Global Chess League, Day 6: Underdogs shake up leaderboard
It was a day of upsets at the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League, as the favorites stumbled in two matches, with Magnus Carlsen and Alireza Firouzja suffering shocking defeats. The team of PBG Alaskan Knights extended their dominant run with a commanding victory over the Ganges Grandmasters. With six victories in seven matches, PBG Alaskan Knights are comfortably at the top, with 18 match points – six more than Triveni and Alpine Sg Pipers, who are trying to catch up. With three more matches remaining before the knockout stage, PBG need to score just one victory to secure a place in the finals. Despite this, PBG’s top board, Anish Giri, was cautious about his team’s position: “It’s not done yet; we still need to get to the final and win. But so far, it’s going well, and I’m happy with everything, that’s for sure”. In a stunning upset earlier in the day, the upGrad Mumba Masters defeated the favored Alpine Sg Pipers. On board one, Magnus Carlsen was left reeling after a blunder in a combination that allowed Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to claim victory. Visibly upset, Carlsen stormed out of the venue. The Mumba Masters capitalized on this momentum, securing a dominant 14-5 win and delivering a major blow to the Pipers’ chances of closing in on the league’s leaders. In the second match of the day, the season one winners, Triveni Continental Kings, were defeated by American Gambits 14-5. The match saw Alireza Firouzja lose the first game in the tournament – blundering in an even rook endgame against none other than world number two, Hikaru Nakamura. The day closed with PBG Alaskan Knights confidently beating Ganges Grandmasters 15-4. Playing as Black, the Alaskan Knights started with a defeat but then quickly took control of the match, winning on three boards. With just three rounds left, PBG are almost unstoppable: they are six match points ahead of everyone else and need just one victory to reach the finals. Despite today’s setback, Triveni remains in second place with 12 match points and 70 game points (nine less than PBG). No change for Alpine Sg Pipers despite them also suffering a defeat: they are in third place, with 12 match points and 57 game points. Here follows a closer look at the matches on the sixth day of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League: Alpine Sg Pipers vs upGrad Mumba Masters: Magnus Carlsen and team stunned In season one, both teams were in contention for the top places. In season one, both teams were strong contenders for the top spots. While the Pipers have maintained their high-level performance in season two, the Mumba Masters have struggled. Mumba lost five matches—including a heavy 4-12 defeat to the Pipers earlier in the event—which has left them at the bottom of the standings. Alpine Sg Pipers had the initiative of the first move. The match started calmly, with a relatively quick draw on one of the women’s boards between Hou Yifan and Humpy Koneru. However, the tide soon turned dramatically against the Pipers. Magnus Carlsen made a critical blunder on the icon board, losing to Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Upset by his loss, Carlsen stormed out of the playing area, visibly shaken. In response, Pipers’ Praggnanandhaa launched a fierce attack against Vidit’s Black king, securing a win and keeping the Pipers in the match. On the second superstar board, Peter Svidler – who up to this point had recorded two losses and four draws – claimed his first victory of the tournament, defeating Richard Rapport with the black pieces. Things went downhill for the Sg Pipers from there: Kateryna Lagno narrowly avoided defeat as Harika Dronavalli ran out of time, resulting in a draw. To cap it off, Daniel Dardha fell to Raunak Sadhwani in a tense rook endgame. The final score was 14-5 in favor of upGrad Mumba Masters. Not only was this a remarkable comeback for Mumba, but it also prevented the Pipers from closing the gap with the top two teams, keeping the league standings wide open. Triveni Continental Kings vs American Gambits: Triveni upset as Firouzja suffers first loss In the second match of the day, Triveni Continental Kings played the American Gambits. In their first encounter, Triveni – who played as Black – crushed the American Gambits 15 – 3. However, this rematch was much more intense, with all the games going down to the wire, leading to some of the most surprising twists and turns in the tournament so far. The first shock came when Triveni’s Valentina Gunina blundered a rook in a winning position against Elisabeth Paehtz, handing the American Gambits an early lead. Then, on the icon board, Triveni’s Alireza Firouzja lost an even rook endgame to Hikaru Nakamura, completely misplaying it despite not being in time trouble. After the game, Nakamura quickly left the arena, while Firouzja—suffering his first defeat in the league—remained at the board, visibly stunned, as he put the pieces back in starting position. The setbacks continued for Triveni: on the superstar board, Wei Yi failed to capitalize on a better position against Jan-Krzysztof Duda, and both Teimour Radjabov and Yu Yangyi drew their games. The decisive blow came from Bibisara Assaubayeva, who turned a losing position around to defeat former World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk. The only bright spot for Triveni was Javokhir Sindarov, who notched up a win over Jonas Bjerre on the prodigy board. The final score was 14-5 in favor of the American Gambits. PBG Alaskan Knights vs Ganges Grandmasters: PBG continue strong In the final match of the day, tournament leaders PBG Alaskan Knights played the Ganges Grandmasters, who have been struggling at the bottom of the standings. Ganges, playing as White, took an early lead thanks to Parham Maghsoodloo, who bested Shakhriyar Mamedyarov on the second superstar board. However, PBG’s Anish Giri quickly leveled the score, defeating Vishy Anand with the Black pieces after Anand made a costly mistake, entering a lost endgame. Despite initially achieving a promising position,
Global Chess League, Day 5: PBG still on top despite first defeat
PBG Alaskan Knights suffered their first defeat of the league, losing to the third-placed Alpine Sg Pipers. Meanwhile, last year’s winners, Triveni Continental Kings, climbed to second place, tying with PBG in game points. Ganges Grandmasters also made strides up the table, while the American Gambits and upGrad Mumba Masters find themselves at the bottom of the standings. The three matches played today at London’s Friends House marked the beginning of the second half of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League, with teams now facing each other in return matches. Defending champions, Triveni secured a 10-8 win over upgrade Mumba Masters in the opening match of the day. Triveni’s star player, Alireza Firouzja, continued his stellar performance, clinching his fifth consecutive victory in the league. Despite having one fewer match win than PBG, Triveni now have an equal number of game points. Meanwhile, upGrad Mumba Masters have fallen to the bottom of the standings, being the only team with just one match win. League leaders PBG Alaskan Knights faced their first setback in the league, after a narrow 9-7 loss to Alpine Sg Pipers. Led by Magnus Carlsen on the icon board, the Pipers secured victory thanks to excellent performances by their two women players, Kateryna Lagno and Hou Yifan, who both won their games. In the final match of the day, Ganges Grandmasters cruised to a 10-4 win over the American Gambits. Key victories by Nurgyul Salimova and Volodar Murzin sealed the win. This victory pushed Ganges up to fourth place, while the Gambits dropped to fifth. Here follows a closer look at the matches on day five of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League: Triveni Kings vs Mumba Masters: A dramatic rematch as Firouzja stays undefeated The Triveni Continental Kings and upGrad Mumba Masters opened the second half of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League on day five of the event. Triveni, the reigning champions from season one, entered the match with three wins out of five, starting the day in second place. Meanwhile, the Mumba Masters—season one’s top contenders—were in a tough spot, managing only one win and four losses, leaving them just one position above last place. This second phase of the tournament marks the beginning of the rematch stage, as all teams have already faced each other once. In their first encounter, Triveni—playing with the White pieces—defeated Mumba 12–3, with decisive victories by Alireza Firouzja, Wei Yi, and Valentina Gunina. However, this time, Mumba had the advantage of making the first move. Mumba’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was looking to avenge his yesterday’s loss to Firouzja. In a sharp, tactical game, Vachier-Lagrave made several blunders, allowing Firouzja to wrap it up with a crushing attacking combination. The game would have ended in checkmate had Vachier-Lagrave not resigned. It marked Firouzja’s fifth consecutive victory, leaving him undefeated after six rounds. Superstars Vidit Gujrathi and Wei Yi followed the same opening line as on the top board. Unlike the first game, however, Mumba came out on top after a critical mistake by Wei Yi late in the game. Alexandra Kosteniuk then extended Triveni’s lead by defeating Humpy Koneru, but Harika Dronavalli struck back against Gunina, keeping Mumba in contention. With Triveni leading 9–7, the outcome hinged on the youngsters’ board. Triveni’s Javokhir Sindarov had winning positions twice but misplayed both times, ending in desperate time trouble. Mumba’s Raunak Sadhwani wasn’t aware that his team needed a win – he could have played on but opted to repeat the moves, giving a draw to Triveni, which sealed their victory. The final score of the match was 10–8 for Triveni. “This is one of the best performances I’ve ever had, but there are still a few rounds left,” said Firouzja after the game, adding that his team was “a bit lucky to win the match.” Alpine Sg Pipers vs PBG Alaskan Knights: Revenge served as tournament leaders suffer first defeat The second match saw Magnus Carlsen’s Alpine Sg Pipers face league leaders PBG Alaskan Knights. Their previous encounter ended in a narrow victory for the Knights, 9-7. The Knights entered this rematch hoping to extend their unbeaten run, but the Sg Pipers were eager for revenge. Right from the outset, SG Pipers, playing with the White pieces, seemed to obtain more comfortable positions and were steadily pressing the tournament leaders. Carlsen sacrificed an exchange and got more than sufficient compensation, while Giri opted for a daring combination, giving up his queen but hoping to build a fortress. By this point, Giri had six minutes left on the clock, while Carlsen was down to just three. Carlsen ultimately got the upper hand but faltered under time pressure, and the game ended in a draw. The first decisive result of the match came from Alpine’s Kateryna Lagno, who scored her first victory in six games by defeating Alina Kashlinskaya. With the superstar boards ending in draws, this win was critical for the Sg Pipers. However, on board six, things weren’t going their way: Daniel Dardha was in serious trouble against PBG’s Nihal Sarin. Fortunately for the Pipers, Hou Yifan beat Tan Zhongyi, which ultimately swung the match in her team’s favor. Thanks to Pipers scoring two victories on the women’s boards, the final result mirrored their previous defeat to the Knights – 9-7 – but this time in their favor, making it a sweet revenge. Pipers moved one step closer to the top two teams in the league, while PBG Alaskan Knights got a sobering reminder that they are not the only ones in contention for first place. Ganges Grandmasters vs American Gambits: Vishy Anand’s team finally pulls through The Ganges Grandmasters entered this match at the bottom of the league standings. They had just one victory and four losses, totaling only 28 game points. The team led by Vishy Anand needed a win to avoid falling further behind in the competition. Meanwhile, the American Gambits were also under pressure, needing a win to catch up with the top three teams. In
2024 FIDE General Assembly: List of Decisions
FIDE publishes the decisions of FIDE General Assembly held on September 21-22, 2024. FIDE General Assembly 2024 decisions (PDF)
2024 3rd FIDE Council meeting: List of Decisions
FIDE publishes the decisions of 3rd FIDE Council Meeting, held on September 18, 2024. 2024 3rd FIDE Council meeting decisions (PDF)
2024 2nd FIDE Council meeting: List of Decisions
FIDE publishes the decisions of FIDE Council meeting held on July 21 and 29, 2024. FIDE Council meeting July 21 and 29, 2024, decisions
2024 1st FIDE Council meeting: List of Decisions
FIDE publishes the decisions of FIDE Council meeting held on April 13, 2024. FIDE Council meeting April 13, 2024, decisions (PDF)