France-based esports organization Team Vitality announced Wednesday that Chess Grandmaster Maxime “MVL” Vachier-Lagrave has been signed as its new professional chess player. Arguably one of the top chess players in the world, Vachier-Lagrave joins Team Vitality as a five-time winner of the Biel Grandmaster Tournament, a two-time winner of the Sinquefield Cup, and champion at the World Blitz Championship in 2021.
Vachier-Lagrave will represent Team Vitality on the international competitive stages, starting next week in the first leg of the 2025 Champions Chess Tour, the Chessable Masters, but the core focus of this signing has more to do with the Esports World Cup, which added Chess.com to its competitive line-up for 2025. Esports clubs participating in the Esports World Cup’s club championship are encouraged to participate in as many titles as they can to accrue the maximum amount of points for wins to become the overall winner.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to join Team Vitality for this new adventure in the world of esports! Competing for Team Vitality this year is an exciting challenge, and the two qualifying tournaments will be key milestones in my 2025 season for qualifying in the EWC,” said Vachier-Lagrave. “Seeing chess take its place alongside some of the biggest games in esports is incredible—it’s a fantastic opportunity to grow the game and inspire the next generation of players.”
Team Vitality is also set to compete in several other titles throughout the EWC, including Counter-Strike 2, Rocket League, and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang.
The Esports World Cup is an eight-week, multi-title competition held on an annual basis during the summer that is managed by the Esports World Cup Foundation, a non-profit funded (it claims) by a sporting grant from the Saudi government’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund. The Esports World Cup is operated by ESL FACEIT Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Saudi government owned gaming and esports company Savvy Games Group. EFG is home to a number of tournament organizers and broadcast production companies including DreamHack, ESL, FACEIT, and Esports Engine.
Projects backed or owned by the Saudi Arabian government are often criticized for helping the government engage in “sports washing,” or using various forms of sport and entertainment to cover up its record on human rights, women’s rights, LGTBQ+ rights, military actions in Yemen, and more. These and other criticisms are actively highlighted by international watchdog groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.