Praggnanandhaa Joins Carlsen's Team Liquid Ahead of Esports World Cup Showdown

Magnus Carlsen, the five-time world chess champion, has welcomed R Praggnanandhaa, the prodigious 19-year-old grandmaster, to his esteemed Team Liquid. This exciting development comes ahead of the highly anticipated Esports World Cup, scheduled to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from July 29 to August 1.

Image: Chess grandmaster Praggnanandhaa being felicitated in Chennai.

Team Liquid announced the addition with a statement on X: "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 himself expressed his enthusiasm, stating, “Super excited to be part of Team Liquid! From India to the world, let’s take chess to the next level together!”

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

Video: The world's youngest rated chess player hails from India.

Arjun Erigaisi is currently signed with 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 host only 16 participants. Other confirmed participants include Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, among a group of 12 grandmasters with guaranteed spots.

The list of qualified players also features prominent names such as Hikaru Nakamura and Alireza Firouzja (both with 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), and Vladimir Fedoseev.

R Praggnanandhaa will represent Team Liquid in the Last Chance Qualifiers, where he will face stiff competition from some of chess's most formidable players, all vying for one of the four remaining spots. The lineup for the qualifiers includes current world champion Ding Liren (LGD), Wesley So (NAVI), Oleksandr Bortnyk (NAVI), Anish Giri (Team Secret), and Daniil Dubov (Team Spirit).