Magnus Carlsen has won it all in chess. Well, almost all.
For all his individual brilliance and unparalleled trophy cabinet, a major team title has remained conspicuously absent from his resume. Apart from a European Club Cup victory in 2023, Carlsen has little to show for his efforts in team competitions.
He has represented Norway at the Chess Olympiad eight times, but a gold medal has remained elusive. In fact, he has never even guided his country to a podium finish in any of those editions. His luck in the Global Chess League (GCL) has been no better. In the two seasons he played for Alpine APL Pipers, the team never came close to contending for the title. And as fate would have it, the year he skipped the event, Pipers went on to win it.
Now, the GCL is back for its fourth season in Bengaluru. And so is Carlsen, fueled by a desire to finally rewrite his history with team events.
The franchise-based GCL is often viewed as a relaxed affair for players, a welcome break from the relentless grind of the chess circuit, but Carlsen made it clear that he is not here for leisure. He means business.
When a light-hearted question was thrown at him about the golf course near the players’ hotel, Carlsen was quick to cut through the pleasantries.
“I am focused on playing the tournament here. I am very excited to be back. Of course, I am a little bit surprised to be back, seeing as we had a couple of really frustrating years for the team… the two first years when I was playing, and of course when I was away… you know the story, the team won it all. So this time, I am just trying to do my best to not do any worse than last year,” he said at the pre-tournament press conference on Friday.
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Carlsen did taste team success in 2023, winning the European Chess Club Cup with Offerspill Sjakklubb, where Indian GM Pranav Venkatesh played a crucial role. But he is under no illusion about his complicated relationship with team events.
“Team events have been a little bit of an up and down for me for many years. I think it’s been better in recent years. I think the last couple of Olympiads that I played, I’ve at least performed decently in terms of my own performance, even if the team performance has been a little bit up and down. In terms of this competition specifically, the history so far is not with me, and I definitely want to change that,” he said.
If any team can help Carlsen finally rewrite his team-event record, it has to be this year’s stacked Alpine Pipers line-up. Carlsen will lead the team on the “Icon” board, with 2026 Candidates runner-up Anish Giri and Vidit Gujrathi occupying the “Superstar Men” boards. The “Superstar Women” section features multiple-time World Rapid Champion Koneru Humpy and 2025 Women’s World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh, who is making her GCL debut.
On the “Prodigy” board, where matches are often decided, the Pipers have the talented Russian and former World Rapid Champion Volodar Murzin.
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Despite the absence of R Praggnanandhaa and Fabiano Caruana, the finalists at the recently concluded Grand Chess Tour, the Pipers have all the firepower at their disposal to successfully defend their title.
Turkish prodigy
The team most likely to challenge the Pipers’ reign is PBG Alaskan Knights. Like the Pipers, the Knights have no glaring weakness. Viswanathan Anand leads them on the top board, joined by the ever-reliable Arjun Erigaisi and the talk of the town, 15-year-old Turkish prodigy Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, whom Carlsen once called the best 14-year-old chess player the world has ever seen.
With Kateryna Lagno and Nino Batsiashvili guarding the women’s board and the world’s youngest GM Abhimanyu Mishra holding the Prodigy board, the Knights look quite dangerous.
However, it’s Triveni Continental Kings who have the formula for triumph. The most successful side in GCL history with two titles and a runner-up finish last season, they are once again hard to overlook when discussing title contenders. Built under the steady leadership of Dutch coach Loek van Wely, the Kings have always come in with a low-profile team that delivers it big time. Alireza Firouzja and Wei Yi have been their biggest performers. Even though Firouzja has been a shadow of his former self in recent years, he has always stepped up for the GCL.
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What makes the Kings extremely dangerous is the presence of Zhu Jiner and Alexandra Kosteniuk on the women’s boards, and a strong Prodigy board in Pranav V. The only possible chink in their armour is the form of Aravindh Chithambaram, which the Kings would be hoping to address.
Led by star coach N Srinath, Fyers American Gambits could be the dark horse of the tournament. With World Championship challenger Javokhir Sindarov on the top board, and short-format specialists Daniil Dubov and Nihal Sarin in the mix, the Gambits have the firepower to unsettle any side. Norway Chess winner Bibisara Assaubayeva, one of the strongest women players on the circuit, only strengthens their title bid.
CheQ Mumba Masters will pin their hopes on new addition Carissa Yip, who joins the experienced Harika Dronavalli on the women’s board. With the rich experience of Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, and Vladimir Fedoseev, alongside Iranian youngster Daneshvar Bardiya on the prodigy board, Mumbai Masters could spring a surprise or two.
If experience alone could win titles, Ganges Grandmasters would have already run away with the GCL 4 championship. They have two-time World Championship finalist Ian Nepomniachtchi and Levon Aronian, one of the strongest players never to have won a World title, alongside American-Cuban veteran Leinier Dominguez. Their prodigy board, featuring Leon Mendonça, offers promise. However, Nepomniachtchi’s recent form has been a concern, and the women’s board of Polina Shuvalova and Stavroula Tsolakidou could find themselves in trouble against stronger opposition.
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(The writer is in Bengaluru at the invitation of Global Chess League)