Mumba Masters beat Ganges Grandmasters to go top in GCL standings

Fabiano Caruana ended Alireza Firouzja’s winning run to help Alpine SG Pipers beat Triveni Continental Kings in the Global Chess League. Mumba Masters climbed to the top with victory over Ganges Grandmasters, while Alaskan Knights continued their revival with another win

Hyderabad: Fabiano Caruana ended Alireza Firouzja’s winning run on the icon board in a last-second scramble to help Alpine SG Pipers upset table toppers Triveni Continental Kings 12-8, while PBG Alaskan Knights continued their revival with a 9-7 victory over Fyers American Gambits on matchday 6 of the Global Chess League (GCL), a joint initiative of Tech Mahindra and FIDE, on Friday.

In the match between Mumba Masters and Ganges Grandmasters, GM Wesley So, Player of the Match Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Koneru Humpy won their respective games. On the icon board, Viswanathan Anand managed to build pressure on Maxime Vachier-Lagrave but could not convert with the black pieces.

---

upGrad Mumba Masters then defeated Ganges Grandmasters 11-6 to leapfrog Triveni Continental Kings to the top spot on better game score. The Kings, however, will have a chance to regain that position before the end of the day when they take on Alaskan Knights in the last match.

Playing white in the reverse fixture, Anish Giri’s clinical victory over Wei Yi gave the Pipers an early advantage, and Nino Batsiashvili registered her fifth win in six matches by beating Alexandra Kosteniuk to put them in the driver’s seat. But the defending champions wriggled out of a difficult situation when Zhu Jiner defeated Hou Yifan on the other women’s board and Marc’Andria Maurizzi ended Leon Luke Mendonca’s three-match winning run, changing the lead.

An error from Vidit Gujarathi allowed R Praggnanandhaa to push for victory on Board 3 before Caruana gave the finishing touches in a marathon 77-move game that could have gone either way.

The American had managed to advance his ‘a-file’ pawn for a queen by move 60 but needed to find the right moves under tremendous time pressure.

Caruana, who was also named Player of the Match, was elated in the post-match presentation and said, “Alireza is in very good form. I think I could have lost or it could have been a draw. But at the end there was a time scramble and I had one second on the clock. I am happy that I won.”

Earlier, Arjun Erigaisi registered his second straight win and Sara Khadem turned the tables on Teodora Injac to help Alaskan Knights win their second consecutive match in the competition.