Short games, active commentary, OTT streaming, Metaverse and fantasy league: How Global Chess League hopes to awaken ‘sleeping giant’ sport

The GCL — which starts on June 21 with the final on July 2 — will feature six teams having six players each, including one icon who will be a world champion calibre player, one male GM with an ELO rating of over 2700, two top female chess players and a junior player.

“The thing we intend to do is to make the sport television- ready. Right now, the game is not television-ready. By television-ready, I mean very active commentary, making it simple enough for people to follow and making it fun,” said Jagdish Mitra, the chairperson of the league.

One of the ways the league is trying to make it television- ready is by having each game between two franchises wrapped up inside two and a half hours. Mitra added that the task of the league will also be to strike a balance in their coverage that captivates both die-hards and casual fans.

“We’re trying to bring to the fore what the player is thinking while on the board. The players competing will be 36 of the world’s best. The idea is to get people inside the players’ minds.

“We feel that chess is like a sleeping giant. It’s a very good business opportunity for us to help the sport explode. We’re living in a world of gaming and esports. Chess is one of the original esports! Besides, it is also one of the games our families played across the table. And not just India, in countries like the USA and Russia too,” Mitra told The Indian Express on a virtual conference call also attended by Anand, who has been instrumental in getting the global governing body of chess on board. The league is a joint venture between FIDE and Tech Mahindra.

Financial viability

Mitra added that they were expecting a significant amount of television coverage besides OTT streaming.

“We’re taking it to 35-plus properties around the world, including OTT platforms,” said Mitra, adding that while quite a few international broadcasters had shown interest, there were two OTT players interested in streaming the league in India.

With just over a month left for the league, all the six owners of the franchises are almost finalised, with agreements already in place with some and some in the last stages of discussion.

Asked if the potential owners were wary of how financially viable a chess league will be or how to make it more television-friendly, Mitra said: “There are no concerns among owners about financial viability. We saw during the Olympiad that 180 countries competed. How many other sports have that sort of a base? What the owners are looking at is what could the league scale up to. The plan there is to have six franchises for the first two seasons and then look at adding two more teams in Season 3.”

“It’ll be interesting to see how we can elevate the engagement experience of fans with the use of AI, metaverse and all the other technological advances,” added Anand. “But one thing’s for sure, chess is having its moment (in the sun).”