GCL: Triveni Kings upset Pipers, Ganges Grandmasters win a thriller

Triveni Continental Kings upset leaders Alpine APL Pipers 10-4, while Ganges Grandmasters defeated PBG Alaskan Knights 12-8 in a dramatic finish. CheQ Mumba Masters also won, tying with Pipers for the top spot at the halfway stage.

Two-time champions Triveni Continental Kings threw the race for the top two positions in the Global Chess League (GCL) wide open at the halfway stage as they upset table-toppers Alpine APL Pipers while Ganges Grandmasters registered the most dramatic victory of the competition in Bengaluru on Tuesday, according to a press release.

The Continental Kings, who were at the bottom of the standings with just one win from four matches, defeated the Pipers 10-4 while CheQ Mumba Masters continued their march with an 11-6 win over FYERS American Gambits.

Ganges Grandmasters Clinch Dramatic Victory

In the most dramatic match of the tournament so far, Ganges Grandmasters defeated PBG Alaskan Knights 12-8 with all six boards ending in a result. At the halfway stage, Alpine APL Pipers and CheQ Mumba Masters have nine match points and 47 game points each but the former stays on top of the leaderboard by virtue of winning the match between the two teams.

It was the opening match of the day between Ganges Grandmasters, who are now third in the standings with nine match points, and PBG Alaskan Knights that set the tone for a sensational day 4 at the GCL, which is a joint initiative of Tech Mahindra and FIDE.

While it was the first match in which all six boards had a result, it was the last-second drama on the prodigy board that ultimately became the biggest talking point of the match. Abhimanyu Mishra, who is making his GCL debut with the Alaskan Knights, was in a clearly winning position against Leon Luke Mendonca, with both players rushing against time.

At that stage, the match score read 9-8 in favour of the Ganges Grandmasters, playing white, but they were clearly staring down the barrel on the prodigy board. But with just a second left on the clock, Mishra did not legally complete the move while promoting his pawn to a queen, as the pieces were not in the right position when he hit the clock. Mendonca was quick to bring it to the notice of the arbiter and ended up winning the game on time, and Ganges Grandmasters clinched the match.

On the icon board, Ian Nepomniachtchi had defeated Viswanathan Anand in just 23 moves, and Polina Shuvalova registered her third win in four games by beating Kateryna Lagno, and Player of the Match Linier Dominguez Perez squeezed out a win over 15-year-old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, who cracked under time pressure. But it looked like those three wins would not really help the Ganges Grandmasters wrap up the match, as Arjun Erigaisi defeated Levon Aronian and Nino Batsiashvili got the better of Stavroula Tsolakidou to close the gap to one point, and Mishra was in a clearly winning position on the prodigy board. But his error while pushing the clock turned out to be his and his team’s undoing.

Players React to Last-Second Drama

Explaining the reasoning behind his choice following the match, Mendonca said, “He wanted to take my rook and make a queen. He pressed the clock, and he went from one second to three seconds. I was given one minute, but it had to be made in one second for him.”

“He was clearly winning, and I knew this was my only chance. I have had this discussion with a friend about how much time it takes to win a piece and convert it into a queen in a second. And I knew it was very difficult,” Mendonca added. Mishra was understandably gutted. “It really hurts because if I had won, my team would have won the match,” he said, while explaining how things unfolded.

Triveni Kings Upset Table-Toppers

In the third match of the day, table toppers Alpine APL Pipers had the opportunity to open up a considerable lead over their rivals as they faced the Continental Kings, who didn’t have the best of starts to the competition. However, Aravindh Chithambaram defeated Vidit Gujrathi in 56 moves, while Pranav V forced Volodar Murzin to resign after 63 moves to secure the win for their team.

CheQ Mumba Masters Keep Pace

Earlier, CheQ Mumba Masters kept pace with Pipers on the leaderboard as Shakhriyar Mamedyarov defeated Daniil Dubov in 42 moves while Carissa Yip got the better of Sara Khadem to make it two wins for her team. M Pranesh had a chance to extend that lead further as he was in the driver's seat against Nihal Sarin, but the youngster failed to see a possible checkmate while going for an attack and ended up losing the game in 55 moves. (ANI)

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