Grandmaster Anish Giri Joins Team Secret Ahead of EWC Chess Debut
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- Anish Kumar Giri, a Dutch chess grandmaster, has officially signed with European esports organization Team Secret.
- Chess is about to debut as a discipline in the Esports World Cup, featuring a $1.5 million prize pool.
- The EWC chess tournament will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on July 31 – Aug. 3, 2025.
Anish Kumar Giri, a Dutch chess grandmaster, has officially signed with European esports organization Team Secret ahead of the Esports World Cup 2025.
A five-time Dutch champion (2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2023), Giri completed the requirements for the grandmaster title in 2009 at the age of 14. Anish represented the Netherlands at seven Chess Olympiads (2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2022, 2024). As of the time of writing, Anish Giri was ranked 19th globally by chess.com.
Team Secret joins a growing list of major organizations venturing into the chess esports scene as chess is about to debut as a discipline in the Esports World Cup, featuring a $1.5 million prize pool. The tournament will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on July 31 – Aug. 3, 2025.
Besides Team Secret powering up, Wolves Esports has signed 2014 Chess Olympiad gold winner Yu Yangyi, while Indian grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi has joined Korean team Gen.G. At the same time, Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana have signed with Team Liquid.
Chinese team LGD Gaming has brought in former world champion Ding Liren, and Team Vitality secured Maxime ‘MVL’ Vachier-Lagrave. Esports giant NAVI has expanded into chess as well, adding top players like Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Wesley So, and Oleksandr Bortnyk to its roster. Meanwhile, Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura joined Team Falcons and Aurora Gaming powered up with Ian Nepomniachtchi.
Esports World Cup 2025 will feature a total $70m prize pool that will be distributed among competitions in 25 disciplines. On top of EWC 2025 will be powered by a $20 million Esports World Club Partner Program aimed at marketing and content campaigns in collaboration with 40 esports organizations.
Besides Chess EWC 2025 games lineup includes Counter-Strike 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Call of Duty: Warzone, Free Fire, Street Fighter 6, DOTA 2, Rainbow Six Siege, PUBG Mobile, Apex Legends, EA Sports FC, Overwatch 2, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (Women’s Invitational), Rocket League, Rennsport, Honor of Kings, PUBG, CrossFire, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics, Valorant, Tekken 8, and StarCraft II.
