Global Chess League Season 4 kicks off in Bengaluru with Carlsen’s return

The fourth season of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League (GCL) kicked off in Bengaluru on Saturday, bringing together some of the world's top chess players for a nine-day franchise competition, with world number one Magnus Carlsen returning to the league after a one-season absence.


The nine-day tournament, a joint initiative of Tech Mahindra and FIDE, will feature six teams competing in a double round-robin format across 32 matches. The top two teams will advance to the Grand Finale on September 13.


The league is being hosted in India for the second consecutive year and has brought together several of the biggest names in world chess. Apart from Carlsen, the line-up includes 2026 Candidates winner Javokhir Sindarov, Alireza Firouzja, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Viswanathan Anand and Ian Nepomniachtchi, who will serve as icon players for their respective teams.

Speaking ahead of the opening, Anand Mahindra, chairman of the Mahindra Group, said Bengaluru was particularly suited to the league because of its association with information technology and computing.

“Bengaluru to me therefore is not just one stop in our journey at GCL it’s a place where two journeys coincide,” Mahindra said, referring to the city's role in the development of technology and the long-standing connection between chess and efforts to build machines capable of thinking like humans.

He said the league ultimately remained about the human element of chess despite advances in artificial intelligence.

“A machine can tell us what the best move is but it’s only people who make us care about it,” Mahindra said, adding that spectators respond not only to the quality of a move but also to the courage, risk and occasional mistakes of the players making them.

Mahindra also traced the league's journey from Dubai in its first season to London in Season 2 and Mumbai in Season 3, saying the move to India also connected the tournament with the historical roots of chess.

The GCL's fourth season will begin with PBG Alaskan Knights taking on FYERS American Gambits, followed by Triveni Continental Kings versus Ganges Grandmasters and CheQ Mumba Masters against Alpine APL Pipers.

Carlsen, who played for the Pipers in the first two seasons in Dubai and London, missed last year's Mumbai edition, where the team went on to beat Triveni Continental Kings' bid for a third straight title. The Norwegian Grandmaster said he was focused on helping the Pipers defend their crown.

The Pipers have further strengthened their squad with India's first-ever Women's World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh joining Koneru Humpy on the women's board. Anish Giri and Vidit Gujrathi will feature on the other two men's boards.

“I am a little bit surprised to be back, seeing as we had a couple of really frustrating years for the team - the first two years when I was playing. And then when I was away, the team won it all,” Carlsen said. “So this time I’m just trying to do my best to not do any worse than last year.”

The Alaskan Knights will feature a mix of experience and youth, with 56-year-old Anand moving to the team after representing Ganges Grandmasters in the first three seasons. He will play alongside Arjun Erigaisi and 15-year-old Turkish Grandmaster Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, who will make his GCL debut, while Abhimanyu Mishra will make his league debut on the Prodigy board.

“It’s going to be an amazing experience for me to play with Vishy and Arjun. We have a very strong team and it’s my first time here. I am really excited to play here,” Erdogmus said.

Two-time champions Triveni Continental Kings have retained their core group, with Firouzja leading the team on the icon board and supported by Wei Yi, Alexandra Kosteniuk and Zhu Jiner.

Kosteniuk said the team was targeting a third title after its previous victories.

CheQ Mumba Masters, led by Vachier-Lagrave, and FYERS American Gambits, led by Sindarov, will also be looking to challenge for the title.

The league is also introducing a range of features aimed at making chess more accessible to spectators and digital audiences. Fans at the venue will be able to follow matches and analysis on the big screen and listen to commentary through personalised headsets, while viewers can use the GCL app to play along with Grandmasters and test their skills.

The broadcast will allow viewers to follow the entire match or focus on an individual board or player. Team dugouts will also be covered, allowing audiences to track players' reactions during games. For the first time, team coaches and captains will wear heart-rate monitors to track stress levels during matches.

Gourav Rakshit, commissioner of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League, said the league's focus was on bringing out the drama inherent in chess rather than manufacturing it for audiences.

“Our philosophy is that chess doesn’t need drama to be manufactured. It’s our responsibility to bring that drama out in front for the audiences and screens,” Rakshit said.

Peeyush Dubey, chairman of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League, said the tournament had grown into an event that could be enjoyed by families and that Season 4 was “bigger and better” with leading global players and major corporate backing.

Mahindra also credited the league's early collaborators, franchise owners, sponsors and players for helping build the competition. He recalled how comedian Samay Raina's interaction with him during an online chess event helped spark the idea of a global league, while then-FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich subsequently reached out to explore the proposal.

The league will be broadcast live and free in India through the official Tech Mahindra Global Chess League YouTube channel, with additional broadcasts on Chess24 YouTube and Twitch and Chess.com India. Hindi-language commentary will also be introduced for the first time this season.