Global to local: Global Chess League comes ‘home’ with third edition

From the outside, having the league in India after two seasons abroad might seem like a bit of a climbdown. But not to the men behind the decision.

“It was about time (the league was played in India). The fact is that India is becoming the centre of chess and the nucleus of chess is moving here. I don’t think we could actually afford to delay it by even one more season. Not that we didn’t explore or think about it. But I think it would have been an incredibly poor decision to play abroad again. Given the wealth of talent, combined with the audience expectations in this country it would just be unfair to a whole lot of people if we ever thought about doing it outside,” league commissioner Rakshit tells The Indian Express.

He continues: “Having said that, we are the ‘Global’ Chess League. And so, we will obviously move out of the country. But I do see us coming back to India a fair bit.”

Over the last couple of years, the country is indeed becoming the centre of the sport, with Indians sweeping the two golds at the Olympiad and Gukesh now seated on the world champion’s throne. In women’s chess too, Divya Deshmukh is now a World Cup champion. In terms of tournaments too, after years of having just one world-class tournament in the shape of Tata Steel Rapid and Blitz in Kolkata, the Chennai Grandmasters tournament is now a mainstay of the FIDE calendar. The FIDE World Cup later this year will also be held in Goa.

So what does a move back to India mean for the league?

For one, it brings the promise of many more fans in the arena than the previous two seasons. The GCL organisers have come up with innovations to make the experience of fans better, both in the arena and on streaming.

There will be mic’ed up “team booths” in the playing arena, where teams will hold team and strategy meetings before matches. While these booths will be sound proof, so the strategies will not carry outside, fans on the streaming will be able to hear how players in a largely individual sport come to terms with group dynamics.

The league, taking a cue from the Chennai Grandmasters tournament, will also offer more than just playing arena access to fans. There will be two halls, a library-esque playing arena with the players in it where there will be no sound. And another one outside where fans can gather to watch commentators dissect the game in real-time. The idea is to let players be themselves in games while allowing fans the ability to express themselves.

“The idea is to offer a safe space for the players to play in completely soundproof conditions, without having to worry about oohs and ahhs. It also allows the spectator to get a feel for what happens at a chess tournament where they do need to be silent,” says Rakshit.

The league has also had to walk the tightrope in terms of what fans want and what players prefer in terms of the time controls. Matches in the third season will have a two-second increment after last season saw some wild time scrambles and the spectre of pieces flying because there was no increment for moves made. This had delighted the casual fans, but many players were not too amused by it.

For fans this season, the league is also coming up with a fantasy chess app, the details of which GCL organisers are still finalising. With the government recently banning money-based online games, the GCL organisers are quick to clarify that the app will not be for monetary gains.

“(The app will be) within the bounds of the laws and regulations, our intention is to bring together more and more fans in a way that they can participate a lot more. not for any monetary gain or anything, but just to engage and feel that they are also participating in the league,” says Dubey.

The third season could also hasten the league’s plans to expand and get more teams in.

“We have a problem of plenty (in terms of players). We do have a deeper talent base than what we are able to accommodate right now. It is food for thought in the next few seasons in terms of, as we get this season right, should we be expanding to more franchises? That is definitely part of the plan. Some of these tailwinds will really help us in expanding in the seasons to come,” says Rakshit.