Official partner
FYERS American Gambits
Zapp Chess is a partner of the Gambits for GCL 2026
The Gambits go into Season 4 of the Global Chess League with the reigning Candidates winner on board one, a Season 2 MVP on board three, and Zapp Chess on the jersey. Here is the squad, the people behind the team, and what the partnership involves.
The 2026 squad
Icon
Javokhir Sindarov
Uzbekistan. Won the 2026 Candidates and plays the World Championship match later this year.
Superstar man
Daniil Dubov
FIDE flag. World Rapid champion in 2018.
Superstar man
Nihal Sarin
India. MVP of the whole league in Season 2.
Superstar woman
Bibisara Assaubayeva
Kazakhstan. Two-time Women's World Blitz champion, and the one player the Gambits retained.
Superstar woman
Sarasadat Khademalsharieh
Spain, and widely known as Sara Khadem. Transferred from Iran in 2023.
Prodigy
Marc'Andria Maurizzi
France. One of the youngest grandmasters the country has produced.
Srinath Narayanan coaches the team. Bibisara Assaubayeva was the one player retained before the draft in Mumbai on 29 June 2026; the rest of the squad is new. Javokhir Sindarov arrives having won the 2026 Candidates, weeks before he plays D Gukesh in the World Chess Championship 2026 in Geneva, and he and Assaubayeva are a couple now playing on the same team. Nihal Sarin was MVP of the whole league in Season 2.
The Zapp Chess partnership
Zapp Chess is an official partner of the FYERS American Gambits for Season 4. Zapp branding appears on the left back shoulder of the team jersey, alongside a player shoot, social content through the season and an activation on match days in Bengaluru. It is the first time Zapp has partnered a professional chess team.
The fit is the format. League games are rapid, 20 minutes with an increment that only starts after move 40, which is chess played against the clock rather than against preparation. Zapp is built around the same idea at a shorter length: a full game in about 2 minutes.
Owners
- CEO and co-owner
- Prachura PP
- Co-owners
- Ravichandran Ashwin, Venkat K Narayana
- Strategic shareholder
- Gerard Pique, announced in Bengaluru on 17 August 2026
- Title sponsor
- FYERS
- Coach
- Srinath Narayanan
The team's record in the league
- 2024, London: fourth, and the team that won the opening match of the season 11-6 against the Mumba Masters. Nihal Sarin, then with the Gambits, was named MVP of the season.
- 2025, Mumbai: reached the top four of the round robin with Hikaru Nakamura as Icon.
- 2026, Bengaluru: a rebuilt squad around Sindarov, with one player retained.
Watching the Gambits in Bengaluru
The Gambits play their Season 4 matches at The Lalit Ashok in Bengaluru between 5 and 13 September 2026. Dates, format, scoring and the other five squads are on the Global Chess League 2026 page, and every squad board by board is on the teams page. The league ends on 13 September; two days later Sindarov, Nihal Sarin and Assaubayeva are all due in Samarkand for the Chess Olympiad.
Questions about the Gambits
Who plays for the FYERS American Gambits in 2026?
Javokhir Sindarov as Icon, Daniil Dubov and Nihal Sarin on the Superstar men's boards, Bibisara Assaubayeva and Sarasadat Khademalsharieh on the Superstar women's boards, and Marc'Andria Maurizzi as Prodigy. Srinath Narayanan is the coach.
Who owns the American Gambits?
Prachura PP is CEO and co-owner, alongside Ravichandran Ashwin and Venkat K Narayana. Gerard Pique was announced as a strategic shareholder at an event in Bengaluru on 17 August 2026.
Why is the team called the FYERS American Gambits?
FYERS, a technology-led brokerage, is the team's title sponsor, so the franchise competes as the FYERS American Gambits. It is one of the six teams in the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League.
Is Zapp Chess sponsoring the American Gambits?
Yes. Zapp Chess is an official partner of the FYERS American Gambits for Season 4 of the Global Chess League, played in Bengaluru from 5 to 13 September 2026. It is Zapp's first partnership with a professional chess team.