According to NAVI, all three grandmasters will represent the esports organization in the first leg of Champions Chess Tour 2025.
Esports organization Natus Vincere (NAVI) has expanded into the competitive chess scene with the signing of three grandmasters. The organization welcomed Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Wesley So, and Oleksandr Bortnyk.
Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Wesley So, and Oleksandr Bortnyk join NAVI
The reveal arrived on Feb. 15, just a day before the first leg of the Champions Chess Tour Chessable Masters 2025 event. The announcement also featured a dedicated video highlighting all three NAVI chess players.
"I just want to play some interesting games," Abdusattorov said in the video.
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NAVI's chess players enter Chessable Masters 2025
According to the esports organization, Abdusattorov, So, and Bortnyk will duke it out in the first leg of the online Champions Chess Tour 2025 tournament. Between Feb. 16 and Feb. 21, they will play for the bulk of the $150,000 USD prize pool. The overall goal of the circuit will be spots in the 2025 Esports World Cup. Only the 12 top-ranked players of the Champions Chess Tour leaderboard will make it there.
NAVI and chess esports content
The signing of Abdusattorov, So, and Bortnyk marked NAVI's expansion into the chess esports scene. It's also interesting to note that the chess announcement arrived just days after Team Liquid signed Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana. While Team Liquid created a dedicated YouTube channel for chess content, NAVI made the NAVIChess X account.
Co-CEO of Team Liquid, Steve Arhancet, said that his organization will bring a "fresh take on chess content" to both new and existing fans. Given NAVI's new X account, will this organization follow suit and showcase its own approach to chess esports content? Only time will tell.
That's all for now. Stick around on esports.gg for more news and updates.
