Alpine APL Pipers at the Global Chess League 2026: Squad, Owners and History

Who they are

The Alpine APL Pipers are one of the six franchise teams of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League. The franchise is owned by SG Sports, the sports business led by the APL Apollo group. It is the only team other than Triveni Continental Kings to have won the league: the Pipers beat the Kings 2-0 in the 2025 final in Mumbai.

The team has played under three names. In the first season in Dubai in 2023 it was the SG Alpine Warriors. In 2024 and 2025 it was the Alpine SG Pipers, the name under which it won the 2025 title. For the 2026 season in Bengaluru it plays as the Alpine APL Pipers, with APL Apollo in the team name.

Magnus Carlsen has been the team's Icon in 2023, 2024 and 2026. He did not play in 2025, when Fabiano Caruana was the Icon of the title-winning squad.

The 2026 squad

Magnus Carlsen is the Icon of the 2026 squad. Anish Giri and Vidit Gujrathi play the two Superstar men's boards, Divya Deshmukh and Koneru Humpy play the two Superstar women's boards, and Volodar Murzin is the Prodigy. Pravin Thipsay is the coach.

Giri is the one player the Pipers retained from the 2025 title-winning squad before the 2026 draft; he was the MVP of the 2025 final after beating Wei Yi in both matches. Humpy and Vidit both played for upGrad Mumba Masters in 2023, and Murzin played for FYERS American Gambits in 2025.

2026 season in Bengaluru

Alpine APL Pipers are first in the 2026 standings after 4 matches, with 9 match points and 43 game points. Results last checked on 7 September 2026 at 8:44 PM IST.

1. 1.CheQ Mumba Masters: Alpine APL Pipers 10, CheQ Mumba Masters 8
2. 2.Ganges Grandmasters: Alpine APL Pipers 11, Ganges Grandmasters 6
3. 3.PBG Alaskan Knights: Alpine APL Pipers 7, PBG Alaskan Knights 9
4. 4.FYERS American Gambits: Alpine APL Pipers 15, FYERS American Gambits 3
5. 5.Triveni Continental Kings: starts Tuesday 8 September, 18:30 IST
6. 6.CheQ Mumba Masters: starts Wednesday 9 September, 15:30 IST
7. 7.Ganges Grandmasters: starts Thursday 10 September, 15:30 IST
8. 8.PBG Alaskan Knights: starts Thursday 10 September, 18:30 IST
9. 9.FYERS American Gambits: starts Friday 11 September, 18:30 IST
10. 10.Triveni Continental Kings: starts Saturday 12 September, 17:00 IST

Full table and fixtures: GCL 2026 points table, schedule, GCL 2026 overview.

Board-by-board results

Every finished match of the team, board by board. A win with White is worth 3 game points, a win with Black 4, and a draw 1 for each team. Player names link to the player profiles.

Owners and identity

Owner

SG Sports, the APL Apollo-led sports, media and entertainment business

Names

SG Alpine Warriors (2023), Alpine SG Pipers (2024, 2025), Alpine APL Pipers (2026)

Titles

Global Chess League 2025

Best round-robin finish

Second, 2025

Coach 2026

Pravin Thipsay

Season by season

2023, Dubai, as SG Alpine Warriors: Fourth in the round robin, 15 match points, 78 game points. With Magnus Carlsen on the top board, the Warriors won both matches on day 4 and led the standings at that point. They finished fourth, level on match points with third-placed Ganges Grandmasters. R Praggnanandhaa was named King of the series, the award for the best male player of the season.

Full 2023 results and standings

2024, London, as Alpine SG Pipers: Third in the round robin, 18 match points, 88 game points. The Pipers, again with Carlsen as Icon, went into the last round in second place, three match points ahead of Triveni Continental Kings, and lost the direct match 7-9. That put Triveni level on 18 match points and ahead on game points, so Triveni went to the final. Earlier in the event Triveni had beaten the Pipers 17-4, with Alireza Firouzja winning against Carlsen; in the last round Carlsen won the return game.

Full 2024 results and standings

2025, Mumbai, as Alpine SG Pipers: Champions; second in the round robin, 15 match points, 84 game points. Fabiano Caruana was the Icon, with R Praggnanandhaa, Anish Giri, Hou Yifan, Nino Batsiashvili and Leon Luke Mendonca. Hou Yifan won three games in a row with Black to carry the team into the final, which they reached one game point ahead of Ganges Grandmasters despite losing 6-11 to PBG Alaskan Knights in the last round. In the final they beat Triveni Continental Kings 4-2 and 4.5-1.5. Giri was MVP of the final and Hou Yifan was Female Player of the Tournament.

Full 2025 results and standings

Notable players

1. 1.Magnus Carlsen: Icon in 2023, 2024 and 2026, and the top board when the team led the first season after day 4 in Dubai.
2. 2.Anish Giri: MVP of the 2025 final and the player the Pipers retained for 2026. He was the Icon of PBG Alaskan Knights when they reached the 2024 final.
3. 3.R Praggnanandhaa: King of the series in 2023 as an SG Alpine Warrior, and part of the 2025 title squad.
4. 4.Hou Yifan: Female Player of the Tournament in 2025; her three straight wins with Black took the Pipers into the final. She played for Ganges Grandmasters in 2023.
5. 5.Koneru Humpy: on the Superstar women's board in 2026 after playing for upGrad Mumba Masters in 2023 and 2025.

More on the league: Global Chess League overview, winners and past seasons, Global Chess League 2026, all 2026 squads.

Frequently asked questions