The 8th day of the Chess.com Open 2026 has concluded. After 9-round Swiss, Indian GM Nihal Sarin scored 5 wins and 4 draws to win the last Play-in with 7/9 points.

Armenian GM Shant Sargsyan and French IM Marco Materia tied for second place and played a qualifying match. Sargsyan scored 1 win and 2 draws to defeat Marco 2-1. Nihal Sarin and Shant Sargsyan qualified for the Playoff stage of the tournament.

The Playoff pairings are (with qualifying paths):

Pairs Titled Tuesdays Play-ins
1. 🇳🇴 Magnus Carlsen 🇦🇲 Shant Sargsyan
2. 🇩🇪 Vincent Keymer 🇮🇳 Pranesh M
3. 🇷🇺 Denis Lazavik 🇨🇳 Yu Yangyi
4. 🇺🇸 Samuel Sevian 🇺🇿 Nodirbek Abdusattorov
5. 🇵🇱 Jan-Krzysztof Duda 🇷🇺 Ian Nepomniachtchi
6. 🇮🇳 Arjun Erigaisi 🇮🇷 Sina Movahed
7. 🇫🇷 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 🇮🇳 Nihal Sarin
8. 🇺🇿 Javokhir Sindarov 🇷🇺 Daniil Dubov

The Chess.com Open 2026 is a major qualifying pathway for the Esports World Cup 2026, running from March 14 to April 26. The top three finishers in the playoffs qualify for the EWC, and the total tournament prize pool is $250,000.

Credit: Lennart Ootes