Global Chess League: Triveni Continental Kings surges to top, the first team to qualify for final

Dubai: With a four-match winning streak including a dominating victory over tournament favourites Ganges Grandmasters, Triveni Continental Kings have surged from the bottom to the top of the standings, becoming the first team to qualify for the final of the inaugural edition of the Global Chess League.

In another match earlier on Saturday, SG Alpine Warriors suffered a defeat to Chingari Gulf Titans putting a big question mark on which team will get the second place in the finals.

Triveni Continental Kings continued their onward march on Saturday by stunning Ganges Grandmasters 11:6 in a must-win league match.

This match was the last chance for Triveni -– if they had lost, they would have been out of the tournament. For Ganges, this was their final chance to score points and secure the top place in the round-robin league.

While a draw was enough for team Ganges, Triveni had to win and that put them in a psychological mindset to do it.

The team’s icon player Levon Aronian gained more initiative in the Caro-Kann defence and posed serious threats to Vishy Anand. Unphased, the former World Champion got his knight and rook to the bottom of the board and found a perpetual check to hold on for a draw.

In the meantime, Sara Khadem scored a huge win for Triveni as she defeated Bella Khotenashvili in a sharp game. By this point, Triveni was dominating on three of the four remaining boards. Wei Yi struck on board three against Leinier Dominguez. Despite being in a weaker position, Kateryna Lagno managed to draw the game with Hou Yifan. Triveni was on the edge of a historic victory.

In a complete twist, Yu Yangyi of Triveni lost against Richard Rapport despite dominating the game from the beginning. The result was 8:5 for Triveni and Ganges Grandmasters had to win on the prodigy board to take the win.

However, Esipenko fought back from a losing position against Jonas Bjerre, who took the initiative early on and forced a winning rook endgame. Esipenko tried and delayed resigning, but he couldn’t escape defeat. The final result was 11:6, for Triveni.

A crushing loss for the Ganges and an amazing step up by Triveni. With this victory, they have taken the top of the scoreboard with 18 match points and have become the first team to reach the final. Triveni, who have been struggling since the outset and had to replace a player, came back to win four of their last matches to reach the top.

In another match, SG Alpine Warriors went down to Chingari Gulf Titans 7:8.

The Warriors and the Titans were the only remaining teams to play two matches on the final day. SG Alpine Warriors have been in strong contention for first place since the start of the league. Given the open race for the top, the outcome of this match could prove crucial (or fatal) for either team’s ambitions to reach the finals on Sunday.

The Warriors started with white pieces. Both sides played cautiously and steadily – avoiding risk but after about 45 minutes of play, the positions began to unravel.

Magnus Carlsen won his game after Jan-Kryzstof Duda misplayed approaching the endgame, overlooking a piece. Team Chingari struck back on board two when Shakhriyar Mamedyarov got the upper hand against Gukesh D in the endgame.

An unusual game took place between Irina Krush and Titans’ player and former Women’s World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk. While Kosteniuk got more initiative in the opening, she misplayed in the middlegame, allowing white to take over the advantage.

In a game which saw a lot of twists and turns, Kosteniuk managed to get a significant material advantage, but Krush found a way for a perpetual check and save a draw. With two more games ending in a draw, the result was: 7:6 for the Titans.

Everything was hanging on the last remaining game, between Wariors’ Elisabeth Paehtz and Titans’ Polina Shuvalova. In the Sicilian, White gained more initiative early on but then overforced allowing Black to counter. The two transpired into an even rook endgame but Shuvalova made a mistake that brought White to the crisp of victory. However, Paehtz dropped the advantage and it was even. Paehtz knew her team needed her to win so she was desperate to complicate things and score but it was futile. In the end, having exhausted all the options, Paehtz agreed to a draw.

Having the world’s highest-rated player in the team isn’t always enough for victory. Despite winning the last three games, Magnus Carlsen’s team lost the last three matches.

A minimal but important victory for Chingari Gulf Titans which, with 13 points, are still holding on in the race for the top, while SG Alpine Warriors remain on 15.

–IANS