Mumbai: Nodwin Gaming’s upcoming DreamHack event, scheduled from 4-6 November will also celebrate "chess." This is in addition to the gaming fun at the event.

In partnership with comedian Samay Raina & ChessBase India, Nazara Technologies’ Nodwin Gaming has planned a chess celebration which includes an open tournament, a death-match between two 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 a 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 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 two communities will love what they have to offer to each other," said Nodwin Gaming COO & co-founder Gautam Virk.

"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 popularising chess. I am very happy that chess is going to be a part of an iconic event like Dreamhack. I am extremely thrilled and so looking forward to it," said ChessBase India co-founder & CEO Sagar Shah.

A deathmatch between two chess players—the 16-year-old India number two and world number 18, Gukesh D, and the 19-year-old India number three and world number 19, Arjun Erigaisi, is scheduled for 5 November. The winner of this match will take home Rs 3,00,000 and the runner-up, Rs 2,00,000.

"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.

Erigaisi 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 one-on-one OTB, that too in my backyard in Hyderabad. So all in all, extremely excited."

For the first time, Comedians on the Board (COTB), an event in the world of chess that has always been hosted online by Samay Raina, will 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 5,00,000 prize and to become the ultimate COTB champion on 4 November.

On the workshop front, there is a 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 4-6 November at Hall 1 and 3, Hitex Exhibition Centre, Hitec City, Hyderabad.

The tickets for Chess at DreamHack Hyderabad are priced at Rs 1, 299 can be bought at DreamHack India's website.