GCL: Alpine APL Pipers Beat Mumba Masters To Go On Top; Ganges Grandmasters Convincingly Beat Triveni Continental Kings

GCL: Alpine APL Pipers beat Mumba Masters to go on top; Ganges Grandmasters convincingly beat Triveni Continental Kings (GCL: Alpine APL Pipers beat Mumba Masters to go on top; Ganges Grandmasters convincingly beat Triveni Continental Kings)

Alpine APL Pipers: Defending champions Alpine APL Pipers completed a double on close contenders Mumba Masters to take the top spot in the overall standings while Ganges Grandmasters crushed Triveni Continental Kings to jump to the second spot after six rounds of the Global Chess League (GCL), here in Bengaluru on Wednesday.

The Pipers defeated Mumba Masters 11-6 before Ganges Grandmasters registered a 15-3 victory over two-time champions Triveni Continental Kings. Mumba Masters suffered a double heartbreak as they also lost 6-11 against PBG Alaskan Knights.

With the race to the top two spots getting closer, all eyes were on the opening game of the day between the Pipers and Mumba Masters, were tied on match points and game points at the half way stage on Tuesday and were in second and third position overnight.

But on Wednesday, the Pipers were in total control on most boards with white pieces. world no. 1 Magnus Carlsen played a solid game to beat Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in 31 moves while Anish Giri on the second board grabbed the initiative against M Pranesh on the 10th move and never let go of that advantage.

Volodar Murzin then assured the Pipers their fourth win in six match as he forced Bardiya Daneshvar to resign after 52 moves. D Harika’s win over Divya Deshmukh was the only silver lining for the Mumba Masters.

Ganges Grandmasters also then completed a double over Triveni Continental Kings, this time dominating the match with black pieces. When the match started, it looked like the Kings had prepared well for the white pieces and could continue their revival after a disastrous start to their campaign.

But Ganges Grandmasters’ Polina Shuvalova, who now has five wins from six games, turned the tables on Zhu Jiner to win in 47 moves and Luke Leon Mendonca then cashed in on the error by Pranav V to win the clash on the prodigy board.

Ganges Grandmasters also then completed a double over Triveni Continental Kings, this time dominating the match with black pieces. When the match started, it looked like the Kings had prepared well for the white pieces and could continue their revival after a disastrous start to their campaign.

Later in the day, Mumba Masters had the chance to take the top spot by beating PBG Alaskan Knights with white pieces and they looked on course till the dying minutes of the match. But Carissa Yip, who was in a far better position, lost on time against Nino Batsiashvili and Abhimanyu Mishra put behind the heartbreak of Tuesday to beat Bardiya Daneshvar to set up the win and also pick the Player of the Match award.

Article Source: IANS