All set for the first move in the second edition of the Global Chess League

Some stars are ready to participate in the Global Chess League. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Friends House has an interesting history. The neo-Georgian-style building on Eustace Road in central London won the Royal Institute of British Architects’ Bronze Medal in 1927 and has many stories to tell about it.

It was here that Mahatma Gandhi gave his first public speech in London when he came to Britain for the Round Table Conference in 1931. Martin Luther King, one of Gandhi’s most famous admirers, was given a reception at the same place before the Nobel Prize ceremony. 1964.

Six decades later, Friends House continues to host some of today’s greatest minds from a different field – chess. Many of the biggest names in the game like Viswanathan Anand, Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and Hou Yifan are here for the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League, the second edition of which begins on Thursday.

A joint venture between Tech Mahindra and the world chess governing body FIDE, it is a unique event with each team consisting of men, women and junior players. The scoring system is also different – ​​four points for a win with black pieces and three points with white. The time control is 20 minutes without any increments.

The timing of the league could not have been better: right after India’s historic double win at the Chess Olympiad in Budapest and before the start of the world title match between Ding Liren and D. Gukesh in Singapore on 23 November. Some of India’s gold medal winning Olympiads here are Arjun Erigaisi, R. Praggnanand, Vidit Gujarati, D. Harika and R. This is Vaishali.

Some of them will play against each other in the Global Chess League. For example, when Praggnananda faces Arjuna it should be an interesting game. “Match-ups like this make the league exciting,” said league CEO Sameer Pathak. The Hindu“And we are all excited that all tickets for the weekend have been sold out.”

the teams:

Alpine SG Pipers: Magnus Carlsen, R. Praggnananda, Richard Rapoport, Katrina Lagno, and Daniel Dardha.

Triveni continental kings: Alireza Firozha, Yi Wei, Timur Radjabov, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Valentina Gunina, and Javokhir Sindarov.

PBG Alaska Nights: Anish Giri, Nodirbek Abdusattarov; Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Tan Zhongyi, Alina Kashalinskaya, and Nihal Sarin.

American Gambler: Hikaru Nakamura, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Yu Yangyi, Bibisara Assoubaeva, Elisabeth Pehtz, and Jonas Buhl Bjerre.

Upgrade Mumba Masters: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Vidit Gujarati, Peter Swidler, Koneru Humpy, D. Harika, and Raunak Sadhwani.

Ganga Grandmasters: Vishwanathan Anand, Arjun Erigassi, Parham Maghsoodloo, R. Vaishali, Nurgul Salimova, and Volodar Murzin.