Chess World’s Rising Stars Sign with Major Esports Organizations Ahead of 2025 Esports World Cup
Two of the chess world’s hottest young stars, GMs Volodar Murzin and Arjun Erigaisi, have made headlines by becoming two of the first players to sign with major Esports organizations ahead of the 2025 Esports World Cup (EWC).
Chess is set to make its historic debut at the Esports World Cup, the world’s largest gaming and esports festival, scheduled to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from July 31 to August 3. This ambitious initiative aims to bring together a variety of gaming titles, now including chess.
To qualify for the EWC, top players will compete in two key online events within the 2025 Champions Chess Tour, starting with the Chessable Masters on February 16. This qualification process has sparked a fierce competition among esports organizations to recruit top players to ensure they have the best talent on their rosters before the summer showdown.
Arjun Erigaisi, currently ranked number four in the world, has become the first big star to be signed by a major esports organization, Gen.G. The Indian grandmaster expressed his excitement about the deal, which comes on the heels of his previous $1.5 million contract with Quantbox in 2022.
On the other hand, 18-year-old Murzin, who recently became the World Rapid Champion, has joined AG Global, a Vietnamese-Chinese esports organization. Murzin’s mother, Ekaterina Murzina, shared that her son is thrilled to join such a strong team and organization, and she believes that the Esports World Cup will elevate chess to a new level.
The details of the deals have not been disclosed, but esports salaries for top players can range from five-figure to multimillion-dollar contracts. The total prize pool for the Esports World Cup is $60 million, with $1.5 million allocated to chess alone.
Arjun and Murzin are following in the footsteps of GM Hikaru Nakamura, who signed with esports organizations TSM and Misfits Gaming in recent years. Other notable chess creators like Alexandra Botez, Anna Cramling Bellon, and Nemo Zhou have also secured deals with esports organizations, highlighting the growing intersection between chess and esports.