Global Chess League 2024: Carlsen’s win in vain as PBG Alaska Knights edges past Alpine SG Pipers

Alaska Knights rose to the occasion yet again to beat Alpine SG Pipers after Carlsen’s win against Giri and Nihal Sarin’s draw in the Global Chess League.

Anish Giri, Nodirbek Abdusattarov and Magnus Carlsen ahead of the match between PBG Alaskan Knights and Alpine SG Pipers. | Photo Credit: GLOBAL CHESS LEAGUE

“Magnus, Magnus,” they shouted. “Giri, Giri,” shouted the rest.

It wasn’t the most usual of sights you would see ahead of a game of chess. Normally, it would be pin-drop silence. But, the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League is not the usual chess tournament.

The crowd at Friends Hall here was excited as Magnus Carlsen and Anish Giri, two of the most popular stars in international chess, came up to take their seats for their Icon board clash in a match between Alpine SG Pipers and PBG Alaska Knights. There was an antic-climax to the game though, as Giri blundered a piece, and Carlsen won in just 22 moves.

Giri’s teammates, however, rose to the occasion yet again. Nodirbek Abdusattorov defeated R. Praggnanandhaa, while Tan Zhongyi beat Hou Yifan in a game between two former World champions from China.

READ | Global Chess League 2024: PGB Alaskan Knight makes it four wins in four

The game between Nihal Sarin and Daniel Dardha produced drama and some controversy, too. Nihal was winning, but he had much less time. He claimed a draw, which was allowed.

That meant Alaska Knights won 9-7, its fifth victory in as many matches. SG Pipers lodged an appeal. The decision hadn’t been taken at the time of filing this report.

The Knights thus retained its sole lead at the halfway mark of the league. It has 15 match points, six more than Triveni Continental Kings, which scored a commanding 12-3 win against Upgrad Mumba Masters.

Leading from the front on the Icon board was Firouzja Alireza once again. He beat Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.

There were also wins for Wei Yi and Alexandra Kosteniuk, over Vidit Gujrathi and D. Harika, respectively.

The results:

American Gambits bt Ganges Grandmasters 10-4 (Hikaru Nakamura bt Viswanathan Anand; Jan-Krzysztof Duda drew with Arjun Erigaisi; Yu Yangyi drew with Parham Maghsoodloo; Bibisara Assaubayeva drew with R. Vaishali; Elisabeth Paehtz bt Nurgyul Salimova; Jonas Buhl Bjerr drew with Volodar Murzin).

Alpine SG Pipers lost to PBG Alaska Knights 7-9 (Magnus Carlsen bt Anish Giri; R. Praggnanandhaa lost to Nodirbek Abdusattorov; Richard Rapport drew with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov; Hou Yifan lost to Tan Zhongyi; Kateryna Lagno drew with Alina Kashlinskaya; Daniel Dardha drew with Nihal Sarin).

Triveni Continental Kings bt Upgrad Mumba Masters 12-3 (Firouzja Alireza bt Maxime Vachier-Lagrave; Wei Yi bt Vidit Gujrathi; Teimour Radjabov drew with Peter Svidler; Alexandra Kosteniuk drew with Koneru Humpy; Valentina Gunina bt D. Harika; Javokhir Sindarov drew with Raunak Sadhwani).

Alpine SG Pipers bt American Gambits 9-7 (Carlsen drew with Nakamura; Pragganandhaa drew with Duda; Rapport drew with Yu; Hou bt Assaubayeva; Lagno lost to Paehtz; Dardha bt Bjerre).

(The correspondent is in London at the invitation of Tech Mahindra)