Wolves Esports signs chess grandmaster Yu Yangyi

Wolves Esports, the esports division of the English football club Wolverhampton Wanderers, has announced the signing of chess player Yu Yangyi.

China’s youngest chess grandmaster boasts an impressive history of achievements, including two World Chess Olympiad team titles, two World Team Chess Championship titles, and two Chinese Chess King Tournament trophies.

Yu, currently ranked 28th in the world as per Chess.com leaderboard, is looking to compete under the Wolves Esports banner at the Esports World Cup 2025, set to begin in June 2025 in Riyadh.

The multi-title event, which will feature Chess for the first time, will see players compete for a $1.5m (~£1.18m) prize pool, allocated just for its chess tournament alone.

“Yu Yangyi ranks among the top players on the CCT international leaderboard. We look forward to his performance representing Wolves Esports in the Esports World Cup,” Wolves Esports announced on their official X (Twitter) handle.

With a focus on the Chinese esports scene, Wolves Esports competes across multiple titles, including Honor of Kings, PUBG Mobile and Call of Duty Mobile. The organisation has earned over $13m (~£10m) in tournament prize money by securing back-to-back King Pro League Spring championships in 2023 and 2024.

They have also notably won the CODM World Championship 2023, along with multiple Chinese CODM Championship titles.

Apart from Wolves Esports, several other major organisations have entered competitive chess.

Aurora Gaming recently signed Ian Nepomniachtchi, Team Falcons added Hikaru Nakamura to its roster, and NAVI expanded into chess with three high-profile signings—Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Wesley So, and Oleksandr Bortnyk.

According to the CCT rankings, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Magnus Carlsen, and Hikaru Nakamura have already secured direct slots for the Esports World Cup. Meanwhile, Yu Yangyi is currently ranked seventh and will need to stay in the top nine to qualify for the event.