Esports World Cup: Lazavik Ousts Nepomniachtchi, Joins Arjun, Nihal, Niemann In Quarterfinals

Lazavik Ousts Nepomniachtchi, Joins Arjun, Nihal, Niemann In Quarterfinals

19-year-old GM Denis Lazavik pulled off the day's biggest upset to defeat GM Ian Nepomniachtchi and book a 2026 Esports World Cup quarterfinal against GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov. He's joined by GM Nihal Sarin, who faces GM Magnus Carlsen in a repeat of their 2025 quarterfinal, GM Arjun Erigaisi, who faces GM Hikaru Nakamura, and GM Hans Niemann, who will take on GM Alireza Firouzja.

The Esports World Cup Playoffs begin on Friday, August 14 at 7 a.m. ET / 13:00 CEST / 4:30 p.m. IST.

The Lower Bracket of each group was completed on Thursday, with four more players qualifying for the Playoffs. There was no longer a margin for error, as any match loss meant the player left the event and had their key crushed.

Esports World Cup Group A Final Bracket

Esports World Cup Group B Final Bracket

Let's take a look at the four players who qualified for the Playoffs.

Nihal Sarin: 2-1 vs. Wei Yi & 1.5-0.5 vs. Duda

Wei Yi hands over his key to Nihal. Photo: Esports World Cup.

Nihal had lost 2-0 to Arjun in his first match in Paris, so had to win two matches to qualify via the Lower Bracket. That's just what he did, beginning with a hard-fought victory over the formidable GM Wei Yi. It felt deserved, not least because Nihal had been a whole rook up in the first game, but let the win slip away.

The second game also saw Nihal pressing before it ended in a draw, while the armageddon was a tense battle, with Wei saying he thought he'd had the board-splitting 13...Bd4! on his computer while preparing.

The point is to interfere with the defense of the bishop on d5.

From there, however, Wei lost his way, got a rook trapped, and admitted he was lost—except that he had very decent chances of flagging his opponent to pick up the win. Wei never seemed to have his heart in it, however, and had even dropped lower on the clock when he decided to resign.

Wei Yi resigns and is out of the #EWC2026 — Nihal advances to play Duda for a spot in tomorrow's Playoffs! https://t.co/GGwbRwF3sZ pic.twitter.com/StcwLM9fnu — chess24 ( @chess24com ) August 13, 2026

As he commented: "I think I didn’t have too much experience in bullet games, so maybe I should play more bullet after this!"

Wei was out, while Nihal advanced to face GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda, and once again the dilemma was posed: is it worth trying to flag Nihal? Duda had 14 seconds to Nihal's four, but decided to take a draw by repetition.

An incredibly nervy end to the 1st Duda-Nihal game — Duda was on the brink of flagging but stumbled into a draw by repetition, while Nihal was briefly winning on the board just before the finish! https://t.co/zlR3XwBDbN#EWC2026 pic.twitter.com/6lcstBWqsn — chess24 ( @chess24com ) August 13, 2026

The Polish star explained: "I got a slightly better position but completely misplayed it, it was just a two-results game with better time and I managed actually to get a bit worse at some point. In the end, maybe I could have tried to flag him, but I don’t think I would have succeeded, to be honest, because it was pretty simple for him to play. He just goes after my e3-pawn, and everything was defended for him."

It was the end of the road for Duda. Photo: Esports World Cup.

That miss proved costly when Nihal won the second game to clinch the match. Duda identified his main mistake as the "super-stupid" 27...Nc4?!, with the problem being that after 28.b3 he was planning to capture on e3, only to realize too late that Nihal could avoid the loss of three pawns.

The Esports World Cup is a spectator sport. Photo: Chess.com.

Nihal's victory gave him a spot in the Playoffs and, as he would later find out, a rematch of the 2025 quarterfinal against Carlsen that he lost 2.5-0.5. Carlsen got to pick between Nihal and Arjun, and explained: "They’re both very, very good players but stylistically I think Arjun is very difficult for anybody and I thought out of two very, very good players this was the more sensible choice."

I think Arjun is very difficult for anybody and I thought out of two very, very good players this was the more sensible choice. —Magnus Carlsen on picking Nihal Sarin instead of Arjun Erigaisi

Carlsen holds up Nihal's key after picking him for a repeat of their 2025 quarterfinal. Image: Esports World Cup broadcast.

Nihal admitted the defending champion wasn't his ideal opponent: "Not very happy, but I’ll just try to play my best and give as good a fight as I can and just see what happens!"

Arjun's path to the quarterfinals was easier.

Arjun Erigaisi: 2-0 vs. Pranesh M

Arjun had won one match on the first day, so just needed to win one in the Lower Bracket and could wait as his potential opponents battled it out.

Benjamin Bok was one of eight players to depart. Photo: Esports World Cup.

Those were GMs Pranesh M and Benjamin Bok, who competed in a real slugfest. The first game was remarkable, as Pranesh had a winning position and four minutes against his opponent's 20 seconds, so that it seemed he could win either on the board or the clock. Finding a clear win wasn't so easy, however, and Bok was even briefly winning in the wild finish that followed—but that was where he needed more seconds.

Pranesh takes the lead vs. Bok, but only after an insane finish — minutes up on the clock and completely winning, Pranesh almost lost but Bok couldn't figure things out on seconds! Now Bok must win on demand or he's out: https://t.co/wWTo2tuQFt#EWC2026 pic.twitter.com/FbPBp6rTIn — chess24 ( @chess24com ) August 13, 2026

Chess is tough!

In the next game, however, Bok did manage to demonstrate great speed to hit back with a win. That meant armageddon, where Pranesh, playing with the black pieces, struck with some fine tactics and then forced the draw he needed to progress.

Up next was Arjun, who did Arjun things. In the first game, the Indian number-one entered an endgame a full pawn down, with the only question seeming to be whether he could survive. Instead he pounced on a mistake to gain counterplay, won a pawn, and then ground out a win in what should still have been a drawn endgame.

In the next clash Pranesh applied pressure and at times was winning amid the chaos, but Arjun remained icy cool, with a heartrate half his opponent's.

Eventually he prevailed and delivered checkmate again—it's understandable that Carlsen didn't want to face him. Instead, Arjun will take on Nakamura in Friday's Playoffs.

Hans Niemann: 1.5-0.5 vs. Sina Movahed

Niemann was another player who just needed to win one match, but it was an epic clash between arguably the most emotional players in the whole event.

Hans Niemann's Paris adventure goes on. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

16-year-old GM Sina Movahed's day started earlier, as he suddenly took over tactically against GM Alexey Sarana and delivered checkmate.

Sarana hit back, however, squeezing out a win in a queen endgame with a couple of seconds to spare—an outcome Movahed called "heartbreaking."

Alexey Sarana wins with 2 seconds to spare to force Armageddon vs. Sina Movahed! https://t.co/Tw3Mt8yu3l#EWC2026 pic.twitter.com/nzsOChCIv3 — chess24 ( @chess24com ) August 13, 2026

The youngster recovered for the armageddon, however, and noted that his opponent played into his preparation. Movahed was asked about the wild position he keeps getting and responded: "I would like to get more solid positions, but somehow I can’t. I would like to get decent, good positional chess, but I usually go for lines which require a lot of calculation, and somehow the game becomes really unclear."

Sina Movahed put up a great fight. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

There would be no quiet, positional chess in the next match either, with Niemann starting by squeezing out a win in a tricky endgame—Movahed could have held, but picked a line at the end that lost by a single tempo.

Hans Niemann fist pumps after piling on the pressure until Sina Movahed cracked in the endgame! Now the 16-year-old must win on demand to force Armageddon: https://t.co/IOWrPljvIN#EWC2026 pic.twitter.com/E3gY5sYSfE — chess24 ( @chess24com ) August 13, 2026

The second game was extraordinary, with Niemann mixing up his opening line but was still doing OK despite Movahed getting four pawns for a piece. Giving up a fifth pawn was uncalled for, however, and later just when he'd fought his way back into the game Niemann sacrificed a rook for nothing concrete, a decision he called "so stupid."

Armageddon beckoned, but one more slip and Movahed slammed the table mid-game as he realized he had to give up his queen. It was still anyone's game in the time scramble, but in the end Niemann managed to swap off everything for the draw he needed to clinch the match.

Hans Niemann is in the playoffs with Carlsen, Nakamura & co. after an incredible game against Sina Movahed. The 16-year-old slammed the table as he let multiple chances to level the score slip away! https://t.co/JYMCMUYWnS pic.twitter.com/46NJ4gIYME — chess24 ( @chess24com ) August 13, 2026

"He put up a great fight and it was a great match!" said Niemann, and it's clear Movahed is going to be a huge threat to the chess elite in the coming years.

Niemann, meanwhile, goes forward to the Quarterfinals, where he faces last year's runner-up, Firouzja. In fact, Niemann is just one of two players to qualify who didn't reach the same stage in 2025, when we saw the matchups Arjun vs. Nepomniachtchi, Abdusattorov vs. Firouzja, Carlsen vs. Nihal, and Nakamura vs. GM Levon Aronian (this year competing in St. Louis instead).

Denis Lazavik is a new name in the Esports World Cup Quarterfinals. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

The other new player is 19-year-old Lazavik, who knocked out one of last year's quarterfinalists, two-time world championship challenger Nepomniachtchi.

Denis Lazavik: 1.5-0.5 vs. Nepomniachtchi

Nepomniachtchi had perhaps the toughest task of the day, needing to beat two very tough opponents. First up was GM Andrey Esipenko, and the task got tougher when Esipenko took over with the black pieces. He later lamented: "I think in the first game I had a huge advantage in the endgame, I think it was just winning because I have two bishops, an extra pawn. I don’t know how I managed to lose it..."

It was a typical death by a thousand cuts, as Nepomniachtchi took over and ultimately weaved a mating net.

Agony for Esipenko as he loses the 1st game to Nepomniachtchi after having a big advantage early on! https://t.co/JYv1nNGylu#EWC2026 pic.twitter.com/CcIYFm7Y8j — chess24 ( @chess24com ) August 13, 2026

Nepomniachtchi gave Esipenko no real chances of a comeback in the second game, and advanced to play Lazavik.

Lazavik is already a monster of online chess, but when in the first game he failed to get anything with the white pieces it felt as though the momentum had swung to Nepomniachtchi. That impression increased when he correctly sacrificed a bishop in the second game.

The position was highly double-edged, however, with Lazavik responding in kind by picking up the pawn on b2. If Nepomniachtchi had played accurately he might have kept an advantage, but instead his position soon collapsed, with Lazavik finishing things off flawlessly. Nepomniachtchi was furious with himself.

Denis Lazavik knocks out Ian Nepomniachtchi and goes forward to tomorrow's Playoffs! https://t.co/ElYL3HWE0w#EWC2026 pic.twitter.com/UisNcW09ec — chess24 ( @chess24com ) August 13, 2026

That's our Game of the Day, which GM Rafael Leitao has analyzed below.

Lazavik was almost flawless on the chessboard, but hasn't quite mastered crushing keys yet.

Not quite yet 😅 pic.twitter.com/zzz7abR6DA — EWC Extra ( @EWC_Extra ) August 13, 2026

He's already guaranteed $75,000, as are all the players in the Playoffs, and his next opponent will be Abdusattorov.

Esports World Cup Playoffs: Bracket

Abdusattorov was another player who got to choose, with Niemann the other option. He explained, "I played many games against Hans, so I thought that this time it would be interesting to play against Denis, because I mostly played against him online, so it would be interesting."

Abdusattorov avoided Niemann, choosing Lazavik. Image: Esports World Cup broadcast.

Lazavik had no complaints: "I think it’s nice, because I didn’t want to play against Alireza!"

I didn't want to play against Alireza! —Denis Lazavik

The Quarterfinals follow the same format of 10+0 games, but now it's best-of-four instead of best-of-two, while the Semifinals will be best-of-six. We'll already know our two finalists by the end of Friday's session!

How to watch?

You can follow the 2026 Esports World Cup games on our Events Page . You can watch live commentary on the Chess.com YouTube channel and on both the Chess.com and Chess24 Twitch channels.

The 2026 Esports World Cup in Paris, France has a $1.5 million chess prize fund and $250,000 for first place, while esports teams also share a $30 million prize fund. 16 players qualified via the Champions Chess Tour, DreamHack Atlanta, India Rising, or as defending champion (Carlsen), while another five qualified via the Last Chance Qualifier (August 4-6) in Paris. The main event (August 11-15) features a Play-In to cut the field to 16 players, then a Group Stage with two double-elimination groups to halve it again to eight. Those players then compete in the Playoffs, a single-elimination knockout for the title. The time control for all games is 10 minutes, with no increment.

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