Continuity is the Upgrad Mumba Masters' identity. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave has held the franchise's Icon board since the inaugural season, and Dronavalli Harika has been with the team just as long. That kind of stability is rare in a league built around an annual draft, and it has given the squad a reputation for unity that opponents notice.
The squad
Board | Player |
Icon | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave |
Superstar Men | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Vladimir Fedoseev |
Superstar Women | Dronavalli Harika, Carissa Yip |
Prodigy | Daneshvar Bardiya |
Coach | P. Harikrishna |
Retained | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Dronavalli Harika, Daneshvar Bardiya |
Team analysis
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov returns after joining in 2025, and Daneshvar Bardiya's retention was the most straightforward call any franchise faced at the draft — the young Iranian was comfortably the standout performer on the Prodigy board last season.
The two new additions both strengthen the squad meaningfully. Vladimir Fedoseev and Carissa Yip are dangerous, aggressive speed-chess players, and Yip's arrival brings the strongest current American women's player into the league for the first time.
There is also a subplot worth noting: Mamedyarov coaches Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, who plays for the PBG Alaskan Knights. A teacher-versus-student meeting on the Superstar Men boards is very much on the cards.
Storylines to watch
MVL's fourth consecutive season on the same franchise's Icon board
Daneshvar Bardiya defending his standing as the league's premier prodigy
Carissa Yip's league debut
A potential Mamedyarov vs Erdogmus meeting
The fourth season of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League runs from 3–13 September 2026 in Bengaluru. Each franchise fields an Icon, two Superstar Men, two Superstar Women and a Prodigy, competing under the league's signature scoring system — four points for a win with Black, three with White.
Author: Sagar Saha
