About seven weeks ago in Goa, Leon Luke Mendonca stood crestfallen outside the playing hall at the FIDE World Cup. His father was by his side. His campaign was over following an unexpected first-round defeat.
The player from Goa should be feeling better at the moment. The 19-year-old is giving a good account of himself at the Global Chess League (GCL) in Mumbai. Representing Alpine SG Pipers, Mendonca started with a draw, lost one, before posting two straight wins. The fourth-round triumph over world rapid champion Volodar Murzin ranks among the upsets of the event. He is the best-performing Indian in the competition so far alongside D Harika.
Viswanathan Anand has won one and lost three. D Gukesh has drawn and lost two apiece. Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnandhaa have both lost one and drawn three. Vidit Gujrathi’s card reads two draws and two losses. For Koneru Humpy, it’s one win, one draw and two reversals. Six more rounds remain in this IPL-style chess league, featuring six teams and played in the rapid format.
Mendonca is in the mix as a ‘prodigy’ player. Each team has to have one member who is under 21. They play against each other, on the sixth board, and don’t lock horns against the higher-rated players. The GCL tries to pit equally strong players against each other on every board. For example, Anand or Gukesh on the ‘icons’ board face the top players. Pragg and others on the second board take on the designated second-best player of the other team and so on.
Mendonca has beaten two illustrious players. In the third round, he outwitted Bardiya Daneshvar of Upgrad Mumba Masters. The Iranian is the winner of this year’s Asian Individual Championship. He then scalped Murzin of Russia, who is playing for Fyer American Gambits. These results helped Alpine SG Pipers register wins after defeats in the first two rounds.
This may not sooth the disappointment of losing to Wang Shixu in the World Cup, the Chinese was ranked way below Mendonca. On a brighter note for only the second Grandmaster from Goa, in Murzin, he overcame an opponent placed significantly above him. In rapid, Mendonca has a rating of 2498 and Murzin 2642. The Russian is the highest-rated player in the ‘prodigy’ category and the Indian jointly at the bottom with Daneshvar.
Turning 20 in March 2026, Mendonca has had an eventful journey already. He got stuck in Europe with his father due to the Covid-19 shutdown in 2020, utilised that time playing tournaments and became a Grandmaster at 14 years and nine months. Things happened fast and he found himself among the world’s elite at the Tata Steel Masters in Wijk aan Zee in January this year. It was a reality check as he finished second from bottom in the field of 14.
There were some stunning wins in freestyle tournaments, where he took down big names such as Ian Nepomniatctchi and Richard Rapport. Eyes were on this former winner of the Challengers section of the Tata Steel Masters when the World Cup went to the shores he grew up in. After a bitter experience in the marquee event, Mendonca has given himself a chance to end the year on a better note.
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