Divya Deshmukh teams up with Carlsen; Sindarov, Nihal in same team for GCL

2 min readMumbaiUpdated: Jun 29, 2026 09:10 PM IST

For the 4th season of GCL, defending champions Alpine APL Pipers have added Magnus Carlsen and Divya Deshmukh along with Koneru Humpy, Anish Giri and Vidit Gujrathi. (Express Photos)

Defending champions Alpine APL Pipers have retooled their roster by adding Magnus Carlsen, Koneru Humpy, Divya Deshmukh, Anish Giri, Vidit Gujrathi and reigning world rapid champion Volodar Murzin for the upcoming season of Global Chess League, to be held in Bengaluru from September 3 to 13. This will be Deshmukh’s first GCL while Carlsen will return after sitting out season 3. World champion Gukesh, women’s world championship contender Vaishali Rameshbabu and R Praggnanandhaa have skipped this season.

Meanwhile, at the GCL Draft held in Mumbai on Monday, the FYERS American Gambits managed to put together an intimidating line-up bolstered by recent Bullet Chess Champion Nihal Sarin, world championship contender Javokhir Sindarov and three-time world blitz champion Bibisara Assaubayeva.

The fourth edition of the Global Chess League will see five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand switch teams for the first time in league history, swapping his Ganges Grandmasters jersey for PBG Alaskan Knights, where he will be joined by Arjun Erigaisi. The team will also have Turkish phenom Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, who has been praised as the most talented 14-year-old the sport has ever seen, the youngest grandmaster in chess history Abhimanyu Mishra and veterans like Kateryna Lagno and Nino Batsiashvili.

Two-time winners and last season’s runners-up Triveni Continental Kings made their most decisive moves before the draft, retaining Season 3 MVP Alireza Firouzja, China’s Wei Yi and Zhu Jiner. Then they picked up the promising Indian pair of Aravindh Chithambaram and Pranav Venkatesh while also adding Alexandra Kosteniuk.

Global Chess League season 4 teams

FYERS American Gambits: Javokhir Sindarov, Nihal Sarin, Daniil Dubov, Bibisara Assaubayeva, Sara Khadem, Marc’Andria Maurizzi

Alpine APL Pipers: Magnus Carlsen, Anish Giri, Vidit Santosh Gujrathi, Divya Deshmukh, Koneru Humpy, Volodar Murzin

Ganges Grandmasters: Ian Nepomniachtchi, Levon Aronian, Leinier Domínguez, Polina Shuvalova, Stavroula Tsolakidou, Leon Luke Mendonca

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upGrad Mumba Masters: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Vladimir Fedoseev, Carissa Yip, Harika Dronavalli, Bardiya Daneshvar

PBG Alaskan Knights: Viswanathan Anand, Arjun Erigaisi, Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, Kateryna Lagno, Nino Batsiashvili, Abhimanyu Mishra

Triveni Continental Kings: Alireza Firouzja, Wei Yi, Aravindh Chithambaram, Zhu Jiner, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Pranav Venkatesh

Amit Kamath is Assistant Editor at The Indian Express and is based in Mumbai. He primarily writes on chess and Olympic sports, and co-hosts the Game Time podcast, a weekly offering from Express Sports. He also writes a weekly chess column, On The Moves. ... Read More

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