Ahead of the Global Chess League, Magnus Carlsen had joked about how his team, Alpine APL Pipers, had done during his absence last year and hoped that it would not do worse this time. He should be pleased now.

Pipers have gone top of the table despite Carlsen not being at his best so far. He has won only one of his four games — against his old rival Viswanathan Anand, and that too on time — but his teammates K. Humpy and Vidit Gujrathi have been doing rather well.

The two Indians are, in fact, the best performing players in the league at the moment, both winning three of their games. “The team is doing fantastic,” Carlsen said. “Three wins out of four is great. My performance has been a bit underwhelming, but since the team is doing well. I am happy. It is nice to see good crowds here. Chess in India is massive.”

Anemone Kulczak seems like a constant at Norway Chess. The Frenchwoman, who made a smooth transition from playing to being an arbiter, is enjoying the role.

“I played many tournaments after having learnt the game from my father when I was very young and at some point I wanted to know the regulations,” Kulczak, who has been the chief arbiter at several editions of the Norway Chess, told The Hindu.

There’s been no looking back since she decided to take an arbiter’s course and obtained certifications and is at home officiating in top-flight events, including the Chess Olympiad.

The 31-year-old said the modern generation of players were disciplined and easier to handle. She was all praise for the Indians and said players like World champion D. Gukesh, R. Praggnanandhaa, Koneru Humpy and Divya Deshmukh, who are taking part in this year’s event, were an arbiter’s delight as they consistently followed the rules.

Kulczak was full of admiration of the manner in which Indian chess had evolved over the years and felt that the new generation is talented and there would be more world champions.

“India is the future of chess… India will continue to have world champions. Gukesh is an exceptionally talented player and there are many others too like Pragg. It is good for world chess,” she added.

Kulczak, who was at the helm during the tournament in Stavanger in 2025 when Magnus Carlsen famously banged the table after losing to Gukesh, said arbiters had to be more careful these days as there is intense scrutiny and ensure that rules matter more than reputations.