Friends House. The chess world will be tuned to this venue in central London from October 3-12. This is where the Global Chess League (GCL) will be played. This Tech Mahindra event featuring six privately-owned teams is an attempt to make the game more popular. It’s a double-leg event of rapid games. The top two will meet in the final.
The players have high hopes when it comes to the prospects of the competition which is in its second year. “It’s definitely a great thing that we now have the Global Chess League in the chess circuit,” World No. 3 and India No. 1, Arjun Erigaisi, told the official website. “I really hope it makes a big impact in the chess world like IPL (Indian Premier League) did to cricket.”
Having taken the world by storm of late, Indians have a major presence in the competition. There are nine of them in four teams. Vidit Gujrathi, Koneru Humpy, D Harika and Raunak Sadhwani are with Mumba Masters. Ganges Grandmasters have Viswanathan Anand, Arjun Erigaisi and R Vaishali. R Praggnanandhaa is in Alpine SG Pipers and Nihal Sarin at PBG Alaskan Knights. American Gambits and Triveni Continental Kings don’t have Indian players in their six-member teams.
This means 25 per cent of the 36 players are Indians. No other country in the second edition of GCL has as many. They will also enjoy some following, especially the Chess Olympiad heroes and other youngsters. It is expected that they will benefit from this opportunity to rub shoulders with some of the biggest names in contemporary chess.
Sarin and Sadhwani belong to that lot. Not part of the Olympiad quintet this time, both were members of the India B team which claimed the Olympiad bronze in 2022. They have made the GCL cut as under-21 players. Tournament rules make it mandatory for every team to include one junior or ‘prodigy’ player. In every match, this prodigy takes on the prodigy from the other team.
“It’s a very good thing because you get the experience of playing in team tournaments,” said Sadhwani, who was part of the event last year as well. “Hopefully, there will be more leagues, where this experience will help. It’s one game a day, which is not too stressful. Usually, when you play rapid, it’s four-five games a day, which gets tiring after a point.”
The Chess Olympiad success has so far been the pinnacle of the Indian uprising, which started at the 2022 Olympiad. Praggnanandhaa then showed individual brilliance and finished runner-up at last year’s World Cup, where four Indians reached the quarter-finals. In April this year, D Gukesh became the youngest-ever to win the Candidates and qualified for the World Championship final.
This chain of success has turned the world’s attention to India. “”It’s actually quite amazing to see,” noted Jan-Krzysztov Duda, the World No. 14, rated No. 8 in rapid. “There are so many of them and they are playing very strongly at the moment. I like this attitude of working hard and giving it their all to accomplish their dreams.
They are aggressive and they take risks,” said the Polish member of the American Gambits team co-owned by cricket star R Ashwin. “I’d like to play against them.”
Each franchise has an icon player, who plays on Board One. Anand will be seen in that role for Ganges Grandmasters. Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, Anish Giri, Alireza Firouzja and Maxime Vachiar-Lagrave are the icon players of the other teams. Some mouth-watering fare is on offer, because they will all cross swords with each other. The young Indian flavour is unlikely to get lost in this clash of the superheavyweights.
🚨Exclusive
“Very fortunate to be in the same team with @MagnusCarlsen” – says @GMDardha, Prodigy of Alpine Pipers in the @GCLlive.
He talks about the importance of this tournament, the format of the game, his journey as a chess player and much more in this exclusive… pic.twitter.com/tpCi7y3cwk
— RevSportz Global (@RevSportzGlobal) October 3, 2024
Teams
Mumba Masters, Ganges Grandmasters, Alpine SG Pipers, PBG Alaskan Knights, American Gambits, Triveni Continental Kings.
Indians in the fray
Mumba Masters: Vidit Gujrathi, Koneru Humpy, D Harika, Raunak Sadhwani. Ganges Grandmasters: Viswanathan Anand, Arjun Erigaisi, R Vaishali. Alpine SG Pipers: R Praggnanandhaa. PBG Alaskan Knights: Nihal Sarin.
Prize money
First: $500,000. Second: $250,000. Third: $100,000. Fourth: $100,000
October 3 schedule
5:30 pm: Mumba Masters vs American Gambits. 8 pm: Ganges Grandmasters vs Alpine SG Pipers. 9:15 pm: Triveni Continental Kings PBG Alaskan Knights. (Timings in IST)