Global Chess League: An open race for top as Triveni Continental Kings join leaders on day-9

Dubai [UAE], July 1 : Day nine of the Global Chess League started with the favourites suffering surprising defeats. The team of Chingari Gulf Titans stunned Mumba Masters with 12:3, while SG Alpine Warriors were upstaged by Triveni Continental Kings. For the second time in this event, world no. 1 Magnus Carlsen lost to Levon Aronian, following a huge blunder.
The famous Indian tennis player, Mahesh Bhupathi, a long-time friend of Viswanathan Anand, visited the event and made a ceremonial first move in the match between SG Alpine Warriors and Triveni Continental Kings.
Triveni Continental Kings joined the top two squads on 15 match points. In a day which saw the favourites and tournament leaders suffer stunning defeats, team Triveni Continental Kings which had a challenging start to the league and had to replace a player mig-tournament managed to rise to the top. The race for the cup of the first Tech Mahindra Global Chess League is now wide open and heading for an exciting end.
Chingari Gulf Titans vs Mumba Masters (12:3)
The Mumba Masters were the slight favourites. The team led by Maxime-Vachier Lagrave was always around the top but slipped in the final days. Chingari Gulf Titans were on the bottom of the board and struggling. Still, they had the advantage of white pieces.
The first good sign for Chingari occurred early on as Vidit Gujrathi made a blunder giving a dominant position to Dubov who soon converted this into a victory, after just 23 moves. Before that game ended, two heavyweights, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Alexander Grischuk, drew their game. By this point, the result was 4:1 for the Titans.
More bad news followed for team Mumba as Alexandra Kosteniuk and Polina Shuvalova defeated their opponents, bringing another six points to the Titans. With the score 10:1, the Tinas had the match in the bag as, even if Mumba scored a victory on the remaining two boards, that would not change the result. Despite best efforts by team Mumba, the remaining two games ended in draws.
With a result of 12:3, Chingari Gulf Titans have staged a huge upset, wrecking the hopes of upGrad Mumba Masters reaching the finals.
SG Alpine Warriors vs Triveni Continental Kings (8:10)
This was the second match to end in a huge upset as Triveni Continental Kings - who played with black pieces - defeated one of the top teams in the league, SG Alpine Warriors, knocking them off course to reach the finals.
In their second match of the league, Magnus Carlsen again lost to Levon Aronian! After opening with the unusual move 1.b3, Carlsen gained more special initiative but in a relatively stable position made a blunder leading directly into a defeat. He laughed it off but was clearly unhappy.
Warriors' Gukesh D managed to take the initiative against Yu Yangyi. The Chinese Grandmaster found himself in a lot of trouble trying to fend off checkmate. Despite avoiding mate, his position was lost and he resigned. Triveni Continental Kings quickly hit back with a victory on board three where Wei Yi outplayed Arjun Erigaisi in a queen and rook endgame.
In a duel between Praggnanandhaa R and Jonas Bjerre, the talented player from India managed to win what was a completely lost position. After misplaying in the middlegame, Praggnanandhaa defended the best he could and in a queen and rook endgame managed to take over the advantage and win. With seven wins and two draws, Praggnanandhaa is continuing his amazing performance in the league.
Elisabeth Paehtz and Sara Khadem made a relatively quick draw in 36 moves, as did Irina Krush and Kateryna Lagno.
Mumba Masters vs Ganges Grandmasters (10:4)
The Mumba Masters were looking for a comeback following a crushing defeat earlier in the day. They had to win the match with as many game points as possible, to rejoin in the race for the top. The tournament leaders, Ganges Grandmasters, had less pressure on them, especially after their immediate competitors, SG Alpine Warriors, lost in the previous match.
Javokhir Sindarov got the Mumba off to a good start, defeating Andrey Esipenko. Despite Sindarov allowing black to get into a better position, Esipenko undermined the threats from the two bishops pinning his king and in the end overlooked checkmate.
Although a pawn up, former world champion Viswanathan Anand knew that the position in his game is drawn and there was no need to push it against the likes of Maxime Vachier-Lagrave so the two decided to call it a day.
The match saw a huge upset on board four as former Women's World Champion Hou Yifan went for a combination which completely overlooked the threat of checkmate from Konery Humpy. Despite her best efforts to find a way out, and with seconds on her clock, Hou Yifan resigned handing another three huge points to upGrad Mumba Masters.
Vidit Gujrathi and Leinier Dominguez Perez drew after reaching an even rook endgame. The game between Harika Dronavalli and Bella Khotenashvili also ended in a draw where Black had more chances but white found a series of endless checks.
Alexander Grischuk was in trouble against Richard Rapport - in a complicated endgame, he was trying to prevent black from advancing his h-pawn towards promotion. Having played the greater part of the endgame in extreme time trouble is commendable for Grichuk, and he held on and drew.
Team Mumba Masters won the match with 10:4. An important respite for them after two defeats.
Triveni Continental Kings vs Balan Alaskan Knights (10:9)
Buoyed by their success earlier in the day in defeating SG Alpine Warriors, the team of Triveni Continental Kings had a huge opportunity in front of them. If they beat the Balan Alaskan Knights, they would have joined the leaders of the Global Chess League. With just three victories and five defeats, the team of Balan Alaskan Knights also needed to win.
Triveni Continental Kings started with a lucky break as Sara Khadem defeated Nino Bastiashvili, after she overlooked a piece in an even endgame. Yu Yangyi and Nodirbek Abdusattorov drew their game where both sides managed to hold an even position throughout.
The next game to finish was between Kateryna Lagno and Tan Zhongyi. In an even position, Lagno chose the wrong continuation, giving a huge initiative to Tan. Lagno gave up a rook for a bishop and a pawn, but her position was shattered and eventually lost.
The sharpest game of the match was played between Teimour Radjabov and Wei Yi. Radjabov was defending well in a complicated position. At one point, Wei forced too much and blundered, but in time trouble Radjaov misplayed. Towards the end, White promoted another queen and the game was lost for Black.
In his second win of the day, Levon Aronian defeated the two-time candidate for World Champion, Ian Nepomniachtchi. In an even endgame, Nepomniachtchi lost a pawn but was still in the game. However, in a critical moment, Nepomniachtchi made a huge blunder and ended up with a knight for a rook and was completely lost. With this victory, Triveni Continental Kings secured victory in the match.
Balan Alaskan Knights had the final victory of the match, as Jonas Bjerre suffered a loss to Raunak Sadhwani.
Results round-up - 30 June 2023
Match 23
Chingari Gulf Titans 12-3 Mumba Masters
Queen of the match - Polina Shuvalova
King of the match - Daniil Dubov
Match 24
SG Alpine Warriors 8-10 Triveni Continental Kings
Queen of the match - Elisabeth Pahtz
King of the match - Gukesh D
Match 25
Mumba masters 10-4 Ganges Grandmasters
Queen of the match - Koneru Humpy
King of the match - Javokhir Sindarov
Match 26
Triveni Continental Kings 10-9 Balan Alaskan Knights
Queen of the match - Tan Zhongyi
King of the match - Wei Yi.