Over the last month, we were offered a glimpse into the future of chess. The Las Vegas leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam tour and the Esports World Cup in Riyadh saw the cerebral aspect of the sport intertwined with the spectacle as chess attempts to become more spectator-friendly.
While the Las Vegas Grand Slam roped in some big-name NBA players, who took part in exhibition events before the tournament, the Esports World Cup saw players compete in a quickfire rapid format, with winners getting to break the loser’s key — a triangular metallic totem with a player’s name engraved on it.
A consistent presence in both these tournaments was Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi, who entered the semifinal in both events.
Speaking ahead of the Chennai Grand Masters 2025, where he is the top seed, Erigaisi suggested that such displays of glitz and glamour augur well for the sport.
“I don’t know about the key breaking and all these things. But the fact is that there’s action all the time. When you see a classical tournament, for spectators, it might be boring when the players go into a long think. But in esports, it never happened.
There was a match all the time, and it’s only 10 minutes each, so it’s very thrilling for the spectators. I think this is definitely in the right direction to make it a spectator sport,” said Erigaisi.
The 21-year-old, though, wasn’t entirely satisfied with his performances in both tournaments, underlining his hunger for more.
“To be honest, reaching the semifinal [at the Esports World Cup] might sound like something good. But I ended up losing the last two matches. I cannot look at it as a great result because I ended on a bad note.
Again, I wouldn’t say it [Las Vegas Grand Slam] was a great result because I lost my last three matches there. So yeah, it felt like a rough result. But because I did well at the start and got into the final stage,” added Erigaisi.
The inaugural season of the Freestyle Grand Slam Tour, co-founded by five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen, has garnered appreciation from fans and players alike.
The freestyle format — with a randomised piece order for the back rank, which is revealed only minutes before the start of the match — has been credited for doing away with the rigidity of opening preparation, a point of criticism often levelled at classical chess.
Erigaisi was all praise for the stimulating nature of the freestyle format and hopes the Grand Slam tour will gain a permanent spot in the chess calendar.
“It’s very refreshing to play freestyle with no preparation and right from the first move. And I think it’s good that we have the Freestyle Grand Slam Tour in the chess circuit, and I hope it will continue,” said Erigaisi.
While the World No. 6 has been dabbling in all formats, his eyes are now firmly set on making his maiden appearance at the Candidates.
The 2026 Candidates will see eight players battling it out to earn the right to challenge reigning champion D Gukesh for the world title.
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One of those spots has already been taken up by the USA’s Fabiano Caruana, who qualified by topping the 2024 FIDE Circuit.
The other seven spots will be filled through four routes: FIDE World Cup 2025 (three spots), FIDE Grand Swiss (two), 2025 FIDE Circuit (one) and the final one for the player with the highest average rating between August 2025 and January 2026.
“At the start of the year, I wanted to keep all my options open, but as the year started to go by, it has become pretty clear that Rating and Fiddle Circuit are pretty much out for me.
So my only two chances are the Grand Swiss and the World Cup. I’ll give my level best to qualify for at least one of them,” added Erigaisi.
