Global Chess League: Alaskan Knights continue to make the right moves

Alaskan Knights has maintained its lead with 12 match points

They are proving to be ruthless at Friends House here. The PGB Alaskan Knights made it four out of four at the historic venue on Saturday (October 5, 2024).

Anish Giri and his men are indeed looking unstoppable at the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League. They scored a crushing 12-3 win against Ganges Grandmasters in the opening match of day three.

Giri drew Viswanathan Anand on the Icon board, but his teammates stepped up yet again. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov defeated Parham Maghsoodloo.

Both the Alaskan women also played their part. Tan Zhongyi got the better of R. Vaishali and Alina Kashlinskaya beat Nurgyul Salimova.

Giri, however, was only cautiously optimistic. “Yes we have won four out of four, but as we saw last year, the teams that start well may not be able to keep winning,” he told The Hindu.

Alaskan Knights has maintained its lead with 12 match points. Defending champion Triveni Continental Kings and Alpine SG Pipers have six points each.

SG Pipers scored a 12-4 win against Upgrad Mumba Masters. The Icon board clash between the World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was drawn, but there were wins for Richard Rapport and Daniel Dardha.

Continental Kings proved too good for American Gambits, with Alireza Firouzja registering another big win: he beat Hikaru Nakamura on the Icon board. Wei Yi and Alexandra Kosteniuk also won.

The day also saw Ganges Grandmasters finally registering a win — 10-8 against Continental Kings.

The results:

PBG Alaskan Knights bt Ganges Grandmasters 12-3 (Anish Giri drew with Viswanathan Anand; Nodirbek Abdusattorov drew with Arjun Erigaisi; Shakhriyar Mamedyarov bt Parham Maghsoodloo; Tan Zhongyi bt R. Vaishali; Alina Kashlinskaya bt Nurgyul Salimova; Nihal Sarin drew with Volodar Murzin).

American Gambits lost to Triveni Continental Kings 3-15 (Hikaru Nakamura lost to Firouzja Alireza; Jan-Krzysztof Duda lost to Wei Yi; Yu Yangyi drew with Temour Radjabov; Bibisara Assaubayeva lost to Alexandra Kosteniuk; Elisabeth Paehtz drew with Valentina Gunina; Jonas Buhl Bjerr drew with Javokhir Sindarov).

Alpine SG Pipers bt Upgrad Mumba Masters 12-4 (Magnus Carlsen drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave; R. Pragghanandhaa drew with Vidit Gujrathi; Richard Rapport bt Peter Svidler; Hou Yifan drew with Koneru Humpy; Kateryna Lagno drew with D. Harika; Daniel Dardha bt Raunak Sadhwani).

Ganges Grandmasters bt Triveni Continental Kings 10-8 (Anand lost to Firouzja; Arjun drew with Wei; Maghsoodloo bt Radjabov; Vaishali lost to Kosteniuk; Salimova bt Gunina; Murzin drew with Sindarov).

(The correspondent is in London at the invitation of Tech Mahindra).

Published - October 06, 2024 12:20 pm IST