Five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen has welcomed 19-year-old R Praggnanandhaa into his Team Liquid ahead of the Esports World Cup, which will be staged in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from July 29 to August 1.“Before chess conquered the world, it was born in India. For centuries, India has shaped the game. Now, it shapes the future. Praggnanandhaa R. carries that legacy forward — and today, he joins ours. Welcome to Team Liquid. The future of chess starts here,” Team Liquid posted on X.In response, the World No. 1 wrote, “Whole lot of letters in Praggnanandhaa, but no «I». Welcome to the team.”Praggnanandhaa also shared his excitement: “Super excited to be part of Team Liquid! From India to the world, let’s take chess to the next level together!”Praggnanandhaa became the fourth Indian chess player to sign up with an esports franchise — after Arjun Erigaisi, Nihal Sarin, and Aravindh Chithambaram.Arjun Erigaisi was snapped up by Generation Gaming (Gen.G), while Nihal Sarin and Aravindh Chithambaram have been named on the roster of India-based S8UL.Arjun is the only player to have already guaranteed himself a berth at the Esports World Cup, which will feature just 16 participants. Among those who have also qualified are Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, who are part of the group of 12 grandmasters with confirmed spots. The other players in that list include Hikaru Nakamura and Alireza Firouzja (both with Team Falcons), Ian Nepomniachtchi (Aurora), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (NAVI), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Team Vitality), Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Twisted Minds), Wei Yi (Weibo), Vladislav Artemiev (Team Spirit), and Vladimir Fedoseev.Meanwhile, R Praggnanandhaa will compete under Team Liquid in the Last Chance Qualifiers, where some of the biggest names in chess will be vying for one of the four remaining places. The line-up for the qualifiers includes reigning world champion Ding Liren (LGD), Wesley So (NAVI), Oleksandr Bortnyk (NAVI), Anish Giri (Team Secret), and Daniil Dubov (Team Spirit).
