Magnus Carlsen has won the Chess at Esports World Cup 2026 title, and has secured his second EWC trophy in a row, all without losing a single game in his journey to the top. Carlsen, who has never lost a match at the EWC, reinforces himself as the world’s greatest Chess player.
The Team Liquid grandmaster was able to seal his second Esports World Cup in dominant fashion, as he took down AG.AL’s Denis Lazavik in two sets in the grand final. While Lazavik was able to draw four games with Carlsen, the Belarusian challenger was unable to win a single game off the reigning champion, and simply could not break through his strategies.
Carlsen went undefeated throughout both the group stage and the playoffs, only winning or drawing each individual game; a testament to his ability and skill as a chess grandmaster. The Norwegian’s perfect run this year improves on his already impressive 2025 winning run, in which he lost just three individual games. Someone will need to step up to challenge his reign in 2027, but that will be easier said than done.
In the playoffs, Carlsen took down Team Falcon’s Alireza Firouza in the semifinals; his opponent in the EWC 2025 grand final. This year, he stood to face a brand new contender: the 19-year old Denis Lazavik representing AG.AL. The Belarusian had only lost a single match in his run to the grand final, against Team Falcon’s Hikaru Nakamura in the group stage. Lazavik was paired against Nakamura once more in the semifinals, this time coming out on top to secure his spot against the world number one.
Despite Lazavik’s performance throughout the tournament, Carlsen still stood as the ultimate Chess opponent. Remaining calm and collected at every turn, Carlsen was an impenetrable wall, winning the finals in two clean sets.
“I have played against Denis online many times before, and played more riskily, and have been punished for that,” said Magnus Carlsen following his victory. “I tried to not give him too many obvious positional advantages, and to take whatever chances I could find.”
When asked if he thought there were any moments where a loss could have happened during the tournament, Carlsen said, “There were certainly some moments, but I’m thrilled to go undefeated, and that was a part of my strategy for sure. I wasn’t trying to do anything out of the ordinary, other than to play pretty tight Chess and take whatever chances I could find. Not losing a game speaks both to the success of that strategy, and of course a little bit of randomness, but I’m happy with that.”
Ahead of today’s grand finals, two Team Falcons players went head-to-head in the third place match: Hikaru Nakamura and Alireza Firouzja. At the beginning of the six-game set, the two grandmasters appeared evenly matched. By game four, Nakamura had the upperhand and closed out the series, beating Firouzja 3-1. With both players competing, Falcons guaranteed themselves 3rd place and 500 Club Championship points.
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