Chess Sensation Praggnanandhaa Joins Magnus Carlsen's Team Liquid for Esports World Cup

Magnus Carlsen, the five-time world chess champion, has welcomed R Praggnanandhaa, the 19-year-old Indian chess grandmaster, to his Team Liquid ahead of the Esports World Cup. The prestigious tournament is scheduled to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from July 29 to August 1.

Team Liquid announced the signing on X, stating: "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."

Carlsen humorously responded, "Whole lot of letters in Praggnanandhaa, but no «I». Welcome to the team."

Praggnanandhaa expressed his excitement about joining Team Liquid, saying, “Super excited to be part of Team Liquid! From India to the world, let’s take chess to the next level together!”

Praggnanandhaa is the fourth Indian chess player to join an esports franchise, following in the footsteps of Arjun Erigaisi, Nihal Sarin, and Aravindh Chithambaram.

Arjun Erigaisi has been signed by Generation Gaming (Gen.G), while Nihal Sarin and Aravindh Chithambaram are part of the India-based S8UL roster.

Arjun Erigaisi has already secured his place at the Esports World Cup, which will feature only 16 participants. Other qualified players include Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, forming part of the group of 12 grandmasters with confirmed spots.

The list of qualified players also features prominent names such as:

• 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.

R Praggnanandhaa will compete for Team Liquid in the Last Chance Qualifiers, where numerous chess stars will compete for the remaining four places. The lineup for the qualifiers includes reigning world champion Ding Liren (LGD), Wesley So (NAVI), Oleksandr Bortnyk (NAVI), Anish Giri (Team Secret), and Daniil Dubov (Team Spirit).