GCL Day 3: Four teams share the lead after Triveni and Mumba lose
After three days of play at the Global Chess League, no team remains undefeated. The third day of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League brought big changes. Both previously unbeaten squads, Triveni Continental Kings and upGrad Mumbai Masters, suffered their first losses. Fyers American Gambits edged Triveni 10 to 8 in a tense clash decided on the prodigy board, while Alpine SG Pipers finally broke through with a 9 to 7 victory over upGrad, their first win of the season. Earlier, Ganges Grandmasters opened the day by sweeping past PBG Alaskan Knights 12 to 3, with Viswanathan Anand scoring his first win in Mumbai against World Champion Gukesh. After three rounds, the standings have tightened completely. Four teams now share the lead on six Match Points each: Triveni Continental Kings, upGrad Mumbai Masters, Ganges Grandmasters and Fyers American Gambits. upGrad hold a narrow edge on Game Points (on 33), just ahead of the defending champions Triveni (on 32), with Ganges (on 29) and the Gambits (on 25) close behind. Standings after Day 3 Alpine SG Pipers are now back in contention with three Match Points following their late win over upGrad. PBG Alaskan Knights remain at the bottom of the table, still looking for their first match victory. Match 7: Ganges Grandmasters vs PBG Alaskan Knights (12:3) The third day of Season three opened with two teams moving in opposite directions. Ganges Grandmasters had just found their form with a 13 to 7 win over Alpine SG Pipers on day two, after a very tough start against upGrad Mumba Masters. PBG Alaskan Knights came in still shaken by their 3 to 15 loss to Triveni Continental Kings. They were also still without a match victory after a narrow defeat to Fyers American Gambits on day one. From the outset, it was clear that Ganges had carried their momentum into this round. Across the boards, they were the ones pressing, while the Knights struggled to find their footing. A heavy loss for PBG soon seemed a real possibility. The first result, however, was peaceful: on the prodigy board, Daniel Dardha and Raunak Sadhwani repeated moves and agreed a draw. After their dramatic earlier games in the league, this time neither side took full risk and the match began with one Game Point each. The first breakthrough came from Javokhir Sindarov. Facing Leinier Dominguez, accepted a pawn sacrifice for which Black got more than sufficient compensation. However, a serious mistake on move 25 by Leinier cost him dearly – White managed to neutralize all his threats and liquidated into an endgame with an extra pawn and more active pieces. Dominguez fought on and played on for some time, but there was no real hope. Ganges took the 4 to 1 lead in Game Points. On the Icon board, the spotlight fell on the all-Indian meeting of two World Champions – former and current. Viswanathan Anand had lost both his games so far in Mumbai and needed a result. Playing with White against Gukesh in a Sicilian, Anand seized space and gradually built up initiative, keeping Black under constant pressure. He eventually broke on the queenside and promoted his c-pawn, creating deadly threats to Black’s king. Gukesh had to resign. On the second men’s board, Arjun Erigaisi faced Vincent Keymer. Under pressure for much of the game, Arjun defended accurately and steered the position to a draw. Ganges then struck again on the women’s board. Polina Shuvalova, fresh off her Day 2 win over Hou Yifan, defeated over Kateryna Lagno in a very complex game riddled with mutual mistakes. Polina eventually emerged from complications with an extra piece, and the rest was a smooth sailing. Another three Game Points went to Ganges, stretching the lead to 10 to 1. The last hope for PBG lay on the remaining women’s board. Sara Khadem outplayed Stavroula Tsolakidou and reached a better endgame. Tsolakidou made several mistakes in mutual time trouble, but Khadem did not manage to find the most precise continuations. The advantage slipped away, and the game simplified to a drawn position. Another half point each went on the scoreboard. When the dust settled, the final score was 12 to 3 in Game Points for Ganges Grandmasters. With three wins and no losses in this match, they continued their strong recovery. PBG Alaskan Knights, on the other hand, suffered their second heavy defeat in a row and remain under pressure to turn their season around. Match 8: Triveni Continental Kings vs Fyers American Gambits (8:10) The day’s second match pitted the defending champions against one of the most dangerous challengers. Triveni Continental Kings had started the season with two wins: they beat Alpine SG Pipers by 9-7 on and then crushed PBG Alaskan Knights by 15-3. Fyers American Gambits arrived on three Match Points from two rounds. They had defeated PBG Alaskan Knights on the opening night, then narrowly lost to upGrad Mumba Masters. Both teams fielded their strongest lineups. For Triveni this meant Alireza Firouzja, Wei Yi, Vidit Gujrathi, Zhu Jiner, Alexandra Kosteniuk and Marc’Andria Maurizzi. For the Gambits it was Hikaru Nakamura, Richard Rapport, Vladislav Artemiev, Bibisara Assaubayeva, Teodora Injac and Volodar Murzin. The first decisive result came on one of the men’s boards. Richard Rapport played a fine positional game against Vidit Gujrathi. Step by step, he restricted White’s pieces and built a kind of geometric cage around the white king. Vidit spent a long time searching for a defence but there was no way out. The Gambits took the first win of the match and four Game Points. Triveni struck back spectacularly on a women’s board. In a very sharp Scotch, Alexandra Kosteniuk emerged with two minor pieces against Teodora Injac’s rook and a pawn. The position remained balanced for a long time, but in Injac misplayed walking her king into a mating net. Kosteniuk finished the game by checkmating with a pawn – a rare sight in top level chess. Her win brought three Game Points and leveled