It was another flat day for the Indian players in the fifth round of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League (GCL). None of the nine in the fray secured a win. Among the biggest names to succumb was Viswanathan Anand. A former five-time world champion, he lost against Hikaru Nakamura of the USA, the World No. 9 in rapid ratings. Anand is not in the top 100 at the moment in this format.
PBG Alaskan Knights maintained their position atop the table, having logged 15 points. Triveni Continental Kings and Alpine SG Pipers were on nine points each. Anand’s team, Ganges Grandmasters, were at the bottom of table of six teams, with three points. Nakamura’s American Gambits were in the middle with six points. The top two sides after this double-leg round-robin league will clash in the final.
Mumba Masters is the side with maximum Indian representation. They lost to Triveni Continental Kings 12-3. Vidit Gujrathi and D Harika suffered defeats. On the second board, Gujrathi lost to China’s Yi Wei. Harika went down against Valentina Gunina of Russia.
Koneru Humpy and Raunak Sadhwani drew their games. Alireza Firouzja’s win against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave on the top board turned out to be decisive for Triveni Continental Kings in this round. Mumba are fifth with three points.
PBG Alaskan Knights scored a 9-7 win against Alpine SG Pipers. World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen defeated Anish Giri to hand Alpine SG Pipers an advantage. After that, they lost that edge, as R Praggnanandhaa lost against Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan.
Tan Zhongyi of China gave the PBG Alaskan Knights a massive boost. She defeated compatriot and World No. 1 Hou Yifan. Indian youngster Nihal Sarin played out an important draw on the sixth board against Daniel Dardha of Belgium. It was a vital game, which helped PBG Alaskan Knights stay on top.
The American Gambits-Ganges Grandmasters clash saw another disappointing turn of events from the Indian point of view. Co-owned by cricket star R Ashwin, American Gambits prevailed 10-4. Anand lost to Nakamura. On current strength, the player with Japanese roots representing the USA is decisively stronger than the Indian veteran.
And ratings did tell a story in this round of this unique chess league. Arjun Erigaisi of Ganges Grandmasters played out yet another draw, this time against Jan-Krzysztov Duda. R Vaishali was also held to a draw, by Bibisara Assaubayeva. Both Duda and Assaubayeva are above Erigaisi and Vaishali in the Fide rapid ratings.
Standings
PBG Alaskan Knights 15
Triveni Continental Kings 9
Alpine SG Pipers 9
American Gambits 6
Mumba Masters 3
Ganges Grandmasters 3