Javokhir Sindarov powers Triveni Continental Kings to Tech Mahindra GCL Finals
Javokhir Sindarov won an exhilarating battle against Daniel Dardha to power his team, Triveni Continental Kings to the Finals of Tech Mahindra Global Chess League. Magnus Carlsen had an exciting finish against Alireza Firouzja. However, his win was not enough for his team, Alpine SG Pipers to advance to the Finals. R Praggnanandhaa played well against Wei Yi to get a decisive advantage early in the game but he could not manage to seize any of his series of opportunities. Valentina Gunina's victory over Kateryna Lagno also turned out to be crucial for the defending champions. The other finalist, PBG Balan Alaskan Knights scored a dominating victory over American Gambits 5-14. Finals Match 1 starts tomorrow from 2:15 p.m. local time, 6:45 p.m. IST. Photos: Shahid Ahmed
Magnus' win against Firouzja goes in vain as his team faltered
The simple reason PBG Alaskan Knights and Triveni Continental Kings are in the Finals, is because they are performing as a team. All six of them were able to win the matches when their team needed the most. The same cannot be said for the star-studded Alpine SG Pipers. The team lacked harmony. Despite getting good positions, they could not convert when it mattered the most. So for the second consecutive year, despite being favorites on the paper, they crashed out.
Match #28: upGrad Mumba Masters - Ganges Grandmasters: 0-3 (4-12)
The first result is a draw between Vidit Gujrathi and Arjun Erigaisi. IM Nurgyul Salimova drew with GM Harika Dronavalli. The 'Icon' battle between Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Vishy Anand ended in a draw. Raunak Sadhwani shared the point with Volodar Murzin. Humpy ran out of time in a winning position against Vaishali. Peter Svidler lost on time against Parham Maghsoodloo.
GM R Vaishali was announced as the replacement of former World Championship Challenger, Ian Nepomniachtchi, for the upcoming WR Chess Masters.
Replay uMM-GG games
Match #29: American Gambits - PBG Alaskan Knights: 0-3 (5-14)
The first result of the match is a draw on the 'Icon' board between Hikaru Nakamura and Anish Giri. Nihal Sarin defeated Jonas Buhl Bjerre for the second time at this event and this was certainly a welcome victory for him after losing his last two games. IM Bibisara Assaubayeva won against the Women's World Championship Challenger, GM Zhongyi Tan. Mamedyarov turned around from a minus position to win against Yangyi. IM Alina Kashlinskaya defeated GM Elisabeth Paehtz.
Yangyi - Mamedyarov
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov played 1.e4 Nf6 2.d4 Ng8 something that has not been played a lot at the top level chess in an over-the-board tournament. He was worse and losing for the better part of the game. However, Shakh is resourceful. He became World Rapid 2013 champion for a reason. Eventually his opponent, Yangyi Yu fumbled on the way to the finish line 38.Rd8?? Rxf6 -+ 39.Rxe8 Re6 and the tables turned completely in Black's favor.
Here Black's technique was slightly inaccurate 49...Kg2 in time trouble created some fighting chance for his opponent. 50.Rg7+ Kxh2 51.Rf7 Kg3 52.a4 Rg5 53.a5 Rg4+ 54.Kc3?? was another mistake by White bxa5-+ and once again Black was winning. 55.b6 Rb4 56.b7 Rb1? simply f2 was winning for Black. 57.Kc2?? was the final blunder by White Rb5-+ 58.Kc3 a4 59.Kc4 Rb1 60.Kc5 a3 and Black won.
Paehtz - Kashlinskaya
IM Alina Kashlinskaya found the correct sequence 17...Nxc3 18.bxc4 b4 19.Qb3 Bxe5 20.dxe5 d4 Black got a substantial advantage. White kept continuing the fight, however, it did not turn out to be enough. Black thwarted all attempts to stir up trouble.
Jonas - Nihal
Black might not have a lot of pieces on the board. However, 27...Ndxe5! was necessary to open either the bishop's path or spring the knight into action. 28.dxe5 Nxe5 29.Bg2 Nf3+ 30.Kf1 d4 31.Nd2 Qxb5+ 32.Re2 d3 and it's over. Nihal Sarin is back.
A walk with the 'Icon' of his team, Anish Giri, definitely helped Nihal Sarin to clear his mind.
Replay AG - PBG AK games
Match #30: Alpine SG Pipers - Triveni Continental Kings: 0-3 (9-7)
The first result is a draw between Teimour Radjabov and Richard Rapport. Alexandra Kosteniuk drew with Yifan Hou. Valentina Gunina defeated Kateryna Lagno. Alireza Firouzja lost on time against Magnus Carlsen. Javokhir Sindarov won an absolute thriller against Daniel Dardha.
Firouzja - Carlsen
Magnus Carlsen got an upper hand in the middlegame 23...d5 24.c5 e5 25.Nf5 Bxf5 26.exf5 Nf4 27.Bxh4 Ng4 28.fxg4 Bxh4-+ Firouzja fought back and in time scramble got himself back in the game.
Magnus missed a few winning chances in time scramble. Just when it seemed like Firouzja might escape with a draw, he ran out of time.
Magnus Carlsen's prediction came true. He won the game but lost the match.
Wei - Praggnanandhaa
R Praggnanandhaa played excellent chess and got himself a substantial advantage early in the middlegame. However, he is still yet to hit his best form because he missed plenty of winning opportunities. 33...Rf1+ 34.Rxf1 exf1Q+ 35.Kxf1 g2+ was one of the simpler wins. Instead, the game continued 33...g2 34.Rdxe2 Rxh3 35.Bb6 Rf8 again the better choice was Rh1+ 36.Kf2 h4 Black missed few more chances and the game petered out to a draw.
Sindarov - Dardha
Javokhir Sindarov gained a pawn after 25.Rxc8 Rxc8 26.Bxa7 It obviously did not affect the result of the match but the point is he kept making correct practical decisions and his opponent, Daniel Dardha did not in time trouble. White eventually won the game in a lightning fast finish which kept everyone on the edge of their seat. This win ensured Triveni Continental Kings advancing to the Finals for the second consecutive year and the star-studded Alpine SG Pipers got eliminated.
Replay ASGP - TCK games
Standings after Round 10
Day 10 matches
Final 1: PBG Alaskan Knights vs Triveni Continental Kings from 2:15 p.m. local time, 6:45 p.m. IST.
Final 2: Triveni Continental Kings vs PBG Alaskan Knights from 3:30 p.m. local time, 8 p.m. IST.
Scoring System for Game Points (GP)
4 GP (3+1) | A player wins the Game with Black Pieces |
3 GP | A player wins the Game with White Pieces |
1 GP | Draw |
0 GP | Defeat |
Scoring System for Match Points (MP)
3 MP | The team that scores more Game Points |
1 MP | If both teams are level on Game Points |
0 MP | The team that scores lesser Game Points than the opponent |
The Final will be played over best-of-2 matches. There will be a drawing of lots to determine which Team is White in Match 1, this team will then be black in Match 2. The team who wins more matches will be the Champion. In the event of a tie:
• There will be a playoff blitz fixture, which will be a best-of-2 match. The team that was white in Match 1 and black in Match 2 will play white in Match 3 and black in Match 4. The time limit for each game will be all moves in 3 minutes plus 2 seconds. The Team that wins the most matches in the fixture will be the Champion.
• If the Teams remain tied, there shall be a drawing of lots to determine a board from 1 to 6. The player from each Team on this board will then participate in a sudden-death blitz game. The time limit for this game will be 3 minutes plus 2 seconds per move. The player from the Team who was white in Matches 1 and 3, will play white in this game.
• If the sudden death blitz game is drawn, then the procedure is repeated except that the colour of the player from each team alternates from the colour the team had in the preceding sudden death blitz game.
• If the tie remains unbroken, the above procedure is repeated until a sudden death blitz game has a winner.
Links
Tech Mahindra Global Chess League: Official site, facebook, twitter, instagram, youtube and linkedin
Tech Mahindra: Official site, facebook, twitter, youtube and linkedin
