It was a virtual semifinal. And it turned out to be an exciting semifinal.
Triveni Continental Kings edged past Alpine SG Pipers 9-7 to book its second final in a row at the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League. In Saturday’s (October 12, 2024) final, Continental Kings will defend its crown against PBG Alaskan Knights, which had qualified with a round to spare a day ago, topping the six-team double round robin league. Alaskan Knights scored 24 match points, while Continental Kings and SG Pipers finished with 18 each. Better game points (99) helped the reigning champion finish second in the table, ahead of SG Pipers (88).
A win on the Icon board by Magnus Carlsen against Alireza Firouzja, one of the best performers of the tournament, didn’t prove enough for SG Pipers at Friends House in London on Friday (October 11, 2024). The draws by R. Praggnanandhaa and Richard Rapport respectively, with Wei Yi and Teimour Radjabov, turned out to be costly. The game between Hou Yifan and Alexandra Kosteniuk too was drawn.
For the Continental Kings, Valentina Gunina and Javokhir Sindarov scored crucial wins, over Kateryna Lagno and Daniel Dardha respectively. And they were through to the final.
Earlier, in two inconsequential matches, Ganges Grandmasters defeated Upgrad Mumba Masters 12-4, and Alaskan Knights beat American Gambits 14-5. The victory should make the Knights happy going into the final.
The results:
Ganges Grandmasters bt Upgrad Mumba Masters 12-4 (Viswanathan Anand drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave; Arjun Erigaisi drew with Vidit Gujrathi; Parham Maghsoodloo bt Peter Svidler; R. Vaishali bt Koneru Humpy; Nurgyul Salimova drew with D. Harika; Volodar Murzin drew with Raunak Sadhwani).
American Gambits lost to PBG Alaskan Knights 5-14 (Hikaru Nakamura drew with Anish Giri; Jan-Krzysztof Duda drew with Nodirbek Abdusottorov; Yu Yangyi lost to Shakhriyar Mamedyarov; Bibisara Assaubayeva bt Tan Zhongyi; Elisabeth Paehtz lost to Alina Kashlinskaya; Jonas Buhl Bjerre lost to Nihal Sarin).
Alpine SG Pipers lost to Triveni Continental Kings 7-9 (Magnus Carlsen bt Alireza Firouzja; R. Praggnanandhaa drew with Wei Yi; Richard Rapport drew with Teimour Radjabov; Hou Yifan drew with Alexandra Kosteniuk; Kateryna Lagno lost to Valentina Gunina; Daniel Dardha lost to Javokhir Sindarov).
The standings (league stage):
1. PBG Alaskan Knights 24 match points (114 game points); 2. Triveni Continental Kings 18 (99); 3. Alpine SG Pipers 18 (88); 4. American Gambits 12 (73); 5. Upgrad Mumba Masters 9 (74); 6. Ganges Grandmasters 9 (69).
(The correspondent is in London at the invitation of Tech Mahindra)
Published - October 12, 2024 12:21 am IST
