PBG Alaskan Knights finishes third
For the first time, there was a third place match at Tech Mahindra Global Chess League. The third place match went into tie-breaks after PBG Alaskan Knights and Ganges Grandmasters traded wins against each other. PBG AK won both tie-break matches against GG to finish third. Each player of the winning team - Alpine SG Pipers received US$ 7500, US$ 5000 for the manager.
Finals 1: Triveni Continental Kings - Alpine SG Pipers: 0-3 (5-14)
Triveni Continental Kings lost the first final match against Alpine SG Pipers by 5-14. Alireza Firouzja scored the lone for his team TCK against Fabiano Caruana. Anish Giri, Nino Batsiashvili and Leon Luke Mendonca scored the wins for ASGP against Wei Yi, Alexandra Kosteniuk and Marc` Andria Maurizzi respectively.
Firouzja - Caruana
19...Rxe4 20.Bxb2 Qc5+ 21.Kh1 Bh5 22.g4 Nxg4 23.fxg4 Bxg4 would have been a better choice compared to what happened in the game. 19...Nxe4?? 20.Bxb2+- Qd2 21.Qc1 Qxc1 22.Bxc1 Be6 23.fxe4+- and White went on to win the game comfortably.
Leon scored a nice victory over Maurizzi, using his extra pawn advantage in the double rook and minor piece endgame.
Replay TCK - ASGP games
Finals 2: Alpine SG Pipers - Triveni Continental Kings: 3-0 (13-5)
Fabiano Caruana (ASGP) bounced back in the second game and scored a crucial win over Alireza Firouzja (TCK). Anish Giri (ASGP) defeated Wei Yi (TCK) again. R Praggnanandhaa (ASGP) scored his second win of the event against Vidit Gujrathi (TCK), this time on the board. Leon Luke Mendonca (ASGP) once again managed to score another win over Marc` Andria Maurizzi (TCK). GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (TCK) scored the lone win for her team against GM Nino Batsiashvili (ASGP). Giri beat Wei for the third time at this event and all four games between them ended decisively. Alpine SG Pipers won both matches against the defending two-time champions to become the new winner of GCL.
Caruana - Firouzja
In a complex position, White went 33.Bxc3?? Qxg3-+ 34.Rc2 Bd3 35.Qa4 Bxc2 36.Rf1+ Kg7 and Black ran out of time as the game did not reach 40th move, thus increment did not start.
Praggnanandhaa - Vidit
Praggnanandhaa's devastating attack on the kingside 26.h5+- worked out for him gxh5 27.R3g2 Qf7 28.Nf4 Bxb3 29.Rg7 Ba2+ 30.Kb2 Qc4 31.Rxd7 Qb4+ 32.Kxa2 bxa5 33.Qe3 Qa4+ 34.Qa3 Qxc2+ 35.Qb2 and it's over. Praggnanandhaa played his best chess in this event in the final game when it mattered the most.
Leon - Marc`
As Dr. GM Karsten Mueller (GER) mentioned in his analysis that - 'Rook endings are almost always drawn But over the board the defense can be deep'. Check out his complete analysis in great detail to know more about this rich endgame.
Replay ASGP - TCK games
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3rd place
Match 1: Ganges Grandmasters - PBG Alaskan Knights: 3-0 (12-8)
Match 2: PBG Alaskan Knights - Ganges Grandmasters: 3-0 (10-9)
Tie-break 1: Ganges Grandmasters - PBG Alaskan Knights: 0-3 (7-13)
Tie-break 2: PBG Alaskan Knights - Ganges Grandmasters: 3-0 (12-8)
Ganges Grandmasters and PBG Alaskan Knights traded wins. It resulted in tie-breaks. PBG Alaskan Knights won both tie-break matches to finish third.
Replay 3rd place match games
Fun fact: Alpine SG Pipers won the tournament only after Magnus Carlsen decided not to participate this year. The World no.1 played for the same team in the last two editions, yet on both occasion, the team did not even reach the Finals.
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Replay Day 10 games
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 |
Links
Tech Mahindra Global Chess League: Official site, facebook, twitter, instagram, youtube and linkedin
Tech Mahindra: Official site, facebook, twitter, youtube and linkedin
