The International Chess Federation (FIDE) and Tech Mahindra on April 26 announced the launch dates and format of the Global Chess League (GCL).
The 12-day league will begin on June 21 and end on July 2, the organisations announced through a regulatory filing. GCL will be played in 10 round-robin matches, with six teams competing (six players in each team), followed by a final match between the top two teams.
During the course of the league, a variety of events such as chess tournaments and logo announcement would be hosted globally.
"GCL is a unique opportunity to promote this remarkable game of strategy, intellect, and rigor which we feel is strongly intertwined with business. GCL, fuelled by technology and opportunities, will bring together the best players from around the world in order to popularise the game and provide players with a formidable platform to hone their skills," said Jagdish Mitra, chief strategy officer and head for growth at Tech Mahindra.
The GCL has chess players participating in a unique joint team format, making it the first and biggest official franchise league of its sort in the world. GCL will have both male and female chess champions competing on the same team. Having the rare distinction of being the only co-ed squad in a professional sports league, the league's male-female teams will compete together, according to the press filing.
By utilising cutting-edge technologies like 5G, artificial intelligence and virtual reality, FIDE and Tech Mahindra will explore creative methods to promote the game through interactive technology-enabled platforms.
"The league will help increase chess's popularity while expanding commercial opportunities. As a part of FIDE’s commitment to growing women’s chess, this league will also witness the joint male and female team format, a first-of-its-kind in a professional sport. We invite team owners and sponsors to join in the effort to bring chess closer to its fans around the world. We are looking forward to meeting the teams and new talent in June 2023," FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich said.
GCL will aim to bring sports fans together to witness chess in a never-seen-before image. The winning team will get crowned with the title of World Champion Franchise Team.
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