Chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen wins at Esports World Cup

Primary grandmaster, Magnus Carlsen, has received the inaugural on-line chess competitors on the Esports World Cup. The 34-year-old Norwegian will take house $250,000 (round £188,000).

The Esports World Cup (EWC) being held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia is among the greatest multi-discipline tournaments in aggressive skilled gaming.

The inclusion of chess on this yr’s schedule was considerably controversial, however the event’s organisers argued it counted as an esport as it’s performed by hundreds of thousands of individuals of all ages.

That is the second time the EWC has been staged and it comes with a complete prize pot of round $70m (£50m).

Over a interval of seven weeks, groups from all over the world compete throughout 25 common video games, together with Name of Obligation, Road Fighter and League of Legends.

The EWC stated together with chess this yr has seen the sport attain a “new milestone”, 139 years after the primary World Chess Champion was topped.

On the Esports world cup, rivals sit at their pc on a stage in entrance of a stay viewers, sporting heart-rate screens. Very like with conventional sport, there are giant screens, huge identify sponsors and commentators.

Quite a few grandmasters took half within the on-line competitors, which noticed gamers undergo a bunch stage earlier than the top-scorers made it to the playoffs.

It was the world’s greatest conventional chess participant who cinched the title, after beating quantity eight Alireza Firouzja.

Carlsen is not any stranger to embracing modernity within the sport. Final yr, he stated he would return to a serious chess competitors after the game’s governing physique agreed to loosen up its gown code.

Carlsen had stop the World Speedy and Blitz Chess Championships in New York, the place he was defending his title, when he was informed he couldn’t proceed enjoying whereas sporting denims.

“It has been a tremendous present, in contrast to something that I’ve seen to this point,” stated Carlsen after lifting the gold-plated EWC trophy.

“I actually hope that this can be a huge a part of the long run for chess.

“Possibly we are able to get on an even bigger stage subsequent time,” he added because it had proved common on the event.