The Global Chess League is the world's first franchise-based chess league -- think the IPL but on 64 squares -- and attracts some of the world's best players to compete with, and against, each other. The second season of the rapid chess based GCL kicks off on October 3, and ahead of it, here's everything you need to know about the league:
Who's playing GCL Season 2?
There are six teams, with one icon player (essentially team captain), two men superstars, two women superstars and a prodigy (should be born in 2003, or later).
The full team list is as follows:
Season 1 was won by the Triveni Continental Kings, then led by Levon Aronian, while R Praggnanandhaa (SG Alpine Warriors) and Tan Zhongyi (Balan Alaskan Knights) were crowned players of the tournament.
What's the format of the GCL?
The GCL is divided into two stages: a league stage and a final. It starts as a double round-robin (every team plays every other team twice, once with each colour) and the top two after that phase play the final.
Any rule changes for GCL as against other team tournaments?
Not in the sport, of course, but in the way the tournament is held, yes. Unlike every other tournament which rewards wins equally, in the GCL wins with black pieces give you four points, a win with white is three and a draw is one point each. A team victory is worth three (instead of the usual two) and a tie one... the rationale being the same when professional football moved from two-points-per-win to three: incentivising going for the win.
Will GCL s2 be a must-watch?
Look at the names on the teams and you know it absolutely is a must-watch, but you don't have to take our word for it.
Dutch GM Anish Giri couldn't make it to season 1 because of a scheduling conflict, but he's raring to go for s2. "I knew about it before it was a project and I know it's based on different sports and the way things are in cricket," he told ESPN. "It was a little new for chess that you've got teams that sort of assemble the tournament in some sense. But I saw it work out amazingly well last time."
"People start connecting with the teams as they follow along the tournament, and they form a bond and it really works very well," he said. "It is one of the most spectacular tournaments and there was even an incredible game between Vishy [Anand] and Magnus Carlsen, right?... it was unbelievable."
India's livewire GM, Arjun Erigaisi competed in s1 and agrees wholeheartedly. "I was super excited for the first season. Firstly, the format and kind of league it is: we just don't have anything of that sort," he told ESPN. "So, I was already looking forward to it. And then the icing was being in the same team as Magnus."
He didn't have a great competition individually - but for the current highest-rated Indian player in the live FIDE ratings, that just provides additional motivation. Being on the same team as India's GOAT, Anand, Arjun is confident of continuing his momentum (he also won an individual gold at the Olympiad)
How is the GCL different from other tournaments
Chess is an individual sport, and team tournaments - like the Olympiad that India aced last fortnight - are a rarity. Like Arjun says, "I think [chess] can be quite individualistic. For some it may surely add pressure, and for some it may just mean nothing and they just play normally, and for some it may even just be motivation. For me it's somewhere in between adding motivation and not affecting me negatively." It's in balancing that fine line where success lies.
What sets the GCL apart (other than the format and points rule changes) is that it has elite players of different nationalities combining as a team.
Giri, for one, can't wait to be a part of that. "I'm looking forward to [being the icon player, the captain], especially looking forward to getting to know the young players. I played many games with Nihal and Norddebeck. I know them very well as competitors. But we've always been on the different sides. When you face each other, you never get to speak about certain things - you are enemies," he said. "Now we will be on the same side. And I think that will be very interesting because I want to see them from that side. When they are not... because we've talked before, but then it's like you talk, but you have knives pointing at each other. And now we can talk without that. And I'm looking forward [to it] because these are incredible talents."
For Giri, who has been on the elite circuit now for a decade and a half, it's also a chance to reinvigorate his love for the game. "Sometimes feel like, yeah, maybe chess is... Maybe I've seen it all already, maybe there's nothing exciting, nothing new. But then [the young players] showed different approaches, new ways, things that previously were done and wrong... I'm learning so much from the young players because they are ready to try things that we were taught were wrong. And now I see that maybe we were wrong."
What are the GCL winnings?
1st - 500,000 USD
2nd - 250,000 USD
3rd - 100,000 USD
4th - 100,000 USD
Bonus (divided among players and coach of winning team) - 50,000 USD
What are the GCL timings?
The first round starts on Oct 3, at 5:45 PM IST. The matches are staggered, so the second starts at 8:25 PM IST and 9:45 PM.
This will be the schedule for the subsequent days, with the addition of a match at 7:00 PM
The final is on October 12, starting at 5:45 PM IST.
Where will GCL be streamed?
In India you can watch the tournament on JioCinema's app and website. And you can, of course, follow along with ESPN India's daily reports.