Global Chess League: Knights take the early lead; Pipers and Gambits also register wins
The duel between Arjun and Praggnanandhaa ended in a draw.
| Photo Credit: Global Chess League
One of the most anticipated games of the second edition of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League happened on the first day.
Two of the young stars in India’s triumph at the Chess Olympiad took on each other at Friends House here on Thursday.
Arjun Erigaisi, representing Ganges Grandmasters, and R. Praggnananandhaa, playing for Alpine SG Pipers, drew their game. The match was won by Pipers, 11-6.
In other matches, American Gambits defeated Upgrad Mumba Masters 11-6 and PBG Alaskan Knights turned the tables on defending champion Triveni Continental Kings 15-3.
The wins by Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Shakhriyar Mamyedarov and Nihal Sarin helped Knights leap ahead of Pipers and Masters in the table. Pipers’ victory was ensured by Richard Rapport and former women’s World champion Hou Yifan, as the other games were drawn.
Among those draws was the one between five-time World champions Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand.
Hou defeated Praggnananndhaa’s elder sister R. Vaishali, while Rapport overcame Parham Maghsoodloo.
Those wins with black pieces fetched their team four points each (there are only three points for wins with white).
The focus in the match between American Gambits and Upgrad Mumba Masters was on the game between Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Hikaru Nakamura, two of the world’s top players. It was a well-fought game, and it was a draw.
“My game was maybe a little shaky at times, but everybody else seemed to play well, so I am actually pretty optimistic,” said Nakamura, the biggest addition to the league this season.
American Gambits pocketed the match thanks to the wins posed by Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Bibisara Assaubayeva and Jonas Buhl Bjerre.
The results:
Upgrad Mumba Masters lost to American Gambits 6-11 (Maxime Vachier-Lagrave drew with Hikaru Nakamura; Vidit Gujrathi lost to Jan-Krzysztof Duda; Peter Svidler drew with Yu Yangyi; Koneru Humpy lost to Bibisara Assaubayeva; D. Harika bt Elisabeth Paehtz; Raunak Sadhwani lost to Jonas Buhl Bjerre).
Ganges Grandmasters lost to Alpine SG Pipers 6-11 (Viswanathan Anand drew with Magnus Carlsen; Arjun Erigaisi drew with R. Praggnanandhaa; Parham Maghsoodloo lost to Richard Rapport; R. Vaishali lost to Hou Yifan; Nurgyul Salimova bt Kateryna Lagno; Volodar Murzin drew with Daniel Dardha).
PBG Alaskan Knights bt Triveni Continental Kings 15-3 (Anish Giri drew with Firouzja Alireza; Nodirbek Abdusattorov bt Wei Yi; Shakhriyar Mamyedarov bt Teimour Radjabov; Tan Zhongyi drew with Alexandra Kosteniuk; Alina Kashlinskaya drew with Valentina Gunina; Nihal Sarin bt Javokhir Sindarov).
(The correspondent is in London at the invitation of Tech Mahindra) .
Published – October 04, 2024 12:48 pm IST
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