CHENNAI: The UMumba Masters is geared up for Season 2 of the Global Chess League (GCL). The team is coached by Grandmaster Srinath N, who was the captain of the Indian men’s team that captured gold at the Chess Olympiad. The franchise has a good mixture of experience and youth with players like Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Vidit Gujrathi, Alexander Grischuk, Koneru Humpy, Dronavalli Harika and Raunak Sadhwani in their ranks.

Maxime is a world blitz title holder while Vidit, Humpy and Harika are seasoned players. Raunak was a bronze medallist at the 2022 Chennai Olympiad. Srinath believes that his team, who were finalists in the last edition, has the potential to have a crack at the crown. In a chat with the New Indian Express, Srinath spoke about the quality of the league, his coaching mantra and more. Excerpts…