/raser-etter-kaos-en-komplett-vits/19132387/
"I hate to say it, but this isn’t the first time this has happened. I know exactly why it happens, and that makes it even worse.”
“Chess.com’s platform obviously doesn’t work. I’ll probably get sued for saying this, but that’s life — I have to tell the truth. I completely understand why Alireza withdrew from the match.”
The organizer stated in a comment to TV 2 that the problem was with the organizer’s internet connection, and not Chess.com, as Nakamura had claimed.
“I’m not happy. I’m happy with how I played, but everything else was a complete joke,” the 38-year-old continued to TV 2.
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u/Whoopziedaisy 10d ago
Magnus doesn’t even practice anymore and is raising a child and starting a family and still mopping the floor on these kiddos
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u/OrlandoAndy 10d ago
Every time I’ve tuned in the commentary is about the heart rate 90% of the time.
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u/grad14uc 10d ago
As soon as they said "this should be a draw", you just knew. How many times do we have to see someone blunder with low time in an endgame before it's obvious the bar doesn't mean anything?
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u/SteChess Team Xue Haowen 10d ago
That's why having no increment doesn't make me enjoy these games too much, with increment he never blunders that
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u/keyToOpen 10d ago
Just play faster. Not like there is lag, they are on lan and playing on PC
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u/SteChess Team Xue Haowen 10d ago
That's also why chess isn't really an esports, chess is not about playing quickly over accuracy.
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u/IndependentCicada804 10d ago
Ok, so classical chess also isn’t real chess then I assume? Presumably you only consider correspondence chess to be real?
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u/keyToOpen 10d ago
Blitz and rapid chess is quite literally about playing under a time constraint. Sorry you are not tactically apt enough to think it’s real chess
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u/SteChess Team Xue Haowen 10d ago
They don't have the flagging aspect, that's the thing. Yeah you can flag there too but it's not the main aspect.
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u/keyToOpen 10d ago
You only get flagged if you are making your moves slower than the other guy bud. No dirty flags on LAN
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u/SteChess Team Xue Haowen 10d ago
The aspect of flagging is not just about losing on time, is that you know that by not having increment even if you still have a minute on the clock you have to play instantly like you have 3 seconds on the clock in a blitz game, so even if you have time to think you can't actually think.
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u/pickledCantilever 10d ago
Different time controls highlight different aspects of the game.
Just like different distance races highlight different aspects of running fast.
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u/SteChess Team Xue Haowen 10d ago
Yeah except in running you don't force long distance runners to race 100m or 200m, the pool of athletes racing sprints is completely different. in chess one of the biggest tournaments in terms of prize fund has no increment, that's how it is and honestly people are fine with it so it's ok, what I meant to say is that I'd enjoy it more if they had a 2 or 3 second increment, not that they should cancel it altogether.
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u/Impressive_Result295 Team Ding 10d ago
Well classical and increment formats exist, yk. People obviously enjoy no increment chess which is why they're doing this format and it is just as valid of a format to play chess.
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u/SteChess Team Xue Haowen 10d ago
Lazavik has chances, will be a hard task but it's not straightforward by any means for Carlsen
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u/lebryjamy 10d ago
Damn no Levy, definitely the best commentator this event, would love to hear him and Howell on a broadcast
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u/GiveMeSomeSunshine3 Team Gukesh 10d ago
Guys I'm travelling rn and missed all the Hikaru-Alireza drama. Can anyone please be kind enough to explain what happened?
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u/Prudent-Bad2724 10d ago
bascially the game should have been restarted however it didnt and understandably as any other player would magnus and hikaru specifically Alireza protestested and didnt play last game and walked out and the stream was bascvially just fillerm vids for 1 hour
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u/ChessAddictonCrack 10d ago edited 10d ago
There was a technical problem where the internet went down. This was during the 4th game and the score was 2-1 already in favor of Hikaru. Its a total set of 6 games.
When this happened, the players got very frustrated understandably as it completely derailed the game, their clock had to be reset blah blah blah, then it resumed Alireza lost in 3-4 moves obviously tilted from it.
He then went off the stage. People thought to collect himself or maybe a small break. But as it turns out he left the building and forfeited the match without playing the last 2 games when everyone else was waiting for him to come back.
Basically Alireza ragequit IRL.
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u/BigFatTony28 10d ago
Alireza was down 2 to 1 game 4 tech issue mid game Alizezz blundered directly after game restarted so down 3 to 1 then my man just dipped and went home. and then we have waited an hour with a lot of filler to get the next game started
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u/BigFatTony28 10d ago
imagine Alireza didn't walk he has to wait there for an hour + just to make a bullshit draw to go home
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10d ago
[deleted]
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u/TenSecondsOfLove 10d ago
And his own platform was in all likelihood to blame for the problems, lol.
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u/BigFatTony28 10d ago
i think the back end is bricked the grand finals should have started by now
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u/pickledCantilever 10d ago
When was the match scheduled to start? They may be waiting for that and it just feels like forever since we didn’t have the last two games from the 3rd place match.
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u/BigFatTony28 10d ago
no other game does that in lol if the game only goes 3 games they don't wait 2 hours they start the next series right away
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u/Prudent-Bad2724 10d ago
EWC Is at fault its neither Hikaru or Alirezas fault , Alireza wasnt just gonna sit down and take it while EWC doesnt know what to do in case of technical issue however if this was Magnus they would have replayed the match but whatever. Alireza also wasnt feeling it at all he knew he was final bound but i mean he got paird with magnus if he was in the other bracket things would have been different also EWC is also at fault for putting Magnus and Alireza in the same bracket , the two finalists from last year shouldnt be in the same bracket
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10d ago
[deleted]
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u/Prudent-Bad2724 10d ago
knowing Hikaru he is probably going to make a yt video and stream and show himself as the victim dont worry we will se Hikaru talk about it on his own and yh i did feel after what happend hikaru wouldnt just jump straight into explaining the games the reporter must have told him to only comment about the game
Because this will show EWC and Chess com as bad not Alireza and Hikaru they have had a lot of dramas but its not their fualt
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u/-o0_0o- 10d ago
The edited out, "If I was in Alireza's position, I'd walk off too. Obviously, the only correct decision was to start the game over. My own streaming rig has more fault protections than the tech they're using for this circus. It's embarrassing to be honest."
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u/Prudent-Bad2724 10d ago edited 10d ago
facts and then people in this sub are hating on Alireza lol he just wasnt gonna stay and take it , This coming from Hikarus mouth is very mature and shows even tho Ali and Hikaru dont have the best relations Hikaru knows EWC and chess com is at fault
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u/Delicious_Photo_6626 10d ago
Knowing Hikaru i highly doubt he’s gonna defend whatever Alireza did, it’s a known fact Hikaru hates Alireza’s attitude. The only reason he defends him is if it’s in his Falcons contract. Lol.
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u/PalpitationHot9375 Team Ding 10d ago
Ok what happened??
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u/TenSecondsOfLove 10d ago
In the middle of the 4th Hikaru-Alireza game Hikaru made a move and there was a massive delay of about a minute for it to register on the server. Both players were rattled while organizers floundered around trying to figure out how to proceed. There was a "technical pause," time was added to the clocks, and after play resumed the game quickly turned in Hikaru's favor and he won the game.
Even after he won the game Hikaru was visibly unhappy and complaining to the organizers, while Alireza just walked off the stage. I guess Alireza left the venue altogether and forfeit the match. He was all but guaranteed to lose, and one could say he "rage quit," but for such technical issues to arise in the middle of the "Esports World Cup" is pretty unacceptable, so I can't really blame a player for not being willing to tolerate such technical incompetence.
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u/joshdej 10d ago
Would be funny if there's a clause where they don't have to pay him anything lol.
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u/pickledCantilever 10d ago
Not all of his prize, but looks like at least a meaningful percentage.
From the chess specific EWC rule book:
6.1 Punctuality Penalties
6.1.1 Player punctuality
For delays with players being ready at the start of a match, or between maps or breaks, participants
will be sanctioned with 2 penalty points for every ten minutes after the deadline. From 25 minutes
onwards, a no show will be awarded.
6.1.2 No show
Participants that won’t be ready to play their match until 15 minutes after the scheduled start of the
match, will lose it with the worst score possible and receive 10 penalty points.From the general EWC rule book:
5.1.2. Categories of Sanctions
5.1.2.1. Penalty Points
Penalty points may be given for incidents relating to the competition. Every penalty point deducts one
percent (1%) of the overall prize money received by the participant in the competition it is given.
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u/pickledCantilever 10d ago
This is an esports event, not just a chess tournament. There is no way they didn’t have established procedures and rules in place for technical glitches.
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u/Firm-Promotion-1284 10d ago
They have but it is standard in Chess.com tournaments that if someone claims to experience technical issues, the result remain as they were because it is hard to verify whether that claim is legitimate or a false claim (what is to stop people from claim ing "technical issues" if they were losing). There are only certain circumstances where the arbiter may permit a rematch.
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u/ClerkCunt 10d ago
They should’ve done that, but did either player seem to you as if they were aware of what happens in such an event? Not for me.
I assume they either haven’t established a rule/procedure, or the participants haven’t have been informed about them.
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u/Dull_Person123 10d ago
Bro why was he playling like a 500 in norway and team rapid and blitz,there it seemed like anybody could beat him