Esipenko competed in the Tata Steel Challengers in January 2019, placing second with 8½/13 (+5–1=7). In March, he participated in the European Individual Chess Championship. He placed 16th with 7½/11 (+6–2=3) and qualified for the Chess World Cup 2019. At the Chess World Cup, Esipenko defeated former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov in round one. Paired against Peter Svidler in round two, Esipenko drew the classical games but was eliminated in the rapid tiebreaks.