Global Chess League: Mumba Masters defeats leader Alaskan Knights as Vachier-Lagrave beats Anish Giri

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave’s team won 10-9, to open up the tournament further. The Alaskan Knights is still on top of the table, though, with 18 points, from eight matches.

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Koneru Humpy celebrate Mumba Masters’ upset win against PBG Alaskan Knights. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

PBG Alaskan Knights has been undoubtedly the team of Season 2 of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League. Anish Giri’s men had been in great form going into Wednesday’s opening match at Friends House here, with just one defeat in seven games.

Upgrad Mumba Masters made it two defeats for them. 

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave’s team won 10-9, to open up the tournament further. The Alaskan Knights is still on top of the table, though, with 18 points, from eight matches.

Vachier-Lagrave led from the front for Mumba Masters, winning his Icon board game against Anish Giri. The Frenchman romped home on account of his passed pawns on the king-side.

Though the defeats to Nodirbek Abdusattarov and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, at the hands of Vidit Gujrathi and Peter Svidler respectively, were setbacks for Mumba Masters, the wins by Koneru Humpy, against Tan Zhongyi, and Raunak Sadhwani, over Nihal Sarin, ensured a much-needed match-victory.

It was the first loss in the tournament for Nihal. “It feels great and I am glad I could help the team,” said Sadhwani after what turned out to be a decisive win for Mumba. “We had nothing to lose and wanted to play a good match. It worked.”

The win helped Mumba Masters to take its tally to nine points from eight matches. Defending champion Triveni Continental Kings is on 15 points, after beating Ganges Grandmasters 12-9.

On the Icon board, Alireza Firouzja resumed his normal service after his first defeat of the tournament on the previous day, as he overcame five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand. Though Arjun Erigaisi scored a win against Wei Yi – the young Indian must be relieved to finally register a victory after drawing all his seven games here – it proved another forgettable day for the bottom-placed Ganges Grandmasters. 

Teimour Radjabov and Alexandra Kosteniuk won against Parham Maghsoodloo and R. Vaishali respectively to help Continental Kings clinch the match.

The results:

PBG Alaskan Knights lost to Upgrad Mumba Masters 9-10 (Anish Giri lost to Maxime Vachier-Lagrave; Nodirbek Abdusattarov bt Vidit Gujrathi; Shakhriyar Mamedyarov bt Peter Svidler; Tan Zhongyi lost to Koneru Humpy; Alina Kashlinskaya drew with D. Harika; Nihal Sarin lost to Raunak Sadhwani).

Ganges Grandmasters lost to Triveni Continental Kings 9-12 (Viswanathan Anand lost to Alireza Firouzjja; Arjun Erigaisi bt Wei Yi; Parham Maghsoodloo lost to Teimour Radjabov; R. Vaishali lost to Alexandra Kosteniuk; Nurgyul Salimova bt Valentina Gunina; Volodar Murzin bt Javokhir Sindarov).

Alpine SG Pipers bt American Gambits 11-6 (Magnus Carlsen drew with Hikaru Nakamura; R. Praggnanandhaa bt Jan-Krzysztof Duda; Richard Rapport drew with Yu Yangyi; Hou Yifan drew with Bibisara Assaubayeva; Kateryna Lagno lost to Elisabeth Paehtz; Daniel Dardha bt Jonas Buhl Bjerre).

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