Global Chess League: Ganges Grandmasters maintain dominant streak

DUBAI: The Ganges Grandmasters maintained their dominant streak as they kicked off the third day of the Global Chess League (GCL) with yet another impressive victory, here on Saturday.

Ganges Grandmasters are the only team in the Global Chess League to have three victories out of all three matches.

This was a duel between two teams in the middle of the scoreboard looking to make a push to the top. Following the first two rounds, both had three Match Points each and 15 Game Points. The coin toss decided that Triveni Continental Kings will play as white. The team achieved the initiative from early on.

The most anticipated encounter took place on board one with a faceoff between two icon players, world heavyweight Levon Aronian (as White) and the highest-rated chess player, Magnus Carlsen.

Both sides put up a fierce fight and Carlsen ended up defending an uncomfortable position with a minute on his clock against Aronian's eighth. Aronian tried but Magnus, the best endgame player in the world, was confident and held his opponent to a draw.

As two other games ended in a draw the score was 3:3. The first break came when GM Yu defeated Gukesh with white, scoring important three Game Points for the Kings. The tables turned on the Kings when Indian Praggnanandhaa beat Jonas Bjerre scoring four Game Points and erasing the advantage created by Yu.

Everything was hanging on the game between Irina Krush (SG Alpine Warriors) and Kateryna Lagno. Despite Krush creating a dominating position, both sides were in serious time trouble. The fact that Lagno is a three-time World Champion in Blitz came in handy as she managed to keep her nerve and get a draw.

The final score of the match was 7:8 in Game Points for SG Alpine Warriors, giving them another critical three match points.

In the post-game interview, Carlsen noted that "wins with Black are so valuable" (as they bring four instead of three points which White gets for victory), which makes the whole thing more exciting.

"People are still trying to find the optimal strategy here and we're seeing some interesting decisions that you don't see in team chess", he said.

The match ended with Triveni Continental Kings 7- 8 SG Alpine Warriors. IANS

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