CHENNAI: After the second day of the Global Chess League on Monday, just when Alpine SG Pipers' team bus had pulled up at the hotel to drop the players off, Fabiano Caruana and Anish Giri were sitting side by side next to the door. They were engaged in conversation like two old friends, catching up on life and chess.
Somewhere in that bus, likely behind them, was R Praggnanandhaa, the other Super GM in the team. The franchise has somehow lucked out on a collection of trio of chess superstars. By some co-incidence, they will all be playing in the 2026 edition of the Candidates. While none of them are saying it out loud, it has quietly crossed their minds. For example, when Praggnanandhaa was asked about it during an interaction with select journalists, he was mindful of Caruana's presence in the room. "I'm not going to give you any names (of coaches I will be training with)," he had said during that interview. At that exact time, he and Caruana exchanged a quick glance and a smile.
The Indian, though, was quick to say: "I don't think we have started thinking too much about Candidates, I'm enjoying my time." But the thought has crossed all of their minds. How much do they share? Can they discuss potential lines for the next few games in the ongoing without the fear of giving the other two a peek into their medium-term thought process? Have they thought about bluffing their opponents?
Giri calls it 'poker'. "It's a very interesting dynamic," the Dutch GM said. "We discuss things, so we sort of exchange information. But it's like poker. You both show one card each and it's like 'I know that he knows that I know the situation, right?' Like, if I tell them something about some line, they are may be thinking why is he revealing this to me? And with both Pragg and Fabi... we all like to prepare very hard.
"It's not that you are dropping hints to try and confuse them them but it's also like you are really interested to... it's such a rare opportunity to talk to someone who's so much like you, you know? For example, my coaches, we think we can talk about the same coaches but they are like not exactly like me, besides their levels are a bit lower and they are not in this position (of qualifying for the Candidates). You sort of want to talk about it (your Candidates prep with the other two) but you can only talk so much. You can't but yet you want to. We have this weird conversation dance where you are trying to tread."
Hoes does Caruana see this team? "I don't think it's inconvenient but maybe we can share a little bit less," the US GM said. "I can't exactly what openings I'm working on and they also can't say what openings they are working on because you never know. It may not be important but you still want to keep things a little bit close to your chest." On Wednesday, the trio drew all their games against Fyers American Gambits but the team still won thanks to two wins from Nino Batsiashvili and Leon Mendonca.
"It's remarkable that we have this team," Giri said. Till the end of the tournament, the trio, may, knowingly or unknowingly, watch what they say. Their other focus, though, as Pragg said, will be on winning the league.
Results (Day Four): Alpine SG Pipers 10-4 Fyers American Gambits, Triveni Continental Kings 11-6 Ganges Grandmasters, UpGrad Mumba Masters 18-2 PBG Alaskan Knights 2
