The Four Nations Chess League (4NCL) published team rosters for the 2026–27 season on its official website. The previously all-female team ‘She Plays to Win Lionesses’ added Grandmasters Anish Giri and Joseph Girel to its roster.

Giri and Girel are the only GMs on the team. The gap between Joseph Girel (2508) and the third-highest rated player, Eline Roebers (2401), is 107 points. The rating difference between World’s No. 11 Anish Giri (2752) and Girel is 244 points.

‘She Plays to Win Lionesses’ became the first all-female chess team to earn promotion to Division One of the 4NCL. The team was forced to recruit a male player to the roster in late July. One of the 4NCL rules requires each Division One team to have at least one player of each gender.

The team ‘She Plays to Win Lionesses’ is an elite team from the UK founded by IM Lorin D’Costa in 2020. The team was organized as part of the non-profit charitable organization ‘She Plays to Win’. The team features Eline Roebers, Bodhana Sivanandan, Alisha Vyas, and others.

The Four Nations Chess League is the premier national multi-division team tournament of Britain and Ireland. The first event of the season will take place from October 10 to 11 at the Copthorne Hotel Merry Hill-Dudley in the United Kingdom.

Credit: Michal Walusza / FIDE