Overview

• The Mumbai draft completed the six-team lineups using Icon, Men’s, Women’s and U‑21 pools.
• PBG Alaskan Knights assembled D. Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, Leinier Dominguez, Sara Khadem, Kateryna Lagno and Daniel Dardha.
• The Icon round saw high bidding as Alpine SG Pipers landed Fabiano Caruana, upGrad Mumba Masters secured Wesley So, and PBG Alaskan Knights won a three-way contest for Erigaisi.
• Pre-draft retentions included Alpine SG Pipers keeping Hou Yifan and R Praggnanandhaa, American Gambits holding Hikaru Nakamura and Bibisara Assaubayeva, and Triveni Continental Kings retaining Alireza Firouzja, Alexandra Kosteniuk and Wei Yi.
• Viswanathan Anand remained with Ganges Grandmasters, Magnus Carlsen will not compete this season, and each team is scheduled for 10 matches.