The Alpine SG Pipers reached the finals despite a late defeat from PBG Alaskan Knights in the final day of round-robin matches at the Global Chess League in Mumbai. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having started the tournament with four losses, PBG ended the event on a high, tying for second place and reaching the third-place playoffs where they will face Ganges Grandmasters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most anticipated encounter was the duel between Alpine SG Pipers and PBG Alaskan Knights, which decided the second finalist. The Pipers lost that match 6\u201311, but still finished ahead of Ganges Grandmasters thanks to a single extra Game Point, 84 to 83. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier in the day, Ganges defeated Fyers American Gambits 12\u20133. The Gambits finished season three in last place. With three victories and seven defeats, the team led by Hikaru Nakamura and featuring heavyweights such as Richard Rapport and Vladislav Artemiev failed to find consistent form in Mumbai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The tournament\u2019s most tragic figures were the upGrad Mumbai Masters. After closely contending with Triveni for the top spot, they collapsed with three consecutive defeats. Yesterday brought a fourth loss as they fell to Triveni 10\u20139. They finished Season 3 in fifth place with 12 match points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ganges Grandmasters vs Fyers American Gambits (12 \u2013 3)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Gambits had a tough tournament, winning only three of their nine matches and suffered a four-match losing streak. On Day 8, they lost narrowly to the Pipers and entered the final day at the bottom of the table, on nine match points. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Their opponents Ganges had a better event and were in shared second place, but their chances of reaching the final were damaged after losing the last two matches. In this match, Ganges had more to lose than the Gambits had to gain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ganges also had the advantage of the white pieces and took the initiative on most boards from the start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On board one, Viswanathan Anand drew with Hikaru Nakamura in the Murphy Defence of Ruy Lopez. White emerged with an extra pawn, but after Anand missed the best continuation on move 23, Nakamura liquidated into an equal heavy-piece ending where a draw was agreed on move 41. It was the first result of the match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On board five, Stavroula Tsolakidou emerged clearly better against Teodora Injac in the Italian Game. She went on to collect most of Black\u2019s weak pawns and won with ease, giving Ganges a 4\u20131 lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More good news followed for Ganges on board two, where Vincent Keymer scored three Game Points against Vladislav Artemiev. He finished the game with a clear checkmate and increased his team\u2019s edge to 7\u20131.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Gambits had a strong chance to strike back on board three, where Richard Rapport was pressing Javokhir Sindarov in the Queen\u2019s Indian. Sindarov sacrificed an exchange to build some sort of fortress on the light squares. Seeing that his opponent was short on time, Rapport played quickly, hoping to provoke an error, but Sindarov held firm and the game ended in a draw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the prodigy board, Raunak Sadhwani gained a clear advantage against Volodar Murzin in the Closed Sicilian early on and converted his advantage, sealing the match for Ganges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The final game to finish was between Polina Shuvalova and Bibisara Assaubayeva. Shuvalova reached a much better position and had the initiative, but misplayed the winning endgame with an extra pawn and two bishops allowing Assaubayeva to escape with a draw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The final score was 12 \u2013 3. Ganges did everything they could, scoring a convincing win and moving into shared second place with the Pipers, as they awaited the result of Alpine\u2019s match with PBG.<\/p>\n\n\n\n