The International Chess Federation is pleased to announce a new partnership with Tech Mahindra Ltd., a leading provider of digital transformation, consulting and business re-engineering services and solutions. The Memorandum of Understanding signed between the parties focuses on creating together the Global Chess League, a project first proposed by Tech Mahindra Ltd. earlier this year. Now, with the support of FIDE, the Global Chess League will be provided with an accredited and exclusive status as the only world league officially recognised by the governing body of the sport of chess.

The competition will be established as a first-of-its-kind “phygital” (physical and digital) league, engaging players from all levels – professional or otherwise. In principle, it will have several franchise-owned teams from across the globe, which will comprise a mix of titled players along with juniors and wildcard entrants playing each other in an exciting format.

FIDE and Tech Mahindra will join their forces and expertise to ensure that the spirit of the game and the highest sporting and organization standards are maintained. FIDE will help structure the technical regulations and promote the league through its media channels, providing the global audience with an engaging platform.

The collaboration between Tech Mahindra and FIDE will also promote playing of chess in new and innovative formats, create opportunities for youth, and foster many champions globally. The partnership aims to leverage new-age technologies like 5G, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, among others, and explore innovative ways of promoting the game through interactive technology-enabled platforms.

A new holding company will be created to operate the functioning of the Global Chess League, in which the FIDE president will be part of the board of Directors. The project will also count on the five-time world chess champion Viswanathan Anand as mentor and partner, who will not just advise but will also help shape the league.

Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra Group, said, “From tweeting about the game to forming a league under Viswanathan Anand’s mentorship, and now on-boarding FIDE – the entire journey has been very gratifying. With the coming together of all the forces in the field of chess and technology, we hope the ‘Global Chess League’ will take the game to new heights and create vibrant opportunities for the entire chess community across the world.”

The collaboration will support several of FIDE’s grassroots initiatives and make chess an attractive career choice and game of global reckoning.

Arkady Dvorkovich, FIDE President, said, “The motto of Chess is ‘Gens una sumus,’ meaning "We are one people", and we at FIDE take this unique opportunity to popularize the game which bears the motto of uniting the world. We are endeavouring to dramatically enhance its visibility through a global league powered by technology and are honoured to have partnered with Tech Mahindra. I am certain that Tech Mahindra’s expertise will further aid in elevating The Global Chess League to the next level, accelerate its popularity and lay out the most riveting tournament for chess fans.”

As part of its NXT.NOW framework, which aims to enhance ‘Human Centric Experience’, Tech Mahindra has a deep focus on leveraging cutting-edge technologies to deliver an enhanced experience and enable digital transformation to meet the evolving needs of the customer.

CP Gurnani, MD & CEO, Tech Mahindra, said, “Chess and the business ecosystem are reflections of the same ‘game’, which hold people, strategy and adaptations at their core. The partnership with FIDE marks the coming together of two organizations to promote, revolutionize and drive fan engagement of a historical game, like Chess. We see great potential in this partnership which aims to raise the profile of the game, discover next generations of Chess champions - including women and children, enhance the fan base across the globe and take it to new commercial heights.”

Viswanathan Anand, five-time World Chess Champion and the mentor and  partner of the Global Chess League, said, “With FIDE coming on board along with Tech Mahindra, I am sure the Global Chess League will help in catalyzing the popularity of the game while keeping the spirit of the game intact and create opportunities for young talent across the world”

About Global Chess League: 

In February 2021, Tech Mahindra launched the first-of-its-kind Global Chess league. The Global Chess League will engage players from all levels – professional or otherwise and will have several franchise-owned teams from across the world. The teams will comprise of a mix of titled women and men players along with juniors and wildcard entrants playing each other in an exciting format. The teams qualifying for the semifinals will enter the knockout stage of the championship. Tech Mahindra will act as the architect behind this concept and will provide the necessary operational and technological support to execute the vision.

Viswanathan Anand, five-time World Chess Champion and the Global Chess Leagues official mentor, partner, and advisor will help catalyse the growth of chess.

About Tech Mahindra: 

Tech Mahindra offers innovative and customer-centric digital experiences, enabling enterprises, associates and society to rise. We are a USD 5.1 billion organization with 121,000+ professionals across 90 countries helping 1007 global customers, including Fortune 500 companies. We are focused on leveraging next-generation technologies including 5G, Blockchain, Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence, and more, to enable end-to-end digital transformation for global customers. 

Tech Mahindra is one of the fastest-growing brands and amongst the top 15 IT service providers globally. Tech Mahindra has consistently emerged as a leader in sustainability and is recognized amongst the ‘2021 Global 100 Most sustainable corporations in the World’ by Corporate Knights. With the NXT.NOW framework, Tech Mahindra aims to enhance ‘Human Centric Experience’ for our ecosystem and drive collaborative disruption with synergies arising from a robust portfolio of companies. We aim at delivering tomorrow’s experiences today, and believe that the ‘Future is Now’.

We are part of the Mahindra Group, a USD 19.4 billion federation of companies that enables people to rise through innovative mobility solutions, driving rural prosperity, enhancing urban living, nurturing new businesses and fostering communities. It enjoys a leadership position in utility vehicles, information technology, financial services and vacation ownership in India and is the world’s largest tractor company by volume. It also enjoys a strong presence in renewable energy, agribusiness, logistics and real estate development. Headquartered in India, Mahindra employs over 2,56,000 people across 100 countries.

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Media Contact: 

Abhilasha Gupta, Global Corporate Communications and Public Affairs, TechM

Email: Abhilasha.Gupta@TechMahindra.com; media.relations@techmahindra.com

About FIDE: 

The International Chess Federation (FIDE) is the governing body of the sport of chess, and it regulates all international chess competitions. Constituted as a non-governmental institution, it was recognized by the International Olympic Committee as a Global Sporting Organization in 1999. 

FIDE currently has its headquarters in Lausanne, but it was initially founded in 1924 in Paris under the motto “Gens una Sumus” (Latin for “We are one Family”). It was one of the very first International Sports Federations, alongside the governing bodies of the sports of Football, Cricket, Swimming, and Auto Racing. It is now one of the largest, encompassing 195 countries as affiliate members, in the form of National Chess Federations. Chess is nowadays a truly global sport, with dozens of millions of players in all the continents, and more than 60 million games on average played every day.

More information: www.fide.com 

Contact: press@fide.com