GM Viswanathan Anand‘s win over GM Gukesh Dommaraju helped the Ganges Grandmasters join a four-way tie for the lead in the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League 2025. Both leading teams lost, despite big wins on top board for GM Alireza Firouzja, over GM Hikaru Nakamura, and GM Vachier-Lagrave, over GM Fabiano Caruana. Late turnaround wins for GMs Volodar Murzin and Leon Mendonca on the prodigy boards made all the difference, while GM Richard Rapport‘s spectacular win over GM Vidit Gujrathi is our Game of the Day.
Day four starts on Wednesday, December 17, at 6:30 a.m. ET / 12:30 CET / 5 p.m. IST.
Leaders upGrad Mumba Masters and Triveni Continental Kings both lost and were caught on six match points by Ganges Grandmasters and Fyers American Gambits, with only PBG Alaskan Knights yet to pick up a point.
Ganges Grandmasters 12-3 PBG Alaskan Knights
Former World Champion Anand helped Gukesh on the way to his claiming the world championship title in 2024, but after two losses Anand wasn’t going to miss his chance to strike.
“Not the best start, but I think today was very nice!” he said, while adding that it still excites him to take on the world’s best players:
Yes, of course. You’re playing such a strong player, you need that tension in your body, otherwise you’re not going to cope. You have to be ready that, ‘OK, I’m trying to walk into a minefield, I’ll have to be fully alert,’ and so on. All these thoughts go to my head.
Vishy Anand after beating Gukesh: “Not the best start, but today was very nice!”#TechMGCL #MegaMove pic.twitter.com/Dcg7FYKFBs
— chess24 (@chess24com) December 16, 2025
The game saw Anand establish a clamp on the queenside and never let go as his advantage grew, or as he put it, “It galloped away!”
It would be a comprehensive win for the Ganges Grandmasters, with GM Javokhir Sindarov rejecting a draw by repetition and going on to beat GM Leinier Dominguez from a position that looked, if anything, to favor the U.S. star, while IM Polina Shuvalova made it three wins in a row after overcoming GM Kateryna Lagno in a double-edged position.
While the Alaskan Knights remained winless, the Ganges Grandmasters had caught the leaders on six match points. That lead seemed only temporary as the other two teams were still set to play, but they both went on to lose incredibly tense encounters.
Triveni Continental Kings 8-10 Fyers American Gambits
Firouzja scored five wins in a row at one point last year, and he’s started with three wins in a row this year, over the world number-three, the world champion, and now the world number-two!
Performance ratings break when players have perfect scores, though there’s no question it’s been an epic performance so far.
An offbeat opening led to a long squeeze in that game, with Firouzja all but clinching the game when he was able to swap off queens.
When GM Alexander Kosteniuk used her opponent’s time trouble to deliver checkmate against IM Teodora Injac, Triveni Continental Kings looked set to march on with another victory on the way to potentially winning a third season in a row.
The Fyers American Gambits, however, had the advantage of getting four points for a win as they had the black pieces, and they managed to snatch victory with two wins of their own. One featured Rapport finding the brilliancy 25…Qg3??, ignoring the pawn on d7 since, it turned out, Vidit had no way of defending against checkmate on g2.
That sparkling win is our Game of the Day, which GM Rafael Leitao has analyzed below.
The last nail in the Continental Kings’ coffin was delivered by Murzin, who had earlier seemed busted when GM Marc’Andria Maurizzi unleashed 20.Bb6!. Murzin complicated matters, however, and eventually took over in his opponent’s time trouble to score a match-winning victory.
Volodar Murzin turned around a lost position against Marc’Andria Maurizzi to give the Fyers American Gambits victory over the 2-time Champions Triveni Continental Kings! https://t.co/ByYhfkhGrv#TechMGCL #MegaMove pic.twitter.com/roK0rvckRr
— chess24 (@chess24com) December 16, 2025
We would see a very similar scenario play out in the last match of the day.
Alpine SG Pipers 9-7 upGrad Mumba Masters
For much of this match it seemed Alpine SG Pipers might cruise to their first win, but though they did win in the end it was only after everything had seemed lost.
Women’s number one GM Hou Yifan picked up her first win with a crushing attack against GM Koneru Humpy.
It seemed GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu was also sure to score his first win as he had had a dominant position against GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. In the end, however, Praggnanandhaa was forced to accept a draw by repetition in a tricky four-rooks position.
There was a first pump from MVL as he beat Caruana and Mamedyarov escaped vs. Praggnanandhaa, but in the end it wasn’t enough for the team! #TechMGCL #MegaMove pic.twitter.com/WRQMGcLrGv
— chess24 (@chess24com) December 16, 2025
Vachier-Lagrave celebrated that win as he’d just won a complicated endgame that proved too much for Caruana with time running out.
Victory and the sole lead looked sealed for the upGrad Mumba Masters, but then suddenly Mendonca managed to deliver checkmate on the prodigy board against GM Bardiya Daneshwar, who had won his previous two games.
45…Nc5? was the last mistake, but by this point it was very easy to go wrong.
So a wild third day gave evidence for the fact that anyone can beat anyone, and it’s all to play for going into day four, which will include the clash of the leaders Triveni Continental Kings (Firouzja & co.) vs. Ganges Grandmasters (Anand & co.).
The Tech Mahindra Global Chess League 2025 consists of a six-team double round-robin group stage and a final contested by the top two teams. In each match, all members of a team play with the same color, with four points for a win with Black and three for a win with White. All games have a 20-minute time control, with a two-second increment from move 41.
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