The first day of the Esports World Cup 2026 in Paris has concluded. Wei Yi defeated all opponents in the upper bracket and qualified to Group Stage A. Andrey Esipenko dropped to the lower bracket in the first round, won all remaining games, and qualified to Group Stage B.

Pairings for the Group Stage A:

🇺🇿 Nodirbek Abdusattorov - 🇮🇳 Pranesh M

🇵🇱 Jan-Krzysztof Duda - 🇳🇱 Benjamin Bok

🇮🇳 Arjun Erigaisi - 🇮🇳 Nihal Sarin

🇫🇷 Alireza Firouzja - 🇨🇳 Wei Yi

Pairings for the Group Stage B:

🇺🇸 Hikaru Nakamura - 🇷🇸 Alexey Sarana

🇧🇾 Denis Lazavik - 🇮🇷 Sina Movahed

🇳🇴 Magnus Carlsen - 🇷🇺 Andrey Esipenko

🇺🇸 Hans Moke Niemann - 🇷🇺 Ian Nepomniachtchi

The event features 3 stages. In the Play-In stage, 8 players competed in a Double Elimination Bracket. In the Group stage, two 8-player groups will compete in a Double Elimination Bracket. In the Playoffs, 16 players will compete in a Single Elimination Bracket. All games feature a 10+0 time control.

The Esports World Cup is an annual international gaming tournament and festival. The chess tournament at the 2026 edition of the EWC features a $1,500,000 prize fund. The Grand Final playoffs will take place on August 15.

Credit: Esports World Cup