India, Aug. 13 -- Despite Aravindh Chithambaram's early ouster, three Indian grandmasters are still participating in the Esports World Cup. But even as Nihal Sarin, Arjun Erigaisi and Pranesh M slipped into the lower bracket, chess great Hikaru Nakamura, fresh from dishing out a belter against Alexey Sarana, was closely following the Indian contingent from the air-conditioned confines of Expo Porte de Versailles on Wednesday. Once he was done, the praise came pouring out as he spoke glowingly about the standard of chess in India.

And why should it be any other way? D Gukesh is the youngest-ever world champion. R Praggnanandha's rise has been second to none. Arjun is India's No.1-ranked grandmaster, and Nihal became the first Indian to cl...