Global Chess League: A brew of big names and IPL vibes

Top drawer chess with a feel of the IPL and The Hundred combined together — that’s how one can best describe the Global Chess League (GCL), the second edition of which gets underway in London today and will continue until 12 October. The inaugural edition was held in Dubai last year with Triveni Continental Kings emerging as the champions.

The six franchises, comprising men and women and an 'icon player' for each, have some of the biggest names of the sport in five-time FIDE world champions Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen, Hikrau Nakamura and some star members of India’s triumphant squads at the Chess Olympiad: R. Praggnanandhaa, Vidit Gujrathi, Arjun Eigaisi and R. Vaishali.

Koneru Humpy, the first woman Indian grandmaster, may have stayed out of the Olympiad in Budapest but will be seen in action at the Friends House in London.

Gukesh D, the 18-year-old grandmaster who was in unstoppable form in Budapest, is staying away to focus on his FIDE world championship game against reigning world champion Ding Liren in Singapore next month.

All the six teams are owned by Indian entrepreneurs, including cricketing icon Ravi Ashwin, who acquired stakes in American Gambits in July this year. The teams are Alpine SG Pipers with Carlsen as the icon player; Ganges Grandmasters (icon Anand); Mumba Masters (icon Maxime Vachier-Lagrave); PBG Alaskan Knights (iconAnish Giri); Triveni Continental Kings (icon Alireza Firouzja) and American Gambits (Nakamura).

Speaking about the role of GCL, promoted jointly by FIDE and Tech Mahindra, Arkady Dvorkovich, president of the world governing body, says: ‘’This event is ground-breaking in both concept and format. It sets a new standard not only for chess but for sports worldwide. The initiative to combine men and women on the same team is inspiring and will greatly promote the game globally.’’

The choice of venue cities for the GCL reflects the league’s global ambitions, with the first edition being held in Dubai, a melting pot of expats which hosted the FIDE world title match at its Expo 2020 venue in 2021 and now London, hosts to some of the world’s marquee sporting events in football, cricket and tennis and of course the Summer Olympics.

Speaking to Indian Express, GCL CEO Sameer Pathak said:  “We wanted to bring the GCL to a city which represents the aspirations of the league. This is a city that hosts the world’s biggest sporting events. Not just Indian stars, we will have players from all over the world coming here,”

“India is a very important market for chess and the growing popularity of chess in India only augurs well for the league and the sport worldwide. The double Olympiad gold has the potential to make the sport explode in popularity,” added Pathak.

Unique format

Each team comprises of six players: one icon player (a top-rated GM rated 2700 or above), two GMs, two top female players and one player aged 21 or younger. The teams will compete in a double round-robin format, meaning they will face every team twice.

In a departure from the traditional format where each team has an equal number of players playing with black or white pieces, the teams in GCL will play with one colour for the duration of the game and then switch in the rematch. Each game will last only 20 minutes, with no time increment, making time a significant factor.

Scoring system

The scoring system is similar to football rather than traditional chess – which has 0 points for chess, 0.5 point for a draw and one point for a win.