NEW DELHI: Coming into the second edition of the Global Chess League (GCL) last year in October, the current Dutch No. 1 Anish Giri had a turbulent time. In the span of one month, his ratings dropped drastically from 2746 to 2724.
To put things into perspective, the last time his rating had dipped this low was all the way back in December 2012, when he briefly touched 2720. This time, though, the slide hurt more: for the first time in ten years, Giri had tumbled out of the world’s top 20.
The drop demanded a turnaround. Oddly enough, it arrived not in the old-school halls of classical chess but in a fledgling event trying to plant its flag: the Global Chess League (GCL).
“I came in with really low confidence,” Giri told TimesofIndia.com in an exclusive chat. “And then I saw the lineup; I was on the icon board, facing the absolute best. My team was super strong, and I felt like the weakest link at that moment. I genuinely worried I’d pull them down. GCL ended up being one of the big turning points for me.”
The spice wars of London
Giri can't keep his laughter away when asked about the memories that immediately spring up. Not the time scramble against Alireza Firouzja. Not the nail-biting final. But… food.
“One thing that now comes to mind was with the food,” he revealed.
“Because sometimes you would play during the day, and it was like lunchtime. We would go to the game and stay there for many hours, and we could get hungry there. So we would get some food arranged for us.
“It was always a challenge to try to get a good level of spice. There were always these arguments between the team members. Some are saying this is not spicy. Some are saying this is crazy spicy. Some are saying I’m dying from how hot it is.”
With the second edition of GCL held in London, traffic became part of the routine, too.
“It was kind of an interesting experience,” he said. “Just overall with the team, how we would travel through London to the playing hall and the traffic of London. Sometimes you get stuck in there, and it was good vibes.”
The Great iPhone Revolt (almost)
Among all the stories, one that stands out as instant GCL folklore is the attempted “iPhone mutiny”.
Before the season even began, PBG Alaskan Knights, Giri's previous team, had promised performance-based rewards. But before they were handed out, the players began joking in the team WhatsApp group.
“There was a running joke between the team members behind the back of our team captain that we are going to refuse to show up if we don’t get the iPhone promised,” Giri remembered. “So we had this thing that we’re going to revolt as players. And if they don’t give us the iPhone, we are not coming to the game."
Despite the Knights settling for a runners-up finish, the gifts did arrive.
“Of course, it was a joke. But we finally did get the iPhones. So I don’t know how much of a joke it was,” Giri added with a grin.
The quiet side of elite chess players
One stereotype about chess players has existed for generations: they live in their heads. They don’t talk much.
Giri doesn't deny it.
“It depends on players and depends on the setting,” the 31-year-old Grandmaster told this website. “Different tournaments, different moods, different stages of career. I knew some players that at certain periods, we were very friendly with each other, then for some reason, we were less friendly for a period. It is complex in that sense.”
Team spirit is something footballers or basketball players are raised with; chess players, on the other hand, spend most of their lives fighting alone at a board.
“In chess, team events are occasionally there, and usually most events are individual," he explained. "So you are not really taught team spirit or team bonding. In chess, it’s not common. And occasionally in a team event, you do miss the whole team bonding.”
Giri cited Nodirbek Abdusattorov as an example from last season’s GCL.
“He has his own very strict routine: when he eats, what he eats, where he eats. I think we almost never ate together, like never on the same table, as far as I can remember. And that’s fine. He stays in that tournament mode, in that zone,” he added.
The ‘D Gukesh modes’
One of the funniest observations Giri made is about players who have “modes”, different personas depending on whether they are playing a tournament or attending, say, a friend’s wedding.
And the best example, according to him, is the current World Chess Champion D Gukesh.
“Gukesh was not in my team (in the last GCL), but I’ve been with him on many different occasions,” he said. "During tournaments, after tournaments, I was with him at Vidit’s wedding as well."
“And it’s like different people every time. When Gukesh is at Vidit’s wedding, he is a different person than when he is playing the second round of Wijk aan Zee.”
He laughed before adding, “Some people have this very, very strong game mode."
Giri’s success on the board during GCL 2024, though, wasn’t a coincidence. After months of self-doubt and worrying about his form, the league seemed to snap him out of the spiral.
His rise back into the world’s top 10 and the qualification for Candidates 2026 with an authoritative win at the FIDE Grand Swiss has reaffirmed him as one of the most consistent elite players currently.
Now, fast forward to season three of GCL, scheduled to begin at The Royal Opera House from December 14 to 23.
The Dutch No. 1 will turn up wearing the Alpine SG Pipers jersey this time, but his goals remain the same.
With the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships beginning right after GCL in Doha, he sees the league as the perfect warm-up.
“I’ve been focusing fully on classical the last few tournaments,” he said. “There’s going to be some change in pace, so I will need to warm up. I am expecting maybe a turbulent start in GCL, but I’m gonna try to warm up for the rapid and blitz again.”
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'Not a surprise': Anish Giri on lesser-favourites Divya Deshmukh, Javokhir Sindarov winning Chess World Cups“After GCL, there will be World Rapid and Blitz in Doha as well. So now I have two events in a row, which are rapid and blitz. That’s a shift in mindset and requires a little different type of play,” he chuckled.
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