Magnus Carlsen on Saturday won the 2026 ESports World Cup by beating 19-year-old Belarusian GrandMaster Denis Lazavik in the final in Paris. Carlsen has done it without losing a single game in Paris, in either the group stage or the in the playoffs. Turning up for Team Liquid, Carlsen beat Lazavik, who was representing AG AL, comprehensively with a  3-1 in the first set and 3-1 in the second.

Showing the world who the trophy belongs to!@MagnusCarlsen lifts the Chess at EWC26 trophy. ?? pic.twitter.com/jBNRZbtl9E

— Esports World Cup (@EWC_EN) August 15, 2026

“I followed Denis’ games and talked to the coaches. I do feel, especially with Hikaru’s approach, it was not right. Funny thing is, I said that he is not great at defending endgames, so I thought I should keep it together better than Hikaru,” the five-time world champion said after the win.

“I have played Denis many times online, where I played riskily and got punished for it, so I didn’t give him obvious positional advantages.” Carlsen had secured a 2.5-0.5 victory over Indian GM Nihal Sarin and then beat Iranian-French GM Alireza Firouzja 4-1 in a thriller of a semi-final.

Asked if there was any moment when he felt he might lose, Carlsen said: “There were several moments, a couple against Alireza, against Nihal as well. There were certainly some moments, but I am thrilled to go undefeated. I was not trying to do anything out of the ordinary. I tried to take my chances, with a little bit of randomness, and I am happy.”

Meanwhile, the Indian players in the fray failed to make too much of an impact. Of the four Indians who qualified for EWC 2026, Arjun Erigaisi and Nihal Sarin were once again the two who made it to the top eight. But fate dealt them the same hand, as both were knocked out in the quarterfinals by giants of the game. Just like in Riyadh, Nihal’s campaign ended at the hands of Carlsen, while Arjun crashed out before facing Nakamura as his final opponent.