S8UL, a leading name in esports and gaming content, has secured qualification for its third title at the Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026 after Indian grandmaster Aravindh Chithambaram won the road to EWC qualifier at DreamHack Atlanta. With this victory, Chithambaram became the first Indian chess player to qualify for the chess main event at the prestigious tournament, while also earning prize money of US $15,000, approximately Rs 14 lakh.
The qualifiers featured a group stage and playoffs, with all matches played in a fast-paced 10-minute format. He delivered a great performance throughout the tournament, defeating players including Kyler Raines, Justin Liang, Oleksander Bortnyk, and Christopher Woo to reach the upper bracket (UB) semifinals.
Chithambaram defeated Woo 2-1 with a win in the Armageddon tiebreaker after the first two games ended in draw, in the UB semifinals. He then beat Alexey Sarana 2-1 in the UB final to reach the grand final.
In the final, he once again faced Sarana and made a strong comeback under pressure, winning the decisive Armageddon game to secure victory in the qualifiers and his place at the EWC 2026.
Chithambaram with this victory secured prize money and earned a place among the eight players qualified for the EWC 2026 chess main event, scheduled to take place from 11 to 15 August with a total prize pool of US $1.5 million, around Rs 14 crore. The qualification also marks S8UL’s entry into its third title at EWC 2026, following its successful qualification in Fortnite and Honor of Kings.
Chithambaram the chess grandmaster stated, “This particular format leaves very little room for error, as every decision matters when you are playing 10-minute games without increment against some of the strongest players in the world. I am also very grateful to the team at S8UL for their consistent support and belief in me since last year.”
The fellow S8UL grandmasters Nihal Sarin and Pranesh M are also aiming to qualify for the EWC 2026 chess event. While Sarin is currently in a qualifying position through the Champions Chess Tour leaderboard, more spots will be decided through the last chance qualifiers and the India rising event, which ends on 5 July.
“One of the things we’ve consistently focused on at S8UL is creating opportunities for Indian talent to compete and succeed on the biggest global stages. Chithambaram qualifying for the Esports World Cup is a huge moment, not just for us as an organisation, but for Indian chess overall,” expressed S8UL esports co-founder and CEO Animesh Agarwal.
After being selected for the Esports World Cup foundation’s club partner program for the second consecutive year, S8UL announced its biggest international esports campaign yet, competing across qualifiers for 13 different titles includes Apex Legends, Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), Call of Duty: Warzone, Chess, Ea Sports Fc, Fatal Fury, Fortnite, Honor of Kings, MOBA Legends 5v5, Pubg: Battlegrounds, Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, and Trackmania.
This will take place from 6 July to 23 August and will feature over 2,000 players from 200 clubs across more than 100 countries competing for a prize pool of US $75 million around Rs 720 crore. With qualification confirmed in three titles, S8UL will aim to continue its strong run on the global stage.
