NEW DELHI: The race for a place at the 2026 Esports World Championship (EWC) in Paris through the India Rising: Road to EWC Chess qualifiers came down to a blockbuster final between two established grandmasters.Indian Vidit Gujrathi will face Dutchman Benjamin Bok. Both booked their places in the LAN Finals in Mumbai after making it through a stacked playoff field featuring some of the biggest names in professional chess. The winner of Saturday’s showdown will thus win the coveted spot in the final stage of EWC 2026, which will include a total of 14 players. Indian Grandmasters Aravindh Chithambaram, Nihal Sarin and Arjun Erigaisi have already qualified for the EWC Main Event. En route to the summit clash, Vidit defeated M Pranesh and Raunak Sadhwani to seal his place, while Bok produced an arguably outstanding run of the tournament, defeating Karthikeyan Murali before dismissing India’s No.1 Arjun Erigaisi.Ahead of the high-stakes showdown in Mumbai, TimesofIndia.com caught up with Vidit Gujrathi to discuss his journey through the qualifiers so far, the increasing convergence of chess and esports, the significance of India’s dedicated EWC qualifier and more. Except.Q. What was your first reaction when you heard about India Rising and its association with EWC?I remember in May I was planning some tournaments and I came to know about India Rising Championship. I was very pleased because the final will be held in Mumbai. There are very few big tournaments in India, so I was excited about the opportunity. At the same time, I knew it would be a tough road because there were multiple qualifying stages. I was hoping to make it to the finals in India so my friends and family could come and watch me play in person.Q. How different was this event from a traditional chess tournament?Online events are very different from chess on the board. Also, this format is 10 minutes plus zero second increments, so this event is very different from traditional chess tournaments because, even if you have a little time, you usually have a bit of an increment. You can have a completely winning position here, but only 10 seconds left on the clock and you can still lose the game. So it requires a different strategy and a different kind of game, which is very modern. This style of play has only surfaced in the last three to five years and is gaining momentum. So I can predict that maybe there will be more events like this in the future.
Vidit Gujrathi on Chess in Esports (Graphic by TimesofIndia.com)
Q. How important is it for India to have its own path to the Esports World Cup?India is a great power when it comes to chess. We won the gold medal at the Olympics. We are the current champions. The World Champion is from India, the Women’s World Cup winner is from India and the challenger Vaishali is also from India. So India is very important in the chess landscape. With a large number of players also, I think India is one of the first places. I feel like the competition here is much higher and it makes sense that we have our own path to the World Esports Championship. Since esports is a global event, it is very important to have Indian representation there. I think we are among the favorites in the chess world, so it makes sense that we have this event for India.Q. What was the most difficult challenge during the qualification phase?For me, the qualifying stage was not easy at all, because the first qualifying match consisted of nine rounds. I felt very rusty because I hadn’t played for a long time, and in the second round itself I lost a game, which shook me up a bit. I came back, but in the last four games I managed only four draws. Miraculously, my tie-breaks were better than the others and I managed to reach the last qualifying place, which was fourth place.
Vidit Gujrathi on India’s Influence on the Chess World (Graphic by TimesofIndia.com)
I think that moment could have changed everything. If my tie-breaks were worse, I wouldn’t be part of this tournament. So I got a little lucky there. The next day I played a lot better, but I definitely needed that luck in the early stages of qualifying. I almost thought I offered a chance.Q. How significant is the opportunity to play the LAN finals in Mumbai?I don’t remember any big event except the Global Chess League which is held in Mumbai. Mumbai is the financial capital of India and such a big hub, so it makes sense to hold a global event there. I think the esports scene in India is on the rise since the pandemic, and the LAN finals in Mumbai getting a lot of attention will definitely encourage more events like this to happen here. I am very glad to see that.Q. What does qualifying for ERV mean at this stage of your career?The Esports World Cup is a very interesting tournament. Last year I tried to play the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ). I was leading the tournament, but in the last three rounds I messed up and failed. I was in Riyadh, I had flown there specially from the USA, and it was very painful to know that after all that effort I could not qualify. Now I have another chance to qualify and I’m preparing really well for it. I hope that I will succeed this time and that all the effort will pay off because the Esports World Cup has a much different audience compared to the usual tournaments. It’s a unique opportunity and I’d really love to be a part of it.
Vidit Gujrathi on India’s potential in esports
Q. How do you see the relationship between chess and esports developing?I think chess has that untapped opportunity. No other sport has flourished as much during the pandemic as chess has because it can be played online, and esports is a very natural fit for it.Last year, if I remember the statistics correctly, chess was one of the most watched games, at least in the top five or ten, and that was only the first year. Many other sports have been part of the Esports World Cup for years, and the fact that chess received such a warm reception in its first year showed that there is good product market fit. Chess has a global audience, so viewership is spread all over the world. I feel we should explore more possibilities for esports and chess to work hand in hand. Q. Do you think India can become a global hub for esports chess events?I think India is still far from being a global hub for esports events. You need to have a culture, like-minded people and a complete ecosystem, including organizers, players, sponsors and more. Right now, I feel like we still haven’t made much progress when it comes to esports.READ ALSO: ‘This is India’s moment’: Why the nation of 1.4 billion now has a special path to the eSports World CupWhile I know a few esports players are living very good lives in different domains, we are slowly getting there. But I feel that we are still far from becoming a global hub. It will take more tournaments, more work on the field and more viewership to get to that stage. That said, I feel like it could happen in the next five years.
