Mumbai, Sep 24 The Global Chess League (GCL) will hold its player draft in Mumbai on September 26 ahead of its third season in India. Six franchises will compete to assemble strong rosters from a 36-player pool comprising top Grandmasters and emerging talents from 17 chess-playing nations.
Leading the Icon Boards are reigning World Champion D. Gukesh, five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand, Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana, Alireza Firouzja, and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Other top players in the pool are Anish Giri, R. Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, four-time world champion Hou Yifan, and World Cup finalist Koneru Humpy, showcasing a roster of the sport's biggest stars.
The U-21 Prodigy category features Volodar Murzin, the 2024 FIDE World Rapid Chess Champion, and Marc’Andria Maurizzi, the 2023 World Junior champion, representing the next generation of talent.
Franchises will assemble their rosters across four draft rounds, with the player pool divided into Icon Players, Men’s, Women’s, and U-21 Prodigy categories. Marquee names will be the highlight of this year’s draft.
Five-time World Champion, Viswanathan Anand, said, "GCL is more than a tournament. It’s a celebration of intelligence, teamwork, and creativity. It combines tradition with innovation and creates a platform worthy of the game’s global stature. I’m proud to see such a league emerging from India onto the world stage."
GCL is the world’s only official gender-inclusive league under a global sports federation, featuring six players per team in a fixed-board format: one Icon, two men, two women, and one U-21 Prodigy. All six teams will compete for the title at their first home venue as the third season premieres in India. The Season 3 teams include the defending champions Triveni Continental Kings, PBG Alaskan Knights, UpGrad Mumba Masters, Ganges Grandmasters, Alpine SG Pipers, and American Gambits.
GCL has built a strong audience across popular editions in Dubai and London by combining classical heritage with fast-paced match formats. The third season is now arriving in India, the birthplace of chess, offering an improved, fan-focused experience.
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