chessbase india logo

Who's the strongest team at the Global Chess League 2024 | Draft in Delhi

by Sagar Shah - 15/08/2024

The Global Chess League features some of the best players in the world (Magnus Carlsen, Vishy Anand, Hikaru Nakamura, Anish Giri, Nepo and many more). These top players are divided into 6 teams and in order to distribute the remaining players the draft was held at the Taj Mahal Hotel in New Delhi on 11th of August 2024. In this article we take you through the teams and tell you all that you need to know about the strengths and weaknesses of each of the teams at the Global Chess League! 

The Global Chess League 2024 draft

It all began with a tweet. In 2020, during the Online Chess Olympiad we had Samay Raina who was streaming the finals between India and Russia on his Channel. It was a highly exciting match-up with close to 65,000 people concurrently watching it LIVE. One of them was Anand Mahindra, the Chairman of the Mahindra Group. He enjoyed the entire atmosphere of the event and made a tweet. When someone asked him if he would invest in creating a chess league, he responded with, "Happy to talk".

This was the beginning of an amazing initiative in the world of chess that culminated into the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League 3 years later. The first edition of this Franchise based team format took place in the year 2023 in Dubai. And it was a mind blowing event. Right from the amazing playing hall, to the finals going right down to the wire between Mumba Masters and Triveni Continental Kings, the final moment where the entire team in the pink erupted with joy, the epic clash between Vishy Anand and Magnus Carlsen that had everyone on the edge of their seats - this event had absolutely everything.

The winners of the first edition of the Global Chess League - Triveni Continental Kings
If you haven't seen this game yet, you most definitely should. One of the most insane games ever played in the history of rapid chess!

And now in 2024, the second edition of the Global Chess League is back! Bigger and better. This time it is taking place in London in the month of October. Just like last year there will be 6 teams and each team would have 6 players. The top board has the icon player and the second and third board are for the male superstars, while the fourth and fifth board are for the women superstars. The final and the sixth board goes to a junior player. How are the teams determined? Well, there is an auction, which GCL likes to call the draft, that takes place before the event to determine who the players will be in each team. This year it took place on the 11th of August 2024 at the Hotel Taj Mahal in Delhi and ChessBase India travelled there to cover the event. The rules were - Each team would get 1000 points to get 5 players in their team. The top icon board was one that was already decided before the draft. If a team decided to retain any players from last year, they were allowed to do so, but would have spend 200 points from their kitty for each player retained. The bidding for each player started from 50 points and could go all the way up to 1000. All the team owners gathered together and 3 hours later, the 6 teams were drafted.

The entrance to the room where the draft would take place

The auction was presided over by the team of E&Y to ensure that everything went ahead without any complications

Sunanda Wong was one of the hosts of the event

From left to right: Tania Suri (Head of Event and Ground Operations), Avika Jain (Head of Player Engagement, Team and Stakeholders), Tanushree Rana (Head of Sales and Partnerships)

As the players got added in a team they were being represented on the table in this manner

FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich addressed the gathering with a recorded message

GM Loek van Wely travelled all the way from the Netherlands for the draft

The CEO of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League - Sameer Pathak

Let's see how each of the teams look like:

Alpine SG Pipers

The Alpine SG Pipers owner Rohan Gupta (in the center) with his team and coach GM Pravin Thipsay

This team was one of the most popular ones in the first edition because they not only had Magnus Carlsen, but also Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi and Gukesh. This year they decided to retain Magnus Carlsen and Praggnanandhaa. This already makes the team extremely strong on the first two boards and on the third board they managed to get Richard Rapport. Recently Rapport beat Carlsen in just 23 moves at the World Rapid Team Championships 2023 and is in excellent form. The team went all out on the women's board and spent most of their points to ensure that they had the world no.1 in the women's section Hou Yifan! On the fifth board multiple times world rapid and blitz champion Kateryna Lagno was selected and on the 6th board we have the talented junior from Belgium Daniel Dardha. One of the strategies of the coach of the team in the draft GM Pravin Thipsay was to make the team that the highest in terms of Elo and this is what they did manage to achieve.

The Alpine SG Pipers
GM Pravin Thipsay was the coach of the Ganges Grandmasters in 2023. This edition he will be the coach of SG Alpine Pipers

Mumba Masters

Mumba Masters squad with their head of Marketing Souptikk Das and coach GM Srinath Narayanan

The Mumba Masters came with an absolutely different approach from all other teams. They decided to retain 5 of their 6 players - MVL, Grischuk, Vidit Gujrathi. Koneru Humpy and D. Harika. The only change in  their squad was Raunak Sadhwani coming in, in place of Javokhir Sindarov. The Mumba Masters was known for their team spirit last year. It was a team that would be regularly seen taking their dinners together and the owner of the team (Suhail Chandok) was very keen to build the team camaraderie. Retaining 5 out of 6 players fits in perfectly with this strategy.

Mumba Masters has 4 players from India
Team camaraderie over everything else for the Mumba Masters team

American Gambits

The American Gambits table with co-owner Prachura P., coach R.B. Ramesh and team MGD1

One of the most exciting teams this year is the American Gambits. That's because they have Hikaru Nakamura on the icon board and R. Ashwin as one of their team owners. This is the new team of the year replacing Chingari Gulf Titans. Apart from Hikaru Nakamura, they managed to get Vladislav Artemiev and Jan Krzysztof Duda. Both of them being excellent rapid and blitz players. They also have the two time World Blitz Champion Bibisara Assaubayeva and the German grandmaster Elisabeth Paehtz. On the junior board is the youngster who made the winning move last year for Triveni Continental Kings - Jonas Buhl Bjerre. All the teams wanted Hikaru Nakamura in their fold. However, it was the American Gambits who paid the highest amount and managed to get Hikaru in their team.

The American Gambits will be making their debut this year
P. Prachura speaks about how getting Hikaru Nakamura burnt a hole in their pocket, but it was worth it

Triveni Continental Kings

The defending champions of the Global Chess League are the Triveni Continental Kings. While last year they built their team around Chinese players, this year's strategy led by coach GM Loek van Wely was around the Russian players. They are sure to miss their icon player Levon Aronian this year, as he couldn't participate due to the US Championships. Instead, Ian Nepomniachtchi is part of their team this year. Retained from last year's squad is Wei Yi. The super strong Chinese GM is surely going to be an amazing addition to the team. Teimour Radjabov is their third player. The Azeri GM hasn't been playing much recently but has also shown his class in the past. We will wait and see how Raja, as he called by his fans, fares. The women players Alexandra Kosteniuk and Valentina Gunina are extremely strong, while Sindarov is one of the strongest junior players in the world.

The Triveni Continental Kings!
The owner of the Triveni Continental Kings Dhruv Sawhney speaks about how each team had come extremely well prepared for the auction and how the Global Chess League is a boon for the chess world

PBG Alaskan Knights

Punit Balan (2nd from right) is the owner of the team. He and his team were ably supported by GM Abhijit Kunte is the coach

The PBG Alaskan Knights started the auction by retaining two players - one in the open and one in the women - Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Tan Zhongyi. Both of them have been performing extremely well and their presence gave the owners a great starting point. Tan Zhongyi was also the best female player in the first edition. They managed to get the strongest junior in the draft - Nihal Sarin as they had the maximum number of points left when the junior section came about. Nihal is a beast in shorter formats and the team can count on him providing excellent play on the junior board. Their icon player is the debutant in the league Anish Giri. Anish and Abdusattorov will be joined by Mamedyarov in the men's section. And in the women Tan Zhongyi and Alina Kashlinskaya will take fort. The team looks quite balanced and that was the sentiment echoed by the team coach Abhijit Kunte.

The PBG Alaskan Knights
Punit Balan, the owner of the PBG Alaskan Knights and the coach of the team Abhijit Kunte speak about the team configuration!

Ganges Grandmasters

Ganges Grandmasters was the only team who came to the auction with a coach for the team.

This was the only team who had come to the auction without a coach. The Ganges Grandmaster was one of the frontrunners in the previous edition's leaderboard for the longest duration. Led by Vishy Anand on the icon board, this year, they seem to have got an extremely young and ambitious team with them. There's Arjun Erigaisi who is one of the finest speed players in the world. Parham Maghsoodloo will fight it out on board no.3. R. Vaishali and Nurgyul Salimova play on the women's board and they were the youngest participants in the FIDE Candidates 2024. The junior board will be played by one of the finest talents from Russia GM Volodar Murzin. With Anand's experience and the energy of the youngsters, this seems to be one of the most balanced teams out there.

The beauty of the league lies in the pool of the players and the rules of the draft. The CEO of the Global Chess League Sameer Pathak mentioned that it took him close to a year to determine the rules of the draft. And it seems to be working very well. Going into the second edition of the Global Chess League, all the teams are quite evenly matched. If I had to choose a team that looks extremely strong, at least on paper, I would go for Alpine SG Pipers. But then when was the team that had Magnus Carlsen and Hou Yifan not a favourite. Everyone team has their pros and cons and its the form during the event that will determine who will take home this year's trophy. I am very excited and I hope you too are! See you all in London from the 3rd to the 12th of October 2024.


Related news:
Triveni Continental Kings clinches Tech Mahindra Global Chess League for the second consecutive year

@ 12/10/2024 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
Javokhir Sindarov powers Triveni Continental Kings to Tech Mahindra GCL Finals

@ 11/10/2024 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
अलसकन नाइट्स ग्लोबल चैस लीग के फाइनल में

@ 11/10/2024 by Niklesh Jain (hi)
Tech Mahindra GCL Day 8: Tenacious Giri outplays Firouzja, PBG Alaskan Knights secure their place in Finals

@ 10/10/2024 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
Tech Mahindra GCL Day 7: It's a three-way race between Alaskan Knights, Continental Kings and SG Pipers

@ 09/10/2024 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
Tech Mahindra GCL Day 6: Hikaru ends Firouzja's unbeaten streak, Carlsen blunders against MVL

@ 08/10/2024 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
Tech Mahindra GCL Day 5: Alpine SG Pipers ends PBG Alaskan Knights' unbeaten streak

@ 07/10/2024 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
Tech Mahindra GCL Day 4: Carlsen and Nakamura battle a thriller, Balan Alaskan Knights maintain their sole lead

@ 06/10/2024 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
ग्लोबल चैस लीग 2024 : अलसकन नाइट्स की चौंथी जीत , आनंद की गैंगेज ग्रांड मास्टर्स नें भी खोला खाता

@ 06/10/2024 by Niklesh Jain (hi)
Tech Mahindra GCL Day 3: Firouzja outplays Nakamura and Anand, Triveni Continental Kings move up

@ 05/10/2024 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
ग्लोबल चैस लीग 2024 : पीबीजी अलसकन नाइट्स नें लगाई जीत की हैट्रिक

@ 05/10/2024 by Niklesh Jain (hi)
Tech Mahindra GCL Day 2: Nihal Sarin shines, ensures Alaskan Knights' hat-trick, Firouzja flags Magnus

@ 04/10/2024 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
Tech Mahindra GCL Day 1: PBG Alaskan Knights squash the defending champions, Triveni Continental Kings

@ 03/10/2024 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
Tech Mahindra Global Chess League 2024 starts with a grand opening ceremony

@ 03/10/2024 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
CircleChess becomes the Title Sponsor for Hikaru-led American Gambits at the Global Chess League 2024

@ 03/10/2024 by Tina Popli (en)
Tech Mahindra Global Chess League 2024 teams and squads unveiled

@ 02/10/2024 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
टेक महिंद्रा ग्लोबल चैस लीग 2024: आनंद , अर्जुन समेत 9 भारतीय खेलेंगे , 3 अक्टूबर से होंगे मुक़ाबले

@ 15/08/2024 by Niklesh Jain (hi)
Tech Mahindra Global Chess League to host its second edition in London

@ 27/06/2024 by ChessBase India (en)
रोमांचक फाइनल में त्रिवेणी कॉन्टिनेन्टल किंग्स बनी टेक महिंद्रा ग्लोबल चैस लीग की विजेता

@ 03/07/2023 by Niklesh Jain (hi)
Jonas Buhl Bjerre wins a thriller for Triveni Continental Kings to clinch Tech Mahindra Global Chess League

@ 02/07/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
त्रिवेणी कॉन्टिनेन्टल किंग्स और मुंबा मास्टर्स में होगा ग्लोबल चैस लीग का फाइनल

@ 02/07/2023 by Niklesh Jain (hi)
Yash, Krishanter and Vedant win a ticket to Global Chess League Finals!

@ 01/07/2023 by Himank Ghosh (en)
Tech Mahindra GCL: Triveni Continental Kings will face upGrad Mumba Masters in the Finals

@ 01/07/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
GCL D9 : अरोनियन और टीसीके नें दिखाया दम, फाइनल की दौड़ हुई रोमांचक

@ 01/07/2023 by Niklesh Jain (hi)
Tech Mahindra GCL Day 9: Aronian astounds Carlsen and Nepo, Triveni Continental Kings jump to third place

@ 30/06/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
GCL D8 : गंगाज ग्रांड मास्टर्स की वापसी ,आज साफ होगी फाइनल की तस्वीर

@ 30/06/2023 by Niklesh Jain (hi)
Tech Mahindra GCL Day 8: Ganges Grandmasters and Triveni Continental Kings win close battles

@ 29/06/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
GCL D7 : आनंद से करीबी मैच जीते कार्लसन,अल्पाइन वारीयर्स शीर्ष पर पहुंची

@ 29/06/2023 by Niklesh Jain (hi)
TM GCL Day 7: Carlsen wins an exquisite endgame against Anand, powers his team to the top with Pragg

@ 28/06/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
GCL D6 : जीत के साथ मुंबा मास्टर्स तीसरे स्थान पर पहुंची

@ 28/06/2023 by Niklesh Jain (hi)
Tech Mahindra GCL Day 6: Chingari Gulf Titans move up as Anand's win goes in vain

@ 27/06/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
GCL D5 : गंगाज ग्रांड मास्टर्स के तूफान में नहीं टिके कॉन्टिनेन्टल किंग्स

@ 27/06/2023 by Niklesh Jain (hi)
Tech Mahindra GCL Day 5: Vintage Vishy strikes Aronian, Ganges Grandmasters score a gargantuan win

@ 26/06/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
GCL D4 : एसजी अल्पाइन वारीयर्स नें बनाई बढ़त

@ 26/06/2023 by Niklesh Jain (hi)
Tech Mahindra GCL Day 4: SG Alpine Warriors survive Maxime carnage, Praggnanandhaa wins the decider

@ 25/06/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
GCL D3 : गंगाज ग्रांड मास्टर्स की लगातार तीसरी जीत

@ 25/06/2023 by Niklesh Jain (hi)
Tech Mahindra GCL Day 3: Ganges Grandmasters remain invincible, Triveni Continental Kings climb up

@ 24/06/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
जीसीएल D1&2 : आनंद की गंगा ग्रांड मास्टर्स निकली सबसे आगे

@ 24/06/2023 by Niklesh Jain (hi)
Tech Mahindra GCL Day 2: SG Alpine Warriors succumb to the sole leader Ganges Grandmasters

@ 23/06/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
Tech Mahindra GCL Day 1: Vishy Anand ensures a smooth sailing for Ganges Grandmasters

@ 22/06/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
शतरंज की तस्वीर बदलने आज से शुरू होगी ग्लोबल चैस लीग

@ 22/06/2023 by Niklesh Jain (hi)
The Broadcast details for Global Chess League 2023

@ 22/06/2023 by Sagar Shah (en)
Anand vs Anand squares off Tech Mahindra Global Chess League

@ 22/06/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
Schedule and Scoring System for Tech Mahindra Global Chess League

@ 17/06/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
Your chance to win a ticket to Dubai for the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League!

@ 15/06/2023 by Himank Ghosh (en)
Tech Mahindra Global Chess League teams and squads unveiled

@ 14/06/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
Band Stand Ka Raja wins the scenic GCL Invitational at Bandra Fort

@ 29/05/2023 by Sagar Shah (en)
GCL Invitational Chess tournament in Mumbai!

@ 23/05/2023 by Himank Ghosh (en)
FIDE and Tech Mahindra's Global Chess League to take place from 21st June to 2nd July 2023

@ 24/03/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
A Tweet and the formation of the Global Chess League

@ 24/02/2021 by Sagar Shah (en)
टेक महिंद्रा कराएगा ग्लोबल चैस लीग – आनंद बने मेंटर 

@ 23/02/2021 by Niklesh Jain (hi)

Contact Us