Billed as the IPL of chess, this will be the second season of the Global Chess League, a ridiculously strong six-team competition run on a franchise system. Each team comprises six players and will take part in a double-round all-play-all, before the top two sides play off for the title. All games are a brisk 20 minutes per player – without any increment – so expect plenty of dramatic time scrambles.

Last year’s inaugural Tech Mahindra Global Chess League in Dubai saw a quite gripping final: Triveni Continental Kings and upGrad Mumba Masters finished level at 6-6. Two rounds of extra time or rather blitz failed to alter the equilibrium, meaning a penalty shoot-out type scenario: a series of sudden death blitz games began, ending when the young Danish Grandmaster Jonas Bjerre defeated teenage Uzbek Olympiad star Javokhir Sindarov.

Following his dominant performance in the Chess.com Speed Chess Championship – crushing Hans Niemann 17½-12½ then Alireza Firouzja by a whopping 23½-7½ in the final in Paris – all eyes will be on the dominant world number one, Magnus Carlsen, who heads up the Alpine SG Pipers. Their two ‘superstar men’ are 19-year-old Indian sensation Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa and Richard Rapport, with their two ‘superstar women’ also mightily impressive: Hou Yifan and Kateryna Lagno. Throw in 18-year-old Belgian number one Daniel Dardha as the ‘prodigy’ and it’s not hard to see why the Pipers are favourites.

The legendary Vishy Anand is a worthy icon if ever there was one and heads up the Ganges Grandmasters. The former world champion will have to do battle with not just Carlsen, but his fellow icons: Hikaru Nakamura (American Gambits), Ian Nepomniachtchi (Triveni Continental Kings), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Mumba Masters) and Anish Giri (PBG Alaskan Knights).

Tech Mahindra Global Chess League 2024 participants

Alpine SG Pipers Magnus Carlsen, Praggnanandhaa R, Richard Rapport, Hou Yifan, Kateryna Lagno, Daniel Dardha

Ganges Grandmasters Viswanathan Anand, Arjun Erigaisi, Parham Maghsoodloo, Vaishali R, Nurgyul Salimova, Volodar Murzin

Mumba Masters Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Vidit Gujrathi, Alexander Grischuk, Koneru Humpy, Harika Dronavalli, Raunak Sadhwani

PBG Alaskan Knights Anish Giri, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Tan Zhongyi, Alina Kashlinskaya, Nihal Sarin

Triveni Continental Kings Ian Nepomniachtchi, Wei Yi, Teimour Radjabov, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Valentina Gunina, Javokhir Sindarov

American Gambits Hikaru Nakamura, Vladislav Artemiev, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Bibisara Assaubayeva, Elisabeth Paehtz, Jonas Buhl Bjerre

The team line-ups were determined by an auction, which took place in August in Delhi. Each franchise was allocated 1000 points for five players in their team (the icon top boards were already decided), with any players they wished to retain from last year costing 200 points. Bidding for each new player began at 50 points and could go all the way up to 800!

To buy tickets for the Global Chess League (Friends House, London) please visit chess.co.uk. Tickets are available for each of the 10 days: Thursday October 3rd to Saturday October 12th. For the very keen, there’s also the option of a season pass, and packages are available for group and chess club bookings – contact info@chess.co.uk for more details.

Play begins at 1pm on each of the first nine days, with further rounds at 3pm and 4.45pm, as well as 2.15pm on some days (the final kicks off at 2.15pm on October 12th). There will be a lot of chess, high quality chess at that, as well as commentary at the venue and analysis for the audience supplied between rounds.

Live games will be daily on Chessdom.com , with video and games coverage

Alpine SG Pipers Magnus Carlsen, Praggnanandhaa R, Richard Rapport, Hou Yifan, Kateryna Lagno, Daniel Dardha

Ganges Grandmasters Viswanathan Anand, Arjun Erigaisi, Parham Maghsoodloo, Vaishali R, Nurgyul Salimova, Volodar Murzin

Mumba Masters Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Vidit Gujrathi, Alexander Grischuk, Koneru Humpy, Harika Dronavalli, Raunak Sadhwani

PBG Alaskan Knights Anish Giri, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Tan Zhongyi, Alina Kashlinskaya, Nihal Sarin

Triveni Continental Kings Ian Nepomniachtchi, Wei Yi, Teimour Radjabov, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Valentina Gunina, Javokhir Sindarov

American Gambits Hikaru Nakamura, Vladislav Artemiev, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Bibisara Assaubayeva, Elisabeth Paehtz, Jonas Buhl Bjerre

Nakamura said, “Yes, it’s what you believe. Carlsen and I are playing a private classical match. If the chess community or some generous billionaire can come up with $1M US we will split the funds and release the PGNs. Any takers?”

In the end it turned out to be a technical glitch of 2700chess.com, which Nakamura was joking about. Still, we are sure if someone comes up with 1 million usd for a Nakamura – Carlsen match, the players will not decline to participate.

1. GM Magnus Carlsen (Norway)
2. GM Alireza Firouzja (France)
3. GM Anish Giri (The Netherlands)
4. GM Wesley So (USA)
5. GM Hikaru Nakamura (USA)
6. GM Fabiano Caruana (USA)
7. GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan)
8. GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan)
9. GM Dommaraju Gukesh (India)
10. GM Aryan Tari (Norway)