Ukrainian esports organisation NAVI (Natus Vincere) has announced its expansion to chess with the signing of three grandmaster (GM) players.
NAVI’s Chess lineup will be composed of Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who is number six in the World Ranking, Wesley So and Oleksandr Bortnyk.
According to a release, the three will be competing in the first Chessble Masters online championship, which features a $150,000 (~£119,003) prize pool.
With the addition of chess to its roster, NAVI now competes across 11 different esports titles, including Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2 and Call of Duty: Warzone. Earlier last week, it also acquired Indonesian organisation Rebellion Esports to expand into Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, fielding a roster for MPL Indonesia.
More Esports Teams Expand Into Chess
This is not the first time an esports organisation has signed grandmasters. With the addition of chess in the 2025 Esports World Cup, several teams have started picking up some of the best talents in the world ranking.
Arjun Erigaisi was among the first players to be announced, joining Gen.G Esports. Aside from the Korean team and NAVI, Team Liquid recently announced the signing of reigning four-time United States chess champion Fabiano Caruana as well as chess legend Magnus Carlsen, who’s also the ambassador of the EWC Chess competition.
Chinese esports organisation LGD Gaming has also signed former world champion Ding Liren while France-based Team Vitality picked up grandmaster Maxime ‘MVL’ Vachier-Lagrave.
It’s not surprising to see esports organisations put players under their banner, considering the chess event will feature a $1.5m (~£1.18m) prize pool at the EWC later this summer.
Chess players can qualify for the 2025 Esports World Cup competition through the two Champions Chess Tour (CCT) events. The top 12 from the CCT and four players from the ‘Last Chance Qualifier’ will be able to compete in Riyadh
The top 12 from the CCT and the four players from the ‘Last Chance Qualifier’ will then compete in the Chess Esports World Cup, taking place from July 31st to August 3rd.
