Nihal Sarin qualifies for Esports World Cup 2026 chess event

Nihal narrowly missed out on direct qualification through the CCO after finishing fourth

Mumbai: Indian Grandmaster Nihal Sarin, representing S8UL Esports, has officially qualified for the Chess main event at the Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026 through the Champions Chess Tour (CCT) 2025-2026 Leaderboard. He joined teammate Aravindh Chithambaram as one of the only two Indian players to qualify for the prestigious tournament so far.

The CCT 2025-26 season featured two major events, the Speed Chess Championship (SCC) 2025 and Chess.com Open (CCO) 2026.

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The top three players from both tournaments secured direct qualification to the EWC, while players finishing between fifth and ninth in SCC, along with the remaining participants in CCO, earned points toward the CCT Leaderboard based on their performances.

In addition to these events, players also accumulated points through the Titled Tuesday Grand Prix (TTGP) circuit, which was divided into Autumn, Winter, and Spring splits featuring 13 Titled Tuesday tournaments each. Players earned leaderboard points in every Titled Tuesday event across the season. At the end of the season, the top nine players in the final CCT Leaderboard standings, excluding already-qualified players, secured their spots at EWC 2026.

Nihal narrowly missed out on direct qualification through the CCO after finishing fourth, just one spot away from qualification, but still secured 100 crucial leaderboard points from the event. He further added points through consistent performances across the TTGP circuit, including one point in the Autumn Split and four points in the Winter Split.

A standout second-place finish in the Spring Split ultimately helped him accumulate 34 points and finish with a total of 139 points in the standings to secure his berth at the EWC 2026.

Last year, Nihal was one of only two Indians representing the country at the EWC 2025 after qualifying through the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ). He went on to reach the quarterfinals before falling to eventual champion Magnus Carlsen.