Power Ranking The Esports World Cup Chess Teams

Chess only continues to grow, and this year, the game will reach perhaps its largest audience ever when it appears at the 2025 Esports World Cup in Riyadh from July 31 to August 3, with a prize fund of $1.5 million. Lest you thought esports only meant 21st-century video games like League of Legends or Overwatch, think again. One of the world's oldest games—at least 1,500 years old—is now an esport, too.

Because of this groundbreaking development, esports organizations everywhere have started signing up as many grandmasters as they can to give their teams the best chance at the overall Esports World Cup (EWC) championship. The GMs aren't just playing for themselves anymore, as each individual's success will now contribute to the success of their team.

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Teams are betting on their players to do well at the EWC, but they also have to be good enough to get there first. There will only be 16 players in Riyadh vying for the top spot and the maximum share of the prize fund. Only one team will have the victorious player, but every player can make their mark on the final standings.

Nine esports teams have already entered the chess arena, and more can be expected. How do they rank so far?

Note: We will be tracking updates as teams build out their rosters. So far, this article was updated on: March 3.

1. Team Falcons
2. Team Liquid
3. NAVI
4. Aurora
5. LGD
6. Gen.G
7. Team Vitality
8. Weibo
9. Wolves Esports
10. AG Global

1. Team Falcons

Update March 3: Falcons into the #1 spot after signing Alireza Firouzja, with Liquid now second.

Unlike our number three team, only one player has officially signed with Team Falcons so far, but what a player: GM Hikaru Nakamura, the five-time Speed Chess Champion.

The next move is clear—@GMHikaru joins Team Falcons. 🦅♟

Welcome to the nest! pic.twitter.com/y5VcrOiRzY

— Falcons Esports (@FalconsEsport) February 17, 2025

Nakamura's chess skills are so impressive that it would be tempting to put Falcons at number two with him alone. But we also have reason to anticipate this squad adding another top player, which does indeed lock up second place in this ranking—especially after Nakamura made the Grand Finals of the Chessable Masters.

And indeed, that new player was announced officially on March 3: GM Alireza Firouzja. Team Falcons now has two players whose Chess.com ratings have peaked above 3300, one more than the now-second-place team.

Every move tells a story… and this one changes everything ♟️

Welcome, Falcon @AlirezaFirouzja 🦅#FalconsAreHere pic.twitter.com/905PF15NZP

— Falcons Esports (@FalconsEsport) March 1, 2025

Team Falcons

2. Team Liquid

Not only is Team Liquid one of the few to draft multiple chess players, they picked up two of the greatest players of all time, including probably the greatest, GM Magnus Carlsen.

You want details? Fine. I drive a Ferrari, 355 Cabriolet. What’s up? I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork. I have every toy you could possibly imagine, and best of all, kids? I am… @TeamLiquid pic.twitter.com/NaE8rOvSuo

— Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) February 14, 2025

Carlsen was already the top target of any team looking to make a splash, and he is more than enough on his own to put fear into any opposition. Team Liquid didn't stop there, however, and also added Carlsen's greatest challenger from his days as the world champion, GM Fabiano Caruana.

Grandmaster, four-time US Open Champion, perennial Candidate, and third highest rated player of all time.

Our expansion into chess is in great hands. Welcome to Team Liquid, @FabianoCaruana ♘ pic.twitter.com/Yug086zFeD

— Team Liquid (@TeamLiquid) February 13, 2025

Between the two, Team Liquid could very well end up with half of the semifinal field and the champion all by itself, and that makes for a top spot on this list. They have a head start, too: To no one's surprise, Carlsen won the Chessable Masters, the first leg of the Champions Chess Tour, which qualified him for the EWC. Were it not for Team Falcons signing Nakamura and Firouzja, Team Liquid would clearly be number one. Will they add a third player to take the lead back?

Team Liquid

3. NAVI

The final team to already make multiple signings, Natus Vincare (NAVI), is the only one with three players on board so far. None are quite on the level of the players we already mentioned, but all have plenty of hardware: 2022 Global Chess Champion GM Wesley So, 2021 World Rapid Champion GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov, and 11-time Titled Tuesday winner GM Oleksandr Bortnyk.

We’re making a grand move! NAVI is officially entering the world of chess! @chesscom

Please welcome our Grandmasters @NodirbekGM, @WesleySo_, and @BortnykChess! pic.twitter.com/j1CxIGApyd

— NAVI Chess (@NAVIChess) February 15, 2025

With these three in tow, NAVI has a great chance to make noise at the EWC.

NAVI

4. Aurora

The next four spots are all very tough to rank, with every team signing one player, each of whom is either a former top-two player in the world or a current top-five performer. But only one of them has won a world championship in the past year, and that's GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, who just co-won the World Blitz Championship with Carlsen in December. And, of course, Nepomniachtchi has been a classical world championship challenger not once but twice.

We're happy to announce that a famous Dota streamer, Grandmaster and the World Champion Ian Nepomniachtchi is joining Aurora family and will represent our colors at the CCT and EWC.

Welcome home, Nepo 💙 pic.twitter.com/DVe13mjJwz

— Aurora CS2 (@AuroraCS2_GG) February 18, 2025

Headquartered in Serbia, Team Aurora is the lucky squad to have "Nepo" on its side. Their other advantage: Nepomniachtchi is already in the World Cup, along with Carlsen and Nakamura.

Aurora

5. LGD

Carlsen isn't the only classical world champion who has a team set for this summer. His successor, GM Ding Liren, is now part of LGD Gaming as he returns to chess following a break after the last FIDE World Championship (during which he fell to GM Gukesh Dommaraju).

In addition to his classical success, Ding was part of one of the greatest speed chess matches ever in 2021. He is always a player to watch.

LGD

6. Gen.G

Outside of Teams Liquid and Falcons, Generation Gaming (Gen.G) is the only outfit with a top-five player on the official February 2025 list. That's GM Arjun Erigaisi, who was also one of the first players to sign with a squad. 

I’m excited! https://t.co/AkFAFuC1I4

— Arjun Erigaisi (@ArjunErigaisi) February 6, 2025

Outside of some Titled Tuesdays, Arjun doesn't have any major speed chess titles to his name yet; he's just really good, recently reaching a 2800 official rating, only the second Indian player to ever do so following GM Viswanathan Anand. So you will definitely want to watch out for Arjun and Gen.G at this World Cup.

Gen.G

7. Team Vitality

GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was a surprise finalist in the 2020 Speed Chess Championship and followed it up with the 2021 World Blitz Championship. Although we only have Team Vitality seventh on this list, they could easily be fourth. "MVL" was a lively choice for Team Vitality's first chess star.

If I checkmate first, you can't checkmate me pic.twitter.com/r7uZXsuK9X

— Team Vitality 🐝 (@TeamVitality) February 11, 2025

Vitality

8. Weibo

GM Wei Yi perhaps has the fewest speed chess accolades out of all these star players. But make no mistake, he is also a star: Wei is a top 10 player in the world who won the 2024 Tata Steel Chess Tournament. Now, Wei Yi is part of Team Weibo, which makes him one of the few chess players whose teams at the World Cup will have the same national federation as him. (Caruana, Bortnyk, Ding, and Vachier-Lagrave are the others.) 

Weibo

9. Wolves Esports

Update March 3: A new team enters the chess arena.

The England-based, Chinese-led Wolves Esports team joined the chess fray by signing GM Yu Yangyi (although they were somewhat overshadowed by Falcons signing Firouzja). Wei Yi and Yu Yangyi have had very similar peaks in chess, so Weibo and Wolves could go in either order.

Please welcome Chinese chess grandmaster Yu Yangyi to the pack! ♟️

Yu has won 2 World Olympiad team titles, 2 World Team Chess Championship titles and 2 Chinese Chess King Tournament championships! 🤩

We are delighted to have him representing Wolves in the Esports World Cup! 🏆… pic.twitter.com/teMQvNB7j2

— Wolves Esports (@WolvesEsports) February 27, 2025

Team Wolves

10. AG Global

With seemingly every esports outfit signing seemingly every chess star, there is no shame in having the final entry on this list. GM Volodar Murzin even won the 2024 World Rapid Championship, although the time controls at the EWC will be a bit faster (10 minutes for the game instead of 15 minutes and a 10-second increment). As he proved at the 2024 Rapids, Murzin can help AG Global make a lot of noise.

Welcoming the Rapid World Champion - to AGGlobal Esports!

The world champion, the winner - Volodar Murizin! 🌟#AGGLOBAL #GOAG #ALLGAMERS #AGG pic.twitter.com/VVeeooG2S9

— All Gamers - AG Global (@AGGlobalEsports) February 2, 2025

AG Global

Conclusion

There you have them, the Esports World Cup chess power rankings. And there will only be more players joining in the five months between now and the tournament finals, which could shake things up.

Do you have a favorite esports team, and who is it? Which team do you think has the best chess squad? Let us know in the comments!