Chess Editorial Global Chess League

PBG Alaskan Knights vs Triveni Continental Kings in GCL final, Nihal Sarin lone Indian in title clash

October 12, 2024
<a href="https://revsportz.in/author/atreyo/" rel="author" class="url fn n" itemprop="url"><img alt='' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/7ce8ab31a51921461ae841c7a6797d86?s=32&d=mm&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/7ce8ab31a51921461ae841c7a6797d86?s=64&d=mm&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-32 photo' height='32' width='32' decoding='async'/> <span class="" itemprop="name">Atreyo Mukhopadhyay</span></a>
Nihal Sarin (Image: GCL)

Triveni Continental Kings snatched a thriller of a win against Alpine SG Pipers to seal the second spot in the final of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League (GCL). In the second edition of this unique, franchise-based league in the game of 64 squares, PBG Alaskan Knights had already ensured passage to the summit clash by the ninth and penultimate round.

Nihal Sarin of the Knights is the lone Indian to be featuring in the final. This is a bit of a low for the country that claimed an emphatic double-gold feat at the recent Chess Olympiad. There were nine of them in the fray spread across the six teams. Viswanathan Anand’s side, Ganges Grandmasters, finished at the bottom. Mumba Masters with four Indians were fifth. The Pipers with R Praggnanandhaa in their ranks lost a humdinger against the Kings.

In the 10th round, the match between Triveni Continental Kings and Alpine SG Pipers was a virtual shootout for the remaining place in the final of the event held in London. In a cracker of a contest, the Kings prevailed 9-7. They finished level on 18 points with the Pipers and advanced on the basis of their superior tiebreak score of 99-88. The Knights finished with a tally of 24 points.

Among the several talking points from the last round of the double-leg, round-robin competition was the ouster of the Pipers. Magnus Carlsen gave them a resounding start by defeating Alireza Fioruzja 4-0 on the top board. Firouzja, of Iranian origin representing France, has been one of the best players of the event. Carlsen’s win was a big boost for his team.

R Praggnanandhaa, Richard Rapport and Hou Yifan drew their games to retain the advantage handed to the Pipers by Carlsen. The match turned on its head on the last two boards. Valentina Gunina and Javokhir Sindarov posted 3-0 wins to give the Kings a memorable win. The closeness of this duel was an indicator of how keenly contested this competition is.

Having already made the final before the 10th round, PBG Alaskan Knights came up with a comprehensive display against American Gambits, who were out of contention. It was a narrow affair still, until the fourth game, with the Knights leading 6-5. Alina Kashlinskaya scored a 4-0 win to seal this tie. Sarin won by the same margin on Board 6.

Standings after Round 10

(top two in final)

PBG Alaskan Knights 24

Triveni Continental Kings 18

Alpine SG Pipers 18

American Gambits 12

Mumba Masters 9

Ganges Grandmasters 9