Dubai, 24th June 2023 – The Ganges Grandmasters maintained their dominant streak as they kicked off the third day of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League (GCL) with yet another impressive victory. They are the only team in the Global Chess League to have three victories out of all three matches.
SG Alpine Warriors - Triveni Continental Kings (8:7)
The first match of the day was a duel between two teams in the middle of the scoreboard, looking to make a push to the top. Following the first two rounds, both had three Match Points each and 15 Game Points.
The coin toss decided that Triveni Continental Kings would play as white. The team achieved the initiative from early on.
The most anticipated encounter took place on board one with a faceoff between two icon players, world heavyweight Levon Aronian (as White) and the highest-rated chess player, Magnus Carlsen. Both sides put up a fierce fight, and Carlsen ended up defending an uncomfortable position with a minute on his clock against Aronian’s eighth. Aronian pushed hard, but Magnus, the best endgame player in the world, was confident and held his opponent to a draw.
As two other games ended in a draw, the score was 3:3. The first break came when GM Yu defeated Gukesh with white, scoring important three game points for the Kings. The tables turned on the Kings when Indian Praggnanandhaa beat Jonas Bjerre, scoring four game points and erasing the advantage created by Yu. Everything was hanging on the game between Irina Krush (SG Alpine Warriors) and Kateryna Lagno (Continental Kings). Despite Krush’s creating a dominating position, both sides were in serious time trouble. The fact that Lagno is a three-time World Champion in Blitz came in handy as she managed to keep her nerve and get a draw.
The final score of the match was 7:8 in Game Points for SG Alpine Warriors, giving them another critical three match points.
In the post-game interview, Carlsen noted that “wins with Black are so valuable” (as they bring four instead of three points which White gets for victory), which makes the whole thing more exciting. “People are still trying to find the optimal strategy here and we’re seeing some interesting decisions that you don’t see in team chess”.
Ganges Grandmasters Vs Balan Alaskan Knights (11:6)
It was an encounter between the two leaders on the scoreboard. The match began with an intriguing prelude as Henrik Carlsen, the father of Magnus Carlsen, conducted the coin toss to determine the colours. The flip favoured the Ganges Grandmasters, and they picked to play with White. Right from the outset, it was clear that the Ganges Grandmasters were not ready to relinquish their hold on the tournament.
Board one witnessed a swift draw between Viswanathan Anand and Ian Nepomniachtchi, where the leader of the Balan Alaskan Knights made 30 moves without even spending a minute! Simultaneously, things were firing up on board six between two prodigies: GG’s Andrey Esipenko took the initiative early on against Raunak Sadhwani and went on winning. Soon, team Balan Alaskan Knights found themselves in trouble as they were losing on more boards.
The only ray of hope for them was in the Chinese matchup on board four. In a game between two former women’s World Champions, Ganges Grandmasters’ Hou Yifan was losing badly to Tan Zhongyi playing as Black, making an important comeback for the Knights. However, at the same time, Ganges’ Leinier Dominguez Perez and Richard Rapport had a significant advantage in their games. While Perez converted his into a victory, Rapport blundered in time trouble, allowing his opponent Abdusattorov to escape with a draw.
Despite an impressive rook sacrifice, Balan Alaskan Knights’ Bella Khotenashvili lost to her Georgian compatriot Nino Batsiashvili which was very disappointing. With a commanding score of 11 game points to 6, the Ganges Grandmasters secured yet another triumphant victory, solidifying their position at the top of the leaderboard and earning three valuable match points.
After three days of play at the inaugural Tech Mahindra Global Chess League, the team of Ganges Grandmasters is at the top, having won all three matches they played.
With 9 match points out of three matches, Ganges Grandmasters have a significant lead. They are chased by Triveni Continental Kings, who are on six match points and have the same number of game points as GG (32) but have played four matches. SG Alpine Warriors are also on six match points but have 23 game points.
upGrad Mumba Masters have four match points, and Balan Alaskan Knights have three, but they are the second team in the Global Chess League to have played four matches.
Chingari Gulf Titans have a tough challenge ahead. They are at the bottom of the board, with just one match point, having failed to win any of the matches.
Here follows a detailed look at the final two matches of the third day of the Global Chess League.
upGrad Mumba Masters vs Chingari Gulf Titans (6:6)
Chingari Gulf Titans entered this match as the only team without a victory in the Global Chess League after the first two days. Commencing with black pieces, they had a difficult task to tackle.
While the teams exhibited equal strength on the top three boards at the outset of the round, the momentum on the bottom three boards was shifting towards upGrad Mumba Masters: India’s top woman player Humpy Koneru managed to take the initiative against the former World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk following a slip. India’s second top-rated woman player Harika Dronavalli was pressuring Polina Shuvalova, and Javokhir Sindarov got an edge against Nihal Sarin.
As the games on the top boards ended in a draw drama unfolded on the last board, where Sindarov made a grave mistake and found himself in a lost position. However, Nihal Sarin made a blunder in a completely winning position and allowed Sindarov to make a lucky escape with a draw.
Following a draw on board five between Shuvalova and Dronavalli, the outcome of the match for both sides was hanging on the game between Humpy Koneru and Alexandra Kosteniuk, which turned out to be a long struggle.
Koneru dropped the advantage she had and allowed Kosteniuk to gain a strong hold on her position and equalise. The two transitioned into an endgame where White had a rook and Black had just a bishop. Despite the rook being a stronger piece, with precise play, the side with the bishop could hold a draw. Still, Koneru didn’t want to give up and forced Kosteniuk to defend a holdable but inferior position. She knew that a victory would secure her team another important three points. After a few more unsuccessful attempts by Koneru to break black, the game ended in a draw following 117 moves.
“Playing 117 moves is long, but the message is that you should keep on fighting until the end. I was also aware that all other games ended in a draw, so I wanted to help my team get an edge”, said Humpy Konery after her epic game.
This is the first match of the Global Chess League where all games ended in draws and the result was 6:6. As per the rules of the Global Chess League, both teams were awarded one match point each. A first for Chingari Gulf Titans.
Balan Alaskan Knights vs Triveni Continental Kings (8:10)
This was the last match of the day. In a surprise twist, after winning the coin toss, the team of Triveni Continental Kings decided to play with Black. They were obviously banking on a belief that they stand a better chance of winning the match if they score on one black board (and get four points) and hold on to the others.
It was a pretty tough match at the beginning as for a long time neither side had the edge. Balan Alaskan Knights’ Wei Yi was the first one to make some progress but quickly dropped his advantage and allowed Teimour Radjabov to get back into the game. On board four Kings’ Kateryna Lagno got into trouble against Tan Zhongyi early on from the opening. However, in the course of the game, Tan could not find the right way forward and after exchanging many pieces a draw was agreed. A missed opportunity for the Knights.
The game on board one between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Levon Aronian was the second to finish, ending in a draw. In a largely peaceful encounter, neither side gave the other more chances.
The four remaining boards were all heading towards a decisive outcome: Wei Yi managed to regain his advantage and score an important victory against Teimour Radjabov, bringing his team first four points. Then, immediately after, Jonas Buhl Bjere notched up his first victory in the tournament, defeating Indian GM Raunak Sadhwani and getting another four points for the Kings, thus securing their victory in the match!
Even if they lost the remaining two games, the match was in the bag for the Knights. And exactly that happened: Yu Yangyi lost to Abdusattorov while Nana Dzagnidze was defeated by Georgian compatriot Nino Batsiashvili.
The Triveni Continental Knights won the match in the end, with 10:8. A huge boost for the team as this is their first victory following four matches.
Day round-up - 24 June 2023
Match 7
Triveni Continental Kings 7 – 8 SG Alpine Warriors
Queen of the match – Irina Krush
King of the match – Praggnanandhaa R
Match 8
Ganges Grandmasters 11 – 6 Balan Alaskan Knights
Queen of the match – Tan Zhongyi
King of the match – Leinier Domínguez Pérez
Match 9
upGrad Mumba Masters 6-6 Chingari Gulf Titans
Queen of the match – Alexandra Kosteniuk
King of the match – Javokhir Sindarov
Match 10
Balan Alaskan Knights 8-10 Triveni Continental Kings
Queen of the match – Nino Batsiashvili
King of the match – Jonas Buhl Bjerre
Text: Milan Dinic
Photos: Global Chess League
For more match pictures, please click here
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About Tech Mahindra Global Chess League:
The Global Chess League is the world's first and largest official franchise league of its kind, with chess players from all over the world competing in a unique joint team format. It is a joint venture between Tech Mahindra, a part of the Mahindra Group, and FIDE. The league will feature male and female chess champions competing in the same team. Playing on the popular Rapid format, the league's joint male-female teams will have the rare distinction of being a unique multiplayer team in the world of professional sports. In addition, the League will be the first ever Live televised chess event of its kind that will help offer fans a unique viewing experience. Tech Mahindra and FIDE will explore innovative ways to promote the game through interactive technology-enabled platforms by leveraging next-generation technologies such as 5G, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality, among others.
For more information on Tech Mahindra Global Chess League, please visit: globalchessleague.com/
Contact:
Abhilasha Gupta, Global Corporate Communications and Public Affairs
Email: Abhilasha.Gupta@TechMahindra.com; media.relations@techmahindra.com
