Anish Giri

Dutch GM, World No. 6

“In chess as in Esports, there was only one tournament, but with the most remarkable prizes. As I joked then, there were these terribly huge professional headphones that pressed awfully on the brain, not even on the ears, but directly on the brain. And all the chess players, of course, complained about it, but we were told that all gamers play with them and they need to be worn. Then we looked at the prize fund, looked again at the headphones, and put the headphones on. We played in headphones, they pressed a bit, but then we took them off, took the money, and went home happy. Everything was actually wonderful.

I was very happy that I qualified. And I qualified unexpectedly, through the very last stage. It was a total miracle. I qualified from the Grand Swiss and then I won a bunch of matches. I beat Levon Aronian, and at the end Hans Niemann. It was wonderful, I won a very good prize in the end. It was very cool.

But it’s a very short event, one event a year. It doesn’t change the chess world at all. It’s basically one tournament. Now they’ve made the qualification mainly through Titled Tuesdays, which I simply physically cannot play, which, of course, is not ideal.

Another question I have, honestly, is how much this tournament depends on the organizers in Riyadh? Because, as I understand it, there is support from Riyadh, from the Saudi state. For some reasons of their own, it’s an interesting project for them and for now they are supporting it. And, I don’t know, this Esports World Cup, when Riyadh stops supporting it, which will likely be in a few years, I’m not very sure if this competition can exist without Riyadh’s support. I just don’t know how long-term this is.”