‘This is India’s moment’: Why the nation of 1.4 billion now has a dedicated pathway to EWC

India has secured a permanent qualification pathway to the Esports World Cup through the India Rising initiative, a collaboration between JioBLAST, Chess.com and the EWC Foundation. Leveraging the country’s chess dominance and massive gaming market, the initiative aims to create a long-term pipeline for Indian talent. On Saturday, using this pathway, Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi could become the fourth Indian to qualify for the EWC main event.