Bengaluru: Table toppers FYERS American Gambits added to the misery of Triveni Continental Kings by inflicting yet another defeat on the two-time champions to maintain their advantage over defending champions Alpine APL Pipers at the top of the standings in the Global Chess League (GCL), here in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
The Pipers had temporarily taken the top spot after beating CheQ Mumba Masters 11-6 in the opening match of the day. But the Gambits ended the day ahead of the defending champions with a better Game Points score after beating the Continental Kings 8-5 with white pieces.
In the day’s other matches, Ganges Grandmasters registered a 15-3 victory over two-time champions Triveni Continental Kings while Mumba Masters suffered a double heartbreak as they also lost 6-11 against PBG Alaskan Knights.
Gambits, Alpine APL Pipers and Ganges Grandmasters have now won four matches but the Gambits have played one round more than their closest challenger.
As things stands after day 5, the Gambits have 12 match points and 60 game points from seven matches, second placed Alpine APL Pipers have 58 game points from six matches while Ganges Grandmasters have 55 game points from six matches.
In the last match of the day between the Gambits and Continental Kings, Candidates 2026 winner Javokhir Sindarov convincingly defeated Alireza Firouzja on the icon board with all other boards finishing in the draw.
Earlier, Pipers were in total control on most boards with white pieces against the Mumba Masters. 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 matches 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.
Stavroula Tsolakidou then put the result beyond doubt by beating former women’s world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk in a 63-move mini marathon to put the result beyond doubt.
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.
(IANS)
