Irina Krush the commentator has a 10 out of 10 experience at the GCL

They crowded her. The little kids, the women. They wanted her autograph on the chessboard, a selfie with her.

Irina Krush didn’t disappoint anyone. She was at the fan zone of the Global Chess League, at the Royal Opera House, taking a break from her commentary. A couple of days earlier, one of the fans wanted to play a game with her. And she obliged.

Krush is delighted to be back at the GCL, though as a commentator this time around. She had played for Alpine Warriors in the opening season of the GCL in Dubai.

“I enjoyed playing in the league as a teammate of Magnus Carlsen, and it is fun being a commentator, too,” Krush told The Hindu here on Monday. “I would say it’s been a 10 out of 10 experience for me. Because there is really nothing more you can ask for as a player and a commentator, and as a fan of chess. The games are exciting, decisive. And there is a lot of suspense.”

The American Grandmaster – one of the few women to get that ultimate title in chess – is glad to be in India again. Her first visit was in 1998, for the World junior championship in Kozhikode.

The 14-year-old went on to take the bronze medal in that tournament. And that was a remarkable achievement, as it was an under-20 event.

She was also there at the Chennai Chess Olympiad in 2022. So she has seen how chess has grown in India, not just in the strength of its players, but in its popularity.

“You can feel the energy of the chess fans here,” she said. “And we owe as chess players something to them, that was why I agreed to play that game [with the fans]. And he proved a good player. I barely won.”

Krush has no intention to be a commentator full-time, though. “I want to continue playing,” she said. “From here, I will be flying directly to Doha for the World rapid and blitz chess championship.”

(The writer is in Mumbai at the invitation of Tech Mahindra).