Magnus Carlsen, Viswanathan Anand, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Hou Yifan, Levon Aronian, Konery Humpy, R Praggnanandhaa and D Gukesh.
These are some of the big names from the world of chess who will feature in the upcoming Global Chess League - a new franchise-based, mixed-team tournament - that will take place in Dubai from June 21 to July 2, 2023.
What's this league all about?
Here's a brief explainer from when the league was first announced.
To refresh: Global Chess League is a joint venture between Indian multinational company Tech Mahindra and governing body of the sport, FIDE. The teams are owned by franchises and will have a mix of male, female and Under 21 players. It's akin to the now internationally famous Indian Premier League.
GCL's objective is to bring together the best chess players to the forefront while also making the sport spectator friendly.
Interesting. So, what are teams?
There are six teams in the inaugural edition:
Balan Alaskan Knights
Chingari Gulf Titans
Ganges Grandmasters
SG Alpine Warriors
Triveni Continental Kings
Upgrad Mumba Masters.
And how do these team line up?
Each team has picked six players.
The players have been divided into icons, superstars and prodigies.
There are a total of six icons, six prodigies and 26 superstars who are divided among the six teams.
Icons
Anand (Ganges Grandmasters)
Carlsen (Alpine Warriors)
Aronian (Triveni Continental Kings)
Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Chingari Gulf Titans)
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Upgrad Mumba Masters)
Ian Nepomniachtchi (Balan Alaskan Knights)
Prodigies
Praggnanandhaa (Alpine Warriors)
Andrey Esipenko (Ganges Grandmasters)
Nihal Sarin (Chingari Gulf Titans)
Javokhir Sindarov (Mumba Masters
Raunak Sadhwani (Balan Alaskan Knights)
Jonas Buhl Bjerre (Triveni Continental Kings).
Superstars
Teimour Radjabov (Balan Alaskan Knights), Alexander Grischuk (Mumba Masters), Hou Yifan (Ganges Grandmasters), Konery Humpy (Mumba Masters), Richard Rapport (Ganges Grandmasters), Kateryna Lagno (Triveni Continental Kings), Alexander Kosteniuk (Chingari Gulf Titans), Leinier Dominguez Perez (Ganges Grandmasters), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Chingari Gulf Titans), Tan Zhongyi (Balan Alaskan Knights), Harika Dronavalli (Mumba Masters), Vidit Gujrathi (Mumba Masters), Yu Yangyi (Triveni Continental Kings), Nana Dzagnidze (Triveni Continental Kings), Polina Shuvalova (Chingari Gulf Titans), Wei Yi (Triveni Continental Kings), Danil Dubov (Chingari Gulf Titans), Nino Batsiashvili (Balan Alaskan Knights), Elisabeth Paehtz (Alpine Warriors), Bella Khotenashvili (Ganges Grandmasters), Irina Krush (Alpine Warriors), Gukesh D (Alpine Warriors), Arjun Erigaise (Alpine Warriors) and Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Balan Alaskan Knights).
6 teams, 36 players. Ready to battle it out for the ultimate chess championship. #GlobalChessLeague #TheBigMove #GCL #ChingariGulfTitans #BalanAlaskanKnights #GangesGrandmasters #upGradMumbaMasters #SGAlpineWarriors #TriveniContinentalKings pic.twitter.com/E4SPArnmV4
- Tech Mahindra Global Chess League (@GCLlive) June 20, 2023
But where's the new world champion?
Initially, Ding Liren was supposed to participate but looks like he has opted out and is replaced by Aronian.
Nevertheless, this is a solid group of men and women chess players.
What is the format and scoring system of the league?
It's a unique mixed-team event where each of the six franchises will play a total of 10 matches in a double round-robin format. The rapid time control will be 15 minutes plus 10 seconds from move number one.
According to the rules, "Each team will have six players and a manager, who will be competing on six boards which will be played simultaneously. While each board will be called a game, all six combined boards will be termed one match. Once the board order is decided, it cannot be altered after drawing lots while deciding the run order of play. And in each match, all the players of one team will play with the same colour."
A game won with black pieces will result in four Game Points (GP) to the winning player. A victory for a player with white pieces will see them win three GP. A draw will be rewarded with one GP. Each players' GP will contribute to the Team's total Match Points (MP).
There are bonus points involved as well. The rules state, "With regards to the calculations on Match Points (MP), a team which scores more GP than their opposition will be rewarded with a bonus of three MP. If both the teams are level on GP, they will be awarded one MP each. However, if a team scores lesser GP than the opposing team, they won't get any MP for that match." The final will be played over the best of two matches. There will be a drawing of lots to determine which team is white in Match 1, and the same team will then play with black in Match 2. The team who wins more matches will be declared champions.
In case there's a tie then teams will play a playoff best of two blitz match. If the points are still equal then there will be a sudden death blitz game.
How does the league plan to attract more spectators?
Chess doesn't see many over the board team events. And when star players combine with upcoming youngsters to form a team, it is no doubt an exciting prospect.
For example, Carlsen's teammates at Alpine Warriors are Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa, with both players - at only 17 years of age - being big hopes for the future of chess. Something like this doesn't happen often at sport's biggest stage.
"Personally, I very much enjoy team events and the team spirit within the group. So, it is something I always look forward to. I am looking forward to meeting the other players in the team, and I look forward to competing with and against the exciting young generation of Indian players. One of the really good things about this tournament is men and women can compete against each other at the same stage," Carlsen said.
Additionally, the league wants to use technology in the best possible way to make the sport more engaging to the fans.
"Tech Mahindra and FIDE will explore innovative ways to promote the game through interactive technology-enabled platforms by leveraging next-generation technologies such as 5G, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality, among others," the league said.
The opening ceremony of the league is on June 21 and the matches begin on June 22.