Indian and Chinese flavours will mark the opening encounter of the inaugural Global Chess League when Triveni Continental Kings and Upgrad Mumba Masters clash in Dubai on June 22.
Kings, comprising the Chinese trio of World champion Ding Liren, Wei Yi, Yangyi Yi besides Jonas Buhl Bjerre, Kateryna Lagno and Nana Dzagnidze will be up against Masters’ consisting of three Indians - Vidit Gujrathi, K. Humpy and D. Harika - apart from Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Alexander Grischuk and Javokhir Sindarov.
In the day’s second league encounter, Chingari Gulf Titans will take on Ganges Grandmasters.
Strangely, with less than a week to go, the organisers continue to refrain from naming the coach/support staff attached with the teams.
Each match comprises six boards, the rapid time control being 15 minutes plus 10-second increment for each move.
The competition involves six teams that play each other on a double round-robin basis. After the completion of the league where each team plays 10 matches, the top-two teams will feature in the title-clash.
The tournament rules and points system are different from those used in FIDE approved team events. Here, in a match, all members of a team will play with the same colour. In the return encounter, the colours will be reversed.
A team winning the match with black pieces will get four match-points. A winner with white pieces will earn three points. In case of a draw, the teams get a match-point each.
Similarly, a player winning with black pieces will contribute four game-points and with white, three to the team’s tally. A draw is worth a game-point for the players involved. In case of a defeat, no point is awarded.
The final on July 2 will involve two matches. In the event of a tie, a tie-breaker blitz match will be played, the time-format being three minutes plus two second-increment for each move.
If the deadlock persists, one nominated player from each team will clash in the sudden-death blitz games until the winner is decided.
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