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Dubai to roll out red carpet for IPL-style chess league
The first edition of the Global Chess League will take place from June 21 to July 2
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand with officials and young chess enthusiasts in Dubai on Wednesday. — Supplied photo
After playing host to the Fide World Chess Championship against the amazing backdrop of Expo 2020 at the Dubai Exhibition Centre in 2021, Dubai will roll out a pristine 64-square board for the Global Chess League (GCL), the IPL-style world’s first franchise-based chess league.
Khaleej Times had exclusively reported last month that Dubai, the top sporting destination in the world, would host the inaugural event and confirmation of it came on Wednesday.
“As a grandmaster and chess player and as the Fide deputy president, I want to say how excited I am about the new global chess League,” Viswanathan Anand, five-time world chess champion, and Deputy President of Fide, chess' world governing body, said on Wednesday.
“Dubai has been attracting various sporting events. The World Chess Championship in Dubai in 2021 during the Dubai Expo was a big success. Similarly, I believe the Global Chess League will mark a new beginning in fan experience.
“We're going to have the best chess players, the best women, chess players, the best and most exciting juniors all competing in this new franchise format. Its unique team format will contribute to the growth and development of chess. The league aims to revolutionise the game,” he added.
GCL, which will be hosted by the Dubai Sports Council (DSC), is a joint venture between Fide and Tech Mahindra.
Jagdish Mitra, Chairperson, Global Chess League Board, told the Khaleej Times that more announcements regarding the franchises and players will come in due course.
The first edition GCL, set to take place from June 21 to July 2, will feature six teams with six players each, including a minimum of two female players and one icon player per team. The six teams will compete in a round-robin format where each team will play 10 matches.
Each match will feature six boards that will be played simultaneously. The top two teams will qualify for the final on July 2, 2023, and be crowned the World Champion Franchise Team.
Key dignitaries such as Dr Aman Puri, Consul General of India, Dubai and CP Gurnani, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Tech Mahindra, were present on the occasion.
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