Hou Yifan becomes SG Pipers’ hero
The final round of the round-robin phase of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League confirmed the lineup for the title match. Alpine SG Pipers, led by Fabiano Caruana, secured their place in the Final despite losing their last match, thanks to a decisive contribution from Hou Yifan. Her victory over Kateryna Lagno proved sufficient to swing the tiebreaks in the Pipers’ favour. Their main rivals, upGrad Mumba Masters, were eliminated after a narrow defeat to the runaway leaders Triveni Continental Kings, who finished the phase a remarkable 9 match points clear of the field.
In the opening match of the day, Ganges Grandmasters defeated Fyers American Gambits by 12–3. Although little appeared to be at stake beforehand, the result nearly turned the standings upside down. The Ganges GMs scored three wins, including one by Raunak Sadhwani on his 20th birthday, and came close to adding more, holding significant advantages in all three drawn games. One additional win would have been enough to carry them into the Final. While that fell short, the result confirmed the end of the road for the American Gambits and secured the Ganges GMs a place in the third-place match.
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The decisive encounter for the remaining Final’s berth saw the Continental Kings edge past the Mumba Masters 10–9. The Mumba Masters finished the tournament with an impressive 92 game points, underlining their consistency, but they were undone by four narrow losses against the two finalists. The final setback followed a familiar pattern, with two wins using the black pieces outweighed by three victories for the leaders.
In the remaining match, PBG Alaskan Knights defeated the Alpine SG Pipers 11–6. The Pipers entered the match knowing that victory was not essential, but that sufficient game points were required to stay ahead on tiebreaks. As in previous rounds, Hou Yifan proved decisive, launching an early kingside attack and converting it into a swift win, her fourth in succession after a slow start. The outcome suited both sides: the Pipers advanced to the Final, while the Alaskan Knights, led by Gukesh Dommaraju, booked a meeting with the Ganges GMs in the match for third place.
The Final and the match for third place will be contested over two mini-matches, as the Continental Kings aim for a third straight title against the Alpine SG Pipers.
Match #28: Ganges GMs 12–3 American Gambits
| Ganges Grandmasters | Rtg | – | Fyers American Gambits | Rtg | 12 – 3 |
| Anand, Viswanathan | 2727 | – | Nakamura, Hikaru | 2732 | 1 – 1 |
| Keymer, Vincent | 2640 | – | Artemiev, Vladislav | 2727 | 3 – 0 |
| Sindarov, Javokhir | 2704 | – | Rapport, Richard | 2702 | 1 – 1 |
| Shuvalova, Polina | 2360 | – | Assaubayeva, Bibisara | 2461 | 1 – 1 |
| Tsolakidou, Stavroula | 2358 | – | Injac, Teodora | 2360 | 3 – 0 |
| Sadhwani, Raunak | 2611 | – | Murzin, Volodar | 2642 | 3 – 0 |
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Raunak Sadhwani turned 20 years old on Monday
The Ganges GMs were inches away from miraculously reaching the Final, as Vishy Anand, Javokhir Sindarov and Polina Shuvalova all got realistic chances of scoring wins in their encounters. A single more win in the match would have granted the Ganges GMs the two extra game points they needed to outscore the Alpine SG Pipers (in the final standings, the Pipers have 84 GPs to the GMs’ 83).
The biggest miss was surely seen in the game between Javokhir Sindarov and Richard Rapport. Sindarov failed to find a devastating tactical shot while in deep time trouble.
Rapport’s 57…Rxd5?? was a losing blunder. But Sindarov’s 58.Bc3??, gaining the exchange at once was not the refutation. In fact, the game was (correctly) agreed drawn after 58…Kh7 59.Bxg7 Kxg7 60.Re6 ½-½
What Sindarov failed to find was 58.Rh6+ in the diagrammed position.
- 58…Rh7 fails to 59.Bc3+ Kg8 60.Be6+ Kf8 61.Rxh7, and White is threatening both checkmate from h8 and to capture the rook on d5
- 58…Kg8 fails to 59.Be6+ Rf7 60.Bc3 (diagram below)
White threatens checkmate on h8, while after 60…Rd2+ 61.Bxd2 (also winning is 61.Kxd2, but White must work harder after 61…Bg5+ 62.Kd1 Bxh6) Kg7 62.Bxf7 Kxf7, Sindarov would have emerged with an extra rook.
A huge miss while playing on increments by the recent winner of the FIDE World Cup.
Match #29: Continental Kings 10–9 Mumba Masters
| Triveni Continental Kings | Rtg | – | Upgrad Mumba Masters | Rtg | 10 – 9 |
| Firouzja, Alireza | 2754 | – | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | 2730 | 3 – 0 |
| Wei, Yi | 2751 | – | So, Wesley | 2702 | 3 – 0 |
| Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi | 2650 | – | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | 2707 | 0 – 4 |
| Zhu, Jiner | 2435 | – | Koneru, Humpy | 2448 | 3 – 0 |
| Kosteniuk, Alexandra | 2450 | – | Dronavalli, Harika | 2435 | 1 – 1 |
| Maurizzi, Marcandria | 2506 | – | Daneshvar, Bardiya | 2498 | 0 – 4 |
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Wei Yi
Much like in the other two matches of the day, a single result going a different way would have greatly affected the final standings of the league’s round-robin phase. Had the Mumba Masters won this match, they would have surely reached the final – as it happened, though, they not only failed to reach the final but ended up in fifth place, not even reaching the consolation match for third place.
One game that could have ended drawn but favoured the Continental Kings was the one between Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Wesley So. In a position material down, So entered a clever-looking attacking line, which included the tricky 30…Rf4
So had seen from afar that now Black cannot capture the rook with 31.gxf4 due to 31…Qxf4 32.Kh3 Qg4+ 33.Kh2 Qxh4+ 34.Kg1 Qh1#, while Black is also threatening to capture the pawn on h4 with his rook thanks to the pin along the diagonal.
The attack surely looks dangerous, but the simple 31.Qd8 successfully deals with all the threats, and leaves White with a clearly winning position thanks to his material advantage.
So threw in the towel after 31…Rf6 32.Qd4 Qe7 33.Rxf3
Mamedyarov is simply a rook up.
Match #30: Pipers 6–11 Alaskan Knights
| Alpine SG Pipers | Rtg | – | PBG Alaskan Knights | Rtg | 6 – 11 |
| Caruana, Fabiano | 2751 | – | Gukesh, D | 2692 | 0 – 4 |
| Giri, Anish | 2685 | – | Erigaisi, Arjun | 2714 | 0 – 4 |
| Praggnanandhaa, R | 2663 | – | Dominguez Perez, Leinier | 2703 | 1 – 1 |
| Hou, Yifan | 2536 | – | Lagno, Kateryna | 2452 | 3 – 0 |
| Batsiashvili, Nino | 2346 | – | Khademalsharieh, Sarasadat | 2356 | 1 – 1 |
| Mendonca, Leon Luke | 2498 | – | Dardha, Daniel | 2592 | 1 – 1 |
Gukesh Dommaraju
The Pipers made it to the Final by a single game point. In the prodigy board, Leon Luke Mendonca could have lost his game, but Daniel Dardha failed to convert his advantage in a tricky endgame with queen and rook against queen and two knights.
Still, Dardha’s miss was not a major problem for the Alaskan Knights, who nonetheless won this contest and reached the match for third place – despite having started the event with four consecutive losses!
