Firouzja Joins Nakamura At Team Falcons, Yu Yangyi Signs With Wolves Esports
The rise of of chess in esports continues. On Saturday, Team Falcons announced the signing of none other than GM Alireza Firouzja, while Wolves Esports made their first acquisition with Chinese star GM Yu Yangyi.
Firouzja, a 21-year-old Iranian-born Frenchman, joins fellow superstar GM Hikaru Nakamura after being selected by the Saudi Arabian esports organization.
"Every move reshapes the board, and every legend has a new chapter. We’re proud to welcome chess sensation Alireza Firouzja to Team Falcons. The game just changed—and the Falcons are here to reign!!" Team Falcons said in their post with a video welcoming the grandmaster.
Every move tells a story… and this one changes everything ♟️
— Falcons Esports (@FalconsEsport) March 1, 2025
Welcome, Falcon @AlirezaFirouzja 🦅#FalconsAreHere pic.twitter.com/905PF15NZP
Founded in 2017, the organization has built a reputation for acquiring top-tier talent across various gaming disciplines, and in 2024 it won the Esports World Championship, claiming the $7 million first prize. Initially focused on FIFA, Call of Duty, and Fortnite, the Saudi team has since expanded into Dota 2, Counter-Strike, and now chess.
Firouzja's arrival is a big deal as Team Falcons now boasts two of the world's best speed chess players, which makes it the biggest challenger to Team Liquid with GMs Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana. Our Power Rankings of the esports teams ranks the nine teams that have picked up chess grandmasters so far.
The race to qualify for the EWC is well underway, with one of two Champions Chess Tour qualifying events completed. The final standings combining the Chessable Masters and the second event, on May 18-23, will decide which 12 players qualify for the Esports World Cup (EWC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on July 29-August 1. Another four spots will be up for grabs in a last-chance qualifier in Riyadh itself.
In the Champions Chess Tour 2024, Firouzja proved himself to be Carlsen's biggest rival. He was the only player to qualify for the Division I Final in every event and, after losing the first final in the Chessable Masters 2024, he struck back to beat the Norwegian and win the Chess.com Classic in May.
Meanwhile, world number-27 Yu this week became the third Chinese grandmaster to be picked up by an esports organization. The 30-year-old was selected by Wolves Esports, the esports division of English soccer team Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Please welcome Chinese chess grandmaster Yu Yangyi to the pack! ♟️
— Wolves Esports (@WolvesEsports) February 27, 2025
Yu has won 2 World Olympiad team titles, 2 World Team Chess Championship titles and 2 Chinese Chess King Tournament championships! 🤩
We are delighted to have him representing Wolves in the Esports World Cup! 🏆… pic.twitter.com/teMQvNB7j2
Yu, ranked 10th in the world in September 2019, has won numerous international events and is known to be particularly strong in rapid and blitz. He finished in the top six of the World Rapid and Blitz Championships every year between 2016 and 2019. He was also part of China's team that won the 2014 Chess Olympiad, earning an individual gold medal on board three.
With Yu and Firouzja now signed, a total of 14 grandmasters have been signed ahead of the Esports World Cup.
