From regular reader (and commenter) Thomas:
The deadline to submit team compositions has just passed, these are the most spectacular newcomers (all info only available in German for the time being [DM: source here]):
- Aronian will play for (what used to be) a rather modest club from Berlin that narrowly escaped degradation last season. SF Berlin ("Schachfreunde" = Chess friends) were actually praised for relying mostly on German players (which explains the difficulties they had). Though Aronian, who lives in Berlin, is hardly a typical mercenary. Even funnier: he will play second board because his student Hrant Melkumyan (Elo 2600) also joins the club and wants to play first board.
- The €€€ star team from Baden-Baden hired another (ex-)world champion: Kasimdzhanov who will probably play on the lower boards.
- Another "rusty" world champion, Anatoly Karpov, will play for Hockenheim that just promoted to first division "as his international commitments permit". Years ago he gave his name to a chess academy there and actually shows up there every now and then.
- Finally, Bremen hired not just Romain Edouard, but also Ivan Salgado Lopez and Jon Ludvig Hammer.