Esports World Cup gears up for last week of action

RIYADH: In a groundbreaking move in the gaming industry, the 2025 Esports World Cup — taking place in Riyadh — has officially integrated chess into its lineup, marking a significant step in bridging traditional and digital sports.

With chess experiencing a global resurgence in online popularity, the move highlights the growing convergence of strategy, entertainment and competitive gaming.

According to Ralf Reichert, CEO of the Esports World Cup, incorporating chess was a natural evolution in fulfilling EWC’s commitment to showcasing the world’s best video games.

“Esports World companies promise to have the best video games in the world to be part of the Esports World Cup overall. And if you look at chess, the original board game is probably the oldest game that’s still out there and being played at scale,” he told Arab News in an exclusive interview. “It is popular almost everywhere in the world, and it had a big transition and a big growth rate in the last five years on the Internet, in video games.”

With platforms such as Chess.com redefining the sport’s accessibility and chess influencers such as Gotham Chess and Hikaru Nakamura drawing millions of viewers, the crossover between traditional chess and esports has become undeniable.

Beyond its historical significance, chess aligns perfectly with the core elements of esports — competition, strategy and global reach. Reichert highlighted its thriving competitive scene and how its digital adaptation aligns with the Esports World Cup’s club-based format.

“It has a hugely competitive ecosystem across the world, with participants who are stars and celebrities in their own right. It’s been played as a video game, and a lot of the qualifications are online,” he said.

“The biggest teams in the world, like Team Liquid, have signed Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, (and) Hikaru Nakamura being signed by Falcons — the winner of the Esports World Cup 2024. Seven of the top 10 chess players have been signed to clubs, which shows that there is a big interest on both sides, the player’s side and the club’s side.”

This integration provides an opportunity for chess professionals to compete for life-changing prize money while promoting the sport to a wider audience.

While the move has been met with overwhelming enthusiasm, the full-scale integration of chess into an esports-focused championship remains a work in progress.

“I think I can tell you after the summer,” Reichert said when asked about potential challenges. “We spent a lot of time identifying three things — a. Does it ultimately qualify as esports from a purely technical perspective? b. is the sport ready in terms of scale and openness and necessity to develop it? and c. Who is the right partner to operate this with? Esports World Cup always works with the existing ecosystem and tries to make it bigger.”

The response from both the chess and gaming communities has been overwhelmingly positive. “It almost seems like it was long overdue to merge these two worlds,” he said. There’s been a lot of positive sentiment, fan anticipation all over the Internet, and media interest in how this will unfold.

To ensure that chess aligns with the high-energy nature of esports, EWC has opted for a fast-paced 10/0 format, also known as ultra-blitz.

The goal is to create the most competitive environment possible, where every match is crucial and becomes a “do-or-die scenario for the players,” according to the CEO.

The 10/0 format is the fastest-paced, with players given only 10 minutes to complete the game, with no additional time. This leads to rapid and intense matches, requiring players to carefully manage their time from the start. It offers an exhilarating experience for both the players and the audience.

The Esports World Cup is not treating chess as a one-off experiment. The inclusion is part of a broader long-term vision.

“Everything we do in the Esports World Cup is with a long-term horizon. We are trying to establish this as one of the largest sports properties. With chess, we have officially announced a three-year partnership at least,” Reichert said, adding that their expectation and hope is that it becomes a permanent fixture.

Looking ahead, Reichert envisions chess evolving within the EWC as a platform for both elite and emerging players.

The aim is to provide life-changing prize money and expand qualifications to be larger and more inclusive on a global scale. The goal is to give new players the chance to rise and compete on the biggest stage. With chess experiencing a resurgence as an online spectator sport, the hope is to bring that excitement to a live audience at the Esports World Cup.

While chess is a major addition, the 2025 Esports World Cup is set to expand even more elsewhere.

“Last year, we had 22 different disciplines. This year, we will have 25, with some of the biggest games that were missing (such as) Valorant, the largest competitive shooter, Fatal Fury, an up-and-coming fighting game, Crossfire, which is the largest shooter in China,” Reichert said.

“The Esports World Cup promises to have the best games, (including) chess as the most classic tactical game.”

With the Esports World Cup redefining the boundaries between traditional and digital competition, chess’s inclusion marks a pivotal moment in the evolution of both esports and one of the world’s oldest strategy games. As the first tournament unfolds, the chess world — and the wider esports community — will be watching closely.

RIYADH: The Saudi Esports Federation hosted the fifth SEF Awards, featuring 19 eSport categories, at the SEF Arena at Boulevard Riyadh City on Friday night.

It was “a celebration of excellence, achievement and vision,” Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan, the organization’s chairman, said at the gala event.

Faisal bin Homran, chief product officer at the Esports World Cup, reflected on the Kingdom’s endeavors in the gaming sector.

“Honestly, in the past few years, the progress of the industry is changing dramatically, especially with the Kingdom doing solid moves toward it, especially with changing the sector when it comes to projects like the Esports World Cup.”

“I think Saudi is now shaping the industry toward something sustainable for the industry overall and for any lover of eSports, specific games, audience, players (and) clubs.

Bin Homran told Arab News that he believed eSports would lead the field globally.

“Personally, (I think) it will be the number one sports in the world,” he said. “Overall, I think the future is amazing. There’s a lot of projects coming in. I’m really happy. I’m a passionate gamer myself and I’m living the dream.”

Saudi player Raef Alturkistani won the award for “best fighting game player,” taking the prize for the second consecutive year, and retaining the world title for a third year for his performance at the Tekken World Tour Finals.

“I am grateful for this,” he said. “I want to do my best next time so I can win it (best fighting game player) for the third time, hopefully … This year was the hardest year for me because I had so many competitors with me, in the same game and different games. But I achieved it ... going third in the world.”

Team Falcons of Saudi Arabia, also known as the first Esports World Cup club champions, took home the title for “best club.”

Musaad Al-Dossary, CEO of Falcons, said that the future of eSports in the Kingdom was promising.

“It’s rewarding, what we have achieved, the nights that we have been working, and sometimes it’s a hectic night, so nights like this (are for) rewards of what we have accomplished … We have been honored to have, the Esports World Cup here, thankfully we have won it and obviously looking to do more. I’m sure that everyone here in Saudi wants to do more and more.”

Rawan Al-Butairi, chief partnerships and corporate affairs at the Saudi Esports Federation, highlighted the success of the Kingdom’s national gaming strategy.

“Saudi Arabia has a national gaming strategy, eSports strategy, and other potential and impact ... It is Bollywood and Hollywood combined. So it is absolutely large in size and grasping such opportunity to amplify the impact through the players, through the content creators and through the community by creating an event like this will help us grow it substantially in the Kingdom to inspire the world.”

Adel Almeqeren, executive director of marketing and branding at the Saudi Esports Federation, said that this year it would establish a women’s eLeague.

“A lot of players, have both male and female play in the Saudi eLeague, but the challenge is that sometimes they can’t compete with each other. So by us doing that and segregating, in a good way, the women’s league, it gives them more light and it gives them more awareness to the public.”

Award categories included best rising player; best rising talent; best female player, presented by Hilton; best club, presented by Richy; best content creator, presented by SAIB; and best roster, presented by Golden Scent.

The winners of the 19 categories in this year’s SEF Awards are:

1. Best female talent: Ghala Al-Qahtani

2. Best host: Wajeh Fahad

3. Best rising player: Abdulaziz Altamimi

4. Best rising club: Al-Qadsiah

5. Best eSports media coverage: Sama News

6. Best female player: Mohdi Alkanhal

7. Best roster: Team Falcons — Rocket League

8. Best coach: Abdulrahman bin Fayez

9. Best rising talent: Saleh Alrakaf

10. Best FPS games player: Ibrahim Alali

11. Best fighting game player: Raef Alturkistani

12. Best battle royale player: Khalid Alomar

13. Best MOBA game player: Orifan Alsulaimany

14. Best sports player: Mohammed Alotaibi

15. Best club: Team Falcons

16. Best caster: Abdulaziz Almehmadi

17. Best analyst: Fahad Ghzwani

18. Best content creator: Saleh Alzahrani

19. Best streamer: Mufrih Assiri