All posts tagged: Global Chess League

GCL could experiment with board swaps, heart-rate monitors this season | Chess News

GCL could experiment with board swaps, heart-rate monitors this season | Chess News

Published by Webster

3 min readMumbaiJun 29, 2026 08:51 PM IST When the fourth edition of the Global Chess League is held this September, teams might be able to jiggle around their players. In three seasons so far, players have been restricted to playing on fixed boards, meaning players picked for the ‘icon board’ can only take on the icon player of the other team. But in a bid to offer more strategic options to teams, the GCL could allow teams to decide their board orders. This means that in a battle between Alpine APL Pipers and FYERS American Gambits, for example, one team might opt to play Javokhir Sindarov on a different board than against Carlsen. League commissioner Gourav Rakshit said that currently the idea was in an exploratory phase, but was likely to be formalised in the coming weeks so that all the six teams have enough time to work on how they can use the new rule to their advantage in the tournament that will be held in Bengaluru from September 3 to 13. “This …

Global Chess League returns to India for 4th season, to be hosted in Bengaluru | Chess News

Global Chess League returns to India for 4th season, to be hosted in Bengaluru | Chess News

Published by Webster

2 min readJun 12, 2026 02:11 PM IST The fourth season of the Global Chess League (GCL) will be held in Bengaluru from September 3, the organisers said in a statement on Friday. It is the second consecutive time that the over-the-board rapid chess league will be held in India, having been hosted by Mumbai last year. The inaugural season had been held in Dubai in 2023 after which London hosted the second season in 2024. “The GCL, which is a joint initiative of Tech Mahindra and FIDE, has already changed the format of the game including franchise teams, mixed gender lineups, and rapid fire matches. Season 4 will once again feature the world’s leading players competing in a team-based format,” said the organisers in their statement. Gourav Rakshit, Commissioner of the Global Chess League, Tech Mahindra Global Chess League, said that bringing the league to Bengaluru felt like “a a defining moment, not just for the league, but for the evolution of the game itself.” “This is where the next chapter begins,” he said. …

Bengaluru to host Global Chess League season 4 from September 3

Bengaluru to host Global Chess League season 4 from September 3

Published by Webster

The Global Chess League (GCL), a joint initiative of Tech Mahindra and FIDE, today announced that Season 4 will be hosted in Bengaluru, a city where innovation meets ambition and where the future is constantly being rewritten. This isn’t just another season. It’s the continuation of a growing movement. Season 4 is scheduled to begin on September 3, 2026. Across previous editions, the league has ignited packed arenas, high‑voltage fan zones, and a wave of digital engagement that has redefined how chess is consumed. What was once quiet and contemplative is now fast, fierce, and impossible to ignore. Now, that energy comes to Bengaluru. Known as India’s tech capital, Bengaluru brings with it a new kind of audience — young, connected, and ready for a sport that moves at their pace. Here, strategy meets spectacle. Precision meets pressure. And every move plays out in real time for a global fanbase. The Global Chess League has already changed the format of the game: franchise teams, mixed‑gender lineups, rapid‑fire matches. But more importantly, it has changed the …

What is Hou Yifan, the greatest women’s chess player up to? ‘Making tenure as professor tougher than women’s World title!’ she jokes | Chess News

What is Hou Yifan, the greatest women’s chess player up to? ‘Making tenure as professor tougher than women’s World title!’ she jokes | Chess News

Published by Webster

3 min readMar 26, 2026 02:24 PM IST While 8 candidates line up in women to seal the sole spot for the World Championships to take on Ju Wenjun, the woman considered the greatest ever, Hou Yifan has gone on to leave chess behind and become an academician. In an Ask Me Anything organised by FIDE, the lapsed World No 1 – in women – who was never overtaken, answered what was tougher – finding tenure as a professor or winning a world title, she had a hearty laugh. “If we are talking about women’s World championship, then becoming a tenured professor is tougher! But an open world title is much tougher,’ she would quip. “By the way I’m still waiting on it.” Yifan went to Oxford after taking a break in 2018, and earned her masters in public policy at St Hilda’s. She had completed her undergrad in international relations at Peking University. She joined as the youngest prof at Shenzhen Uni at 26. “With what I’m studying I have kept my connection with …

Global Chess League returns to India for 4th season, to be hosted in Bengaluru | Chess News

Global Chess League: Card games, camaraderie and champagne, as Pragg and Co win title with SG Pipers | Chess News

Published by Webster

Inside an hour after their coronation as the champions of Global Chess League’s season 3, the Alpine SG Pipers players made their way to the ornate balcony of Mumbai’s Royal Opera House for a final flourish, for the sake of the fans. Along with fireworks came a twist: three champagne bottles were handed out to the players to spray into the fans like a Formula 1 podium celebration. With R Praggnanandhaa, Leon Luke Mendonca and Anish Giri looking hesitant, the champagne-opening responsibilities were passed on to American star Fabiano Caruana, Nino Batshiashvili and the team manager. A minute’s struggle with the bottles later, a gentle spray into the crowd followed, after which the players quickly moved on. All the top three players of the side – Caruana, Giri, and Pragg – shared jokes during the presentations, a camaraderie that will soon turn into rivalry as they fly out to Qatar for the World Rapid and Blitz Championship and then the Candidates, which is one of the most important tournaments of all three players’ careers. Some …

Global Chess League 2025: Alpine SG Pipers sink reigning champs to win title

Global Chess League 2025: Alpine SG Pipers sink reigning champs to win title

Published by Webster

Alpine SG Pipers upset two-time defending champions Triveni Continental Kings to be crowned champions of the 2025 Global Chess League (GCL) on Tuesday. The Pipers, who had sealed the final berth by the skin of their teeth, were at their dominant best in the final as they won the first rapid match 4-2 with black pieces and then scored a 4.5-1.5 win with white. PBG Alaskan Knights finished third after beating Ganges Grandmasters in a tie-break. The finale of the Global Chess League lived up to the hype as the final day turned out to be as topsy-turvy as the league stage. Triveni Continental Kings went into the final as favourites but the Pipers, who found form in the second half of the league stage, would have felt that the momentum was in their favour. And that was exactly the case as Nino Batsiashvili and Leon Luke Mendonca, on the prodigy board, once again proved how valuable they have been to the team by winning their respective games. Nino prevailed over Alexandra Kosteniuk in a …

Vidit Gujrathi, India’s flagbearer in chess for the past decade, shifts focus to ‘vibe coding’ chess apps for elite players | Chess News

Vidit Gujrathi, India’s flagbearer in chess for the past decade, shifts focus to ‘vibe coding’ chess apps for elite players | Chess News

Published by Webster

When a 41-player contingent from India heads to Qatar next week to compete at the prestigious FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championship, one player’s name will be conspicuous by its absence: Vidit Santosh Gujrathi. Currently playing in the Global Chess League for Triveni Continental Kings, Vidit says he has taken a ‘conscious decision’ to ease up on his chess. Instead, the veteran says he’s focussing on his next act in the sport, which includes pursuits like vibe coding chess websites for other professional players. Vidit says that next year, besides playing in the Tata Steel Rapid and Blitz in Kolkata, his tournament calendar is bare. “This is a conscious decision I took last year that I will reduce playing chess. I did not play in all the serious events that I could have this year. Before some tournaments like the Grand Swiss, where I had confirmed my participation, I was even thinking till the last minute should I play or not? I did not feel like playing,” Vidit says. Taking a step back Vidit says …

Why reaching 2700 rating is arguably the hardest leap to make in chess | Chess News

Why reaching 2700 rating is arguably the hardest leap to make in chess | Chess News

Published by Webster

Wesley So remembers the four years he spent labouring away as a 2600-rated player. The leap from 2500 to 2600 for the Phillipines-born American grandmaster had happened almost in the blink of an eye when he was just 15 years old. But breaking into 2700 would have felt like summiting Mount Everest from the Everest Base Camp. Among the sport’s more elusive clubs, the 2700 rating group in chess currently has a membership of 33 grandmasters. Call it the hardest club to leave in chess. Or a quicksand of a rating trap, one which allows you to get in easily, but pulls you in harder, clinging on to you when you try to graduate to 2700—the informal term the sport has for anyone rated over 2700 is ‘super grandmaster’. “It’s one of the hardest things (in chess),” sighs Wesley So. “It takes time, for sure. It took me like four years to get to 2700 after becoming 2600 at 15. Moving from 2500 to 2600 is relatively smooth for most people. But 2600 to 2700 …

Praggnanandhaa interview: Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi’s exploits in 2024 inspired me to be more ambitious | Chess News

Praggnanandhaa interview: Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi’s exploits in 2024 inspired me to be more ambitious | Chess News

Published by Webster

2025 has been one of the best years in the career of India’s R Praggnanandhaa. He claimed trophies at the Tata Steel Masters event in Wijk aan Zee at the start of the year before following it up with titles in Superbet Chess Classic Romania, UzChess Cup Masters, and London Chess Classic in the open section recently, results that have propelled him to claim his second ticket to the Candidates tournament next year. The 20-year-old, currently ranked No 7 in the world, also finished second in the Stepan Avagyan Memorial tournament and the 12th Sinquefield Cup. What does he chalk this run of results to? He says he’s been more ambitious this year than previous ones. And then he credits his contemporaries, world champion Gukesh Dommaraju and Arjun Erigiasi, for inspiring him with their own exploits last year. “I’m more ambitious this year. I want to win tournaments when I’m playing. And I’m able to do it. Besides this there is no one specific reason. These results are also a result of the hard work …

Teammates at Global Chess League now, Candidates rivals soon: How Pragg, Giri and Caruana are co-existing at Alpine SG Pipers | Chess News

Teammates at Global Chess League now, Candidates rivals soon: How Pragg, Giri and Caruana are co-existing at Alpine SG Pipers | Chess News

Published by Webster

When Praggnanandhaa, Anish Giri, and Fabiano Caruana are not playing chess for their franchise in the Global Chess League, they’ve been indulging in a bit of poker between themselves. Not literally, but in the way they interact with each other. Right now, they are teammates playing for a common goal: to win GCL with their franchise, Alpine SG Pipers. But once the league ends on December 23, and the colourful jerseys come off, the trio will slip into their usual battle armour of power suits and switch to looking at each other as rivals. After all, Pragg, Giri, and Caruana will be fighting it out in the eight-man Candidates tournament from March 28 to April 16. As the final step to playing in the World Championship, the Candidates is the most gruelling test of character there is, an event where only finishing first matters. At a World Championship, you prepare for one opponent. At the Candidates, you prepare for seven, all of whom come to the table with potent concoctions of prep. It’s an all-out …