The Maharshtra Chess League, which kicked off last year, is all set to enter its second season here tomorrow with six teams competing for the top prize of Rs three lakh.
The five-day tournament, which has attracted four super Grand Masters (Rating above 2600) from all over India in a total tally of nine, is being conducted at the PYC Hindu Gymkhana.
The teams in fray are defending champions Pune Attackers, Jalgaon Battlers, Ahmednagar Checkers, Mumbai Movers, Thane Combatants and a new team, Pune True Masters who have replaced Nagpur Royals.
Among the GMs to take part are Abhijit Kunte, Abhijeet Gupta, Parimarjan Negi, B Adhiban, V Vishnu Prasanna and M R Lalith Babu and Vidit Gujarathi.
Most of the players, who went through the auction process held about a week ago in the presence of the five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand, have arrived in Pune.
The event, sponsored by Johnson Tiles, is to be played under faster time controls where each team will field six players while it is mandatory for each team to field three Maharashtra players, two women players and one untitled players for every round.
Former world junior champion Abhijeet Gupta, who is leading Thane Combatants, said he has armed himself with off-beat lines in the openings to surprise and shock his opponents.
"For a rapid event like MCL, I will rely more on sharp play," said Gupta, who is making his debut this season.
