The Global Chess League Season 4 witnessed thrilling matches as Ganges Grandmasters halted FYER American Gambits’ winning run and defending champions Alpine APL Pipers continued their dominant performance with key victories from top players.
Photograph: Kind Courtesy Global Chess League
Key Points
- Ganges Grandmasters ended FYER American Gambits’ winning streak with a 9-7 victory, securing second place in the standings.
- Defending champions Alpine APL Pipers achieved their second consecutive win, defeating Ganges Grandmasters 11-6.
- Notable individual performances included Polina Shuvalova’s third consecutive win and Ian Nepomniachtchi’s crucial victory for Ganges Grandmasters.
- Magnus Carlsen demonstrated his renowned endgame skills by securing a draw against Ian Nepomniachtchi.
- PBG Alaskan Knights also recorded their first win, comfortably beating CheQ Mumba Masters.
Ganges Grandmasters stopped the winning juggernaut of FYER American Gambits, while defending champions Alpine APL Pipers registered their second consecutive win in the Global Chess League (GCL), a joint initiative of Tech Mahindra and FIDE, here on Sunday.
Ganges Grandmasters, playing two matches on day two, put behind the disappointment of losing to Alpine APL Pipers in the first match of the day to convincingly beat the Gambits 9-7 and move to second spot in the standings.
Ganges Grandmasters Halt Gambits’ Streak
Pipers had earlier beaten the Ganges Grandmasters 11-6 while PBG Alaskan Knights had defeated CheQ Mumba Masters 11-6 for their first win of the tournament.
The second day of action at the GCL Season 4 proved to be a treat for fans as they witnessed some clinical victories and great escapes.
Indian esports icon and S8UL co-founder Naman Mathur, who was also among the spectators, would have enjoyed the fact that his favourite player Nihal Sarin won the only game for FYERS American Gambits against the Ganges Grandmasters.
Key Player Performances And Decisive Matches
However, Nihal’s victory wasn’t enough for the Gambits to get the winning edge as Player of the Match Polina Shuvalova defeated Bibisara Assaubayeva to win her third game in three rounds.
Ian Nepomniachtchi then turned the tables on 2026 Candidates winner Javokhir Sindarov in a rook-pawn endgame to put his team ahead. Gambit’s Daniil Dubov could not convert his advantage against Leinier Dominguez Perez into a win despite stretching the game 101 moves.
Earlier, Vidit Gujrathi and Koneru Humpy registered their second straight win with black pieces to put the Pipers in the driver’s seat despite women’s World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh suffering another reversal.
Vidit made the most of a slight error from Leinier Dominguez Perez to win in 38 moves and Humpy once again showed her class with a systematic dismantling of Stavroula Tsolakidou in 41 moves.
But with Divya going down against Shuvalova, the Ganges Grandmasters had a chance to narrow the margin of defeat as Ian Nepomniachtchi having a clear advantage with almost over five minutes on hand going to the endgame against Magnus Carlsen on the icon board.
But the world no. 1 Norwegian once against showed why he is called the king of endgames as he fought back after trading the queens to play out a draw.
Alpine APL Pipers Maintain Dominance
Speaking after her match, player-of-the-match Humpy said, “After the opening I was very clear that I was in a better position. Definitely, I could have played much better but I also wanted to play fast and I think I played well enough to win.”
Later, PBG Alaskan Knights jumped to fourth place in the standings as Arjun Erigaisi, Player of the match Nino Batsiashvili and Abhimanyu Mishra won their matches with white pieces to register a comfortable victory over CheQ Mumba Masters.
PBG Alaskan Knights Secure Victory
The 15-year-old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus looked good to beat Shakhriyar Mamedyarov but could not find the right combination under time pressure and eventually resigned after 82 moves.
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