With this year’s Global Chess League ending just two days before the start of the Olympiad in Uzbekistan’s Samarkand, top players like world champion Gukesh D and Praggnanandhaa R seem to have given the tournament a skip.
The names of the star Indian duo was missing from the list of players that GCL announced on Saturday. The GCL will run from September 3 to 13 at Bengaluru while the Olympiad starts from September 15 and goes on till September 27.
Despite the absences, the draft for the upcoming season will still feature some big names like reigning FIDE Women’s World Cup champion Divya Deshmukh, who will be making her debut in the league this season, and World Championship contender Javokhir Sindarov, who will likely lead Uzbekistan’s charge at the home Olympiad. The draft also features former world champions like Magnus Carlsen, returning after skipping last season, and Viswanathan Anand. Overall, the player pool for the draft this season will consist of 36 grandmasters.
While the season will be hosted in Bengaluru, the player draft preceding it will be held on July 29 in Mumbai. “The player draft will see teams assemble six-player squads across four categories-one Icon, two Superstar Men, two Superstar Women and one Prodigy-in the league’s six-board rapid format, where every board carries equal significance,” said the GCL in a statement.
Six franchises will take part in the draft – upGrad Mumba Masters, Fyers American Gambits, Ganges Grandmasters, Triveni Continental Kings, PBG Alaskan Knights, and defending champions Alpine APL Pipers.
The organisers had earlier announced Bengaluru as the venue for the league, making it the second consecutive year that it is being hosted in India. The inaugural season had been held in Dubai in 2023 after which London hosted the second season in 2024. The third season was held in Mumbai last year.
“Over the past three seasons, the Global Chess League has demonstrated how a franchise-based team format can bring together the world’s leading players while attracting new audiences to chess,” league chairperson Peeyush Dubey said. “Season 4 continues that journey with an outstanding player pool that reflects the quality and diversity of talent that the league continues to attract.”