The 20-year-old Indian chess star, recently named an Arjuna Award recipient, will join a formidable Pipers line-up featuring world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, Anish Giri, Vidit Gujrathi and Volodar Murzin.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Having largely competed in individual tournaments, Deshmukh is looking forward to the challenge of rapid chess in the league\u2019s franchise-based team format and the opportunity to play in front of a home crowd.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cIt\u2019s my debut, so I\u2019m definitely very excited. It\u2019s not like any other chess tournament. There\u2019s going to be a lot of audience for this one, which is going to be really nice. And also, the format is quite different to classical events, so it\u2019s fun. Playing in India is always fun,\u201d Deshmukh was quoted as saying in a release.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
While the opportunity to play alongside Carlsen has heightened anticipation for her debut, Deshmukh said the squad's overall strength was equally exciting.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI guess it\u2019s always great to have a teammate that is considered one of the best in the world. But for me, it\u2019s also not just Magnus on my team. There are so many great players overall. There\u2019s Anish, there\u2019s Vidit, and there\u2019s also Murzin. So, it\u2019s not just about one person. It\u2019s about the whole team,\u201d she added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Deshmukh said she would first seek to understand the format's demands before assessing what she could take away from the experience.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cIf I can take lessons from it, we will only find out after the event. I can\u2019t say anything now. But yeah, I\u2019m very excited to play this format, \u201d she said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Deshmukh said she would first seek to understand the format's demands before assessing what she could take away from the experience.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Season 4 will feature 36 leading players representing six global franchises in the league\u2019s mixed-team format. The Tech Mahindra Global Chess League Season 4 will be held at The Lalit Ashok in Bengaluru from September 5 to 13.<\/p>\r\n\r\n