Esports Nations Cup Chess has 82 Countries Qualified

The regional Chess qualifiers for the Esports Nations Cup have concluded, and now 62 more of the eventual 128 players have been confirmed.

The Esports Nations Cup is a multi-esports event with players representing their home countries while competing for substantial prize money.

Chess counts as an esports through a partnership with chess.com, as 128 players will represent their nations and compete for a share of the $600k prize pool.

Each nation is allowed two players maximum though they could only have one representative receive a direct invite.

Following the qualifiers, at least 82 countries and territories will be represented in Chess at ENC 2026.

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Esports Nations Cup Chess Qualifiers

In addition to 64 directly invited players, another 56 will qualify through regional online qualifiers, with the final 8 slots given to ENC Wildcards.

As mentioned earlier, 64 players, including Magnus Carlsen, were directly invited via a ranking system which awarded points for recent performances.

Now, an additional 61 players from another 61 countries have qualified through online qualifiers.

These qualifiers were held in North America, South America, Africa, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Middle East/India/Central Asia, and East Asia/Southeast Asia/Oceania.

A total of 10 nations that didn’t receive a direct invite managed to secure a single slot through the qualifiers:

Honduras
Mexico
El Salvador
Venezuela
Morocco
Nigeria
Algeria
Jordan
Australia
New Zealand

Another slot was given to Amani Alazmi, representing Kuwait, who secured the Host Region Wildcard as the next highest-placing competitor from the host region.

The ENC Wildcard rules intend to create opportunities for underrepresented countries and territories to compete.

There are just two Solidarity Wildcard slots left to be filled.

Should Chess count as an esport? Share your thoughts with us on the Insider Gaming Discord.

In other news, the Esports Nations Cup League of Legends rosters and invites have been confirmed.

Esports Nations Cup Chess Qualifiers

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