Day six opened the return round with four tense matches and dramatic swings at both ends of the table. The Triveni Continental Kings remain alone at the top after playing twice – losing to the Pipers but making a comeback against PBG – to stay in front with 15 Match Points.
The upGrad Mumbai Masters are a close second with 12 Match Points after defeating the Ganges Grandmasters 11–6. The Alpine SG Pipers and Ganges Grandmasters share third place with 9 points, while the Fyers American Gambits and PBG Alaskan Knights are level on 6 Match Points.
With the league now in the return round, four matches are played each day, and every result has a direct impact on the title race and the fight at the bottom.
Standings after Day 6
Match 16: Fyers American Gambits vs PBG Alaskan Knights (8–9)
The Fyers American Gambits started the day on six Match Points after a narrow loss to Ganges. The PBG Alaskan Knights, fresh from their first victory of the season against Alpine, were trying to climb away from last place. In their first encounter, the Gambits had won 8–5, and PBG came into the rematch looking for payback.
PBG had the White pieces and started the match with clear intent. The first game to finish was on the Superstar board. Leinier Dominguez tested Richard Rapport in the Open Sicilian and obtained a small edge but fell behind on the clock. With no clear way to increase his advantage and the whole match ahead, Dominguez decided not to force the issue, and the players agreed to a draw.
On one of the women’s boards, things soon went PBG’s way. European champion Teodora Injac reached a promising position against Sara Khadem but lost control. Khadem traded her h3-pawn for the opponent’s d3-pawn, took control of the c-file, and put the black king under pressure.
In her search for counterplay, Injac fell into serious time trouble and ultimately blundered her queen. This was the first win of the match—and Khadem’s first victory of the tournament. Almost simultaneously, on the other women’s board, Kateryna Lagno let a sizable advantage slip away against Bibisara Assaubayeva and agreed to a draw. After three games, the score stood at 5–3 for PBG.
Then came a huge moment on the first men’s board. In an equal bishop endgame, Vladislav Artemiev made a terrible mistake and allowed Arjun Erigaisi to push his pawn through to promotion. Artemiev had to give up his bishop for the new queen and could only hope for a miracle in time trouble, but it never came. Erigaisi calculated everything to the end and secured the win. With that result, the Knights increased their lead to 8–3 in Game Points.
In the remaining games, the Gambits had little counterplay, and PBG seemed close to a smooth match victory. Then fortune swung sharply on the Icon board. World Champion Gukesh D reached a completely winning position against Hikaru Nakamura and was also ahead on the clock. However, he relaxed too early and blundered. Nakamura seized his chance and turned a hopeless position into a victory—a huge escape for the Gambits and a painful blow for Gukesh. The score narrowed to 8–7.
Everything now depended on the prodigy board, where Daniel Dardha sacrificed a pawn against Rapid World Champion Volodar Murzin but did not get sufficient compensation. After sharp play in the centre and a series of tactical exchanges, Dardha managed to equalise and even put some pressure on Murzin. By then, he knew his team had already secured at least a draw in the match and that his opponent still needed to be careful. With that in mind, Dardha chose the practical solution: he offered a draw, and Murzin accepted.
The final score was 9–8 in Game Points for the PBG Alaskan Knights. They took their second win in a row and moved level with the Gambits on six Match Points, keeping their season alive and tightening the middle of the table even further.
Match 17: Alpine SG Pipers vs Triveni Continental Kings (12–8)
The second match of Day 6 brought a repeat of the opening-round pairing between the Alpine SG Pipers and the defending champions, the Triveni Continental Kings. Triveni had won the first encounter 9–7 and started this match as sole leaders on 12 Match Points. Alpine were on six, boosted by recent wins and knowing they needed another big result to stay in the race. After the coin toss, the Pipers took White and came out fighting. From the first moves, it was clear this would be a tense, emotional match.
The first breakthrough came on the women’s board. Nino Batsiashvili, Alpine’s most reliable player this season, scored her fifth win in six games. In the London System against former women’s world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk, Nino chose a sharp piece sacrifice. The idea looked risky and was not fully correct, but Kosteniuk failed to find the best defence. White’s attack grew menacing with every move, and the black king was driven into a net of checks and threats. With her position collapsing, Kosteniuk had to resign.
Almost simultaneously, Anish Giri delivered another blow for Alpine on the Superstar board. Facing Wei Yi with White in a Queen’s Pawn Opening, he played aggressively from the start, brought all his pieces into the attack, and offered a rook sacrifice. Wei initially declined correctly but accepted a few moves later with catastrophic consequences. Giri broke through and forced resignation. After these two wins, the Pipers led the match 6–0 in Game Points.
The champions then began their comeback. On the prodigy board, Marc’Andria Maurizzi secured an extra pawn in the middlegame against Leon Luke Mendonca and gradually took control. Leon tried to create counterplay but could not hold the endgame. Triveni cut the deficit to 6–4.
The turning point seemed to come on the second women’s board. In a very sharp middlegame, Zhu Jiner outplayed Hou Yifan. The former Women’s World Champion missed an important tactical subtlety, and her position collapsed almost immediately. Within a few minutes, Triveni had turned a 6–0 deficit into an 8–6 lead.
Alpine, however, refused to fold. In the all-Indian clash on the second men’s board, Praggnanandhaa faced Vidit Gujrathi in a Giuoco Piano. Vidit equalised but fell into time trouble while Pragg kept asking questions. Eventually, Vidit blundered and capitulated immediately. Praggnanandhaa’s victory put the Pipers back in front, with the score moving to 9–8 for Alpine.
Everything now depended on the Icon board. Fabiano Caruana took on Alireza Firouzja, the star of Triveni’s squad, who had won all five of his previous games. In an Averbakh variation of the Modern Defence, Caruana skillfully targeted weaknesses in Black’s camp, switching pressure between the centre and the queenside and keeping Firouzja on the back foot. At one stage, Black seemed to have equalised, but as time slipped away, both players started to miss chances. In the final time scramble, Caruana blundered, landing in a lost position. Then misfortune struck Firouzja. In three moves, he went from winning to losing, failing to punish White’s mistake and instead allowing a passed pawn to run. Caruana promoted, and the game was over.
That dramatic turnaround on the top board sealed the match. With four wins against two, the Alpine SG Pipers defeated the defending champions 12–8 in Game Points. Firouzja suffered his first loss of the season, while the Pipers claimed one of their biggest wins and pulled themselves closer to the leading pack.
Match 18: upGrad Mumbai Masters vs Ganges Grandmasters (11–6)
The third match of Day 6 reunited two teams who know each other well. In their first encounter, the upGrad Mumbai Masters had crushed the Ganges Grandmasters 17–4. Since then, Ganges had rebuilt their season with three wins and one loss, including a narrow victory over the Fyers American Gambits on Day 5. Mumbai, on the other hand, had mixed dominant wins with heavy defeats and were looking to steady their form and stay in the title race.
On the Superstar board, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov pressured Javokhir Sindarov in a Nimzo-Larsen throughout the game. Sindarov held firm for a long time but spent too much time solving one problem after another. Under heavy time pressure on move forty, Sindarov slipped and lost a piece. Although he had a couple of pawns for it, Mamedyarov was precise and brought home another win. Mumbai moved to a 6–0 lead in Game Points.
Ganges hit back on board five. In a Sicilian Defence, Stavroula Tsolakidou outplayed Harika Dronavalli. Black seized the initiative from the outset and, after trading queens, started picking off White’s queenside pawns one by one. Harika defended stubbornly and kept the game going, forcing Black to demonstrate good technique in time trouble. In the end, the extra pawns told, and Tsolakidou converted to put Ganges on the scoreboard. The match stood at 6–4.
Mumbai then restored their big lead. On board four, Humpy Koneru defeated one of Ganges’ top-performing players, Polina Shuvalova, in another Nimzo-Larsen. Polina held her ground up to a certain point, but a crucial mistake on move 23 cost her dearly. Koneru’s play was not optimal, but after protracted maneuvering, she turned her advantage into a full point on move 90. With this win, Mumbai pulled ahead to 9–4 in Game Points.
Even with two games still in progress, the match was not yet over on paper. That kept all eyes on the Icon board, where Viswanathan Anand was pressing against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. At one stage, Anand stood clearly better as MVL had to give up a bishop for two of Black’s dangerous central pawns. Later, the Frenchman created a passed pawn on the a-file, while Anand still had his extra knight.
Black launched a final attack on the white king, but for many moves, Anand could not find a forced win, and the position became equal. Knowing he had missed a big chance and now short of time, Anand chose to call it a day. The players agreed to a draw. That result took the score to 10–5 and mathematically secured the match for Mumbai.
The last game to finish was on the prodigy board between Bardiya Daneshvar and Raunak Sadhwani. The opponents reached a sharp position with mutual attacking chances. Once it became clear that the result would not change the match outcome, neither player wanted to risk everything. They repeated moves and agreed to a draw. Each side added one more Game Point.
The final score was 11–6 for the upGrad Mumbai Masters. They completed a second victory over Ganges in this double round-robin and moved to 12 Match Points, joining the Triveni Continental Kings at the top. The Ganges Grandmasters stayed on 9 Match Points, still in contention but now with less margin for error in the remaining rounds.
Match 19: Triveni Continental Kings vs PBG Alaskan Knights (10–9)
The last match of Day 6 brought together two teams in very different positions. The Triveni Continental Kings had just lost to the Alpine SG Pipers and wanted to steady their lead at the top. The PBG Alaskan Knights, after starting the season with four defeats, had finally hit form with two straight wins and were suddenly dangerous again. With the White pieces, the champions started well and quickly took control of the match.
Triveni struck first on the men’s board. Vidit Gujrathi emerged slightly better against Leinier Dominguez in a Queen’s Gambit Accepted after Black made several small mistakes and ended up with an inferior pawn structure. The endgame seemed holdable for Black, but on move 30, Dominguez gave up a pawn for nothing. Vidit converted smoothly and brought in the first three Game Points. Soon after, Alexandra Kosteniuk added another win to the scoreboard after Sara Khadem lost a piece early and never recovered. Triveni led 6–0 and looked on course for a smooth victory.
PBG hit back on the other women’s board. Facing the London System, Kateryna Lagno took control of the center and put early pressure on Zhu Jiner. The Chinese grandmaster lost her way and sacrificed an exchange to stay in the game, but Lagno kept control, broke through in the centre, and pushed her advantage through to the end. It was PBG’s first win of the match, worth four Game Points. The score was now 6–4.
Wei Yi then restored the champions’ big lead. His opponent, Arjun Erigaisi, miscalculated, blundered, and ended up an exchange down with his king under constant fire. Wei did not let him off the hook. He converted his advantage and took the score to 9–4 in favour of Triveni.
With two games still going, the Knights needed something special. On the Icon board, World Champion Gukesh D faced Alireza Firouzja. For much of the game, the position was balanced. As the clocks ran low, Firouzja started to drift. In the final phase, Gukesh reached a material edge with two rooks and a pawn against a rook, knight, and pawn. White threw everything forward, trying to checkmate Black. This time, Gukesh’s nerves held. He defended precisely, returned the exchange at the right moment, and steered the game into a winning endgame. Firouzja resigned, and PBG moved to 9–8, just one point behind.
Everything now depended on the prodigy board, where Marc’Andria Maurizzi faced Daniel Dardha. White seized the initiative early on, but Black managed to liquidate into a rook endgame. Despite an extra pawn, there was no real way for Maurizzi to make progress. He probed a little but quickly realised that Black’s position was impregnable. Soon, the opponents repeated moves and agreed to a draw.
That half-point was enough. The final score was 10–9 in Game Points for the Triveni Continental Kings. The champions bounced back from their earlier loss to Alpine and stayed in first place. The PBG Alaskan Knights, despite a strong fight and another win from Gukesh, remained on two match victories and at the bottom of the table, still chasing the rest of the field.
Written by Milan Dinic
Photos: Global Chess League
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