NODWIN Gaming, ChessBase India and comedian Samay Raina will be joining forces to further elevate the DreamHack experience for fans; a total prize pool of Rs.20 lakh on offer for the winners of this grand chess celebration

The Gaming X Chess fusion event will host a nail-biting death match on Nov 5 between two of India’s young grand masters Gukesh D and Arjun Erigaisi; for the first time ever, Comedians over the Board (COTB) will also go live at DreamHack

For fans awaiting NODWIN Gaming’s upcoming DreamHack event scheduled from November 4-6, there is an epic announcement as the party just got bigger! The much-anticipated three-day gaming event has in store a surprise for the audience with the celebration of all things ‘Chess’! In addition to an over-the-edge excitement of all the gaming fun at the event, the inclusion of chess in the largest digital festival is set to generate a palpable buzz.

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In partnership with comedian Samay Raina and ChessBase India, NODWIN Gaming, the Gaming and esports arm of Nazara Technologies, has planned a chess celebration which includes an open tournament, a death-match between two leading grandmasters – Gukesh D and Arjun Erigaisi, Comedians over the Board (COTB), free chess workshops, along with some fun activities like Hand-and-brain, a Simul exhibition and meet-and-greet with other chess stars. A total prize pool of Rs.10 lakh has been announced for the winners of the DreamHack Rapid and Blitz chess tournaments that are open to all.

“By bringing a much respected and one of the oldest sports like chess to the DreamHack, we’re giving fans the experience of a lifetime! The super success of our Chess Super League showed us how loved the game is in India and how passionate this community is, which is why we wanted to celebrate chess at DreamHack. “Chess is also played over the internet just like gaming and also features the fabled over-the-board competition, exactly like a LAN event. The synergies and similarities are extremely evident and we believe that these 2 communities will love what they have to offer to each other,” said Gautam Virk, COO and Co-founder, NODWIN Gaming.

“The vision of ChessBase India has always been to make chess the most popular sport in the country. Nodwin has been a wonderful partner in this odyssey of popularizing chess. I am very happy that chess is going to be a part of an iconic event like the Dreamhack. Extremely thrilled and so looking forward,” said Sagar Shah, Co-founder and CEO, ChessBase India.

A deathmatch between two of India’s finest chess players — the 16-year-old India no. 2 and world no. 18 Gukesh D and the 19-year-old India no.3 and world no. 19 Arjun Erigaisi is scheduled on November 5. The winner of this match will take home Rs.3 lakh and the runner-up, Rs.2 lakh.

“I am excited and eagerly looking forward to battling it out with Arjun Erigaisi, my fierce rival on the board and close buddy off it. I am looking forward to a great match,” said Gukesh D, Chess Grandmaster.

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Arjun Erigaisi, Chess GM added, “I was closely following the first edition of the deathmatch between Anish and Vidit, it was so thrilling and intense. Now I’m super delighted to be playing the second edition of deathmatch, that too against a very strong opponent like Gukesh. Also, as far as I can recall this is going to be my first 1 on 1 OTB that too in my backyard at Hyderabad. So all in all extremely excited.”

That’s not all. There’s more! Comedians on the Board (COTB), one of the most popular events in the world of chess that has always been hosted online by Samay Raina, will, for the first time, go live at DreamHack. Eight of the strongest chess-playing stand-up comedians including Tanmay Bhat, Samay Raina, Biswa Kalyan, Joel D’souza, Anirban Dasgupta, Vaibhav Sethia, Manik Mahna and Sumit Sourav will face off against each other to win the Rs.5 lakh prize and to become the ultimate COTB champion on November 4.

On the workshop front, there is a fun and exciting line up which includes – How to stream chess in an effective way by Samay Raina, how to make chess exciting in terms of teaching and commentating by Sagar Shah and What is needed to pursue a career as an arbiter by one of India’s finest chess arbiters IA Vivek Sohani.

DreamHack will go live from November 4-6 at Hall 1 and 3, Hitex Exhibition Center, Hitec City, Hyderabad