Shocking Upsets As Team Aronian, Team Vachier-Lagrave Bag Finals Spots

On a blockbuster final day of the regular season of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League 2023, GM Levon Aronian's Triveni Continental Kings and the GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave-led UpGrad Mumba Masters stole the two finals spots on offer from the longtime leaders.

A setback by GM Viswanathan Anand's Ganges Grandmasters, as well as an 18-2 drubbing conceded by GM Magnus Carlsen's SG Alpine Warriors, meant that the teams that had led for the majority of the event were swept off the top rung.

The finals of the Global Chess League between the Triveni Continental Kings and the UpGrad Mumba Masters will take place on July 2 at 9.45 a.m. ET/13:30 CEST.

The 10th day saw four matches take place—one from round nine and three from round 10 to conclude the regular season.

Round Nine

• SG Alpine Warriors 7-8 Chingari Gulf Titans  (Carlsen vs. Duda on top board)

Round Ten

• Triveni Continental Kings 11-6 Ganges Grandmasters (Aronian vs. Anand)
• UpGrad Mumba Masters 18-2 SG Alpine Warriors (Vachier-Lagrave vs. Carlsen)
• Chingari Gulf Titans 4-12 Balan Alaskan Knights (Duda vs. Nepomniachtchi)

SG Alpine Warriors 7-8 Chingari Gulf Titans

The SG Alpine Warriors and Chingari Gulf Titans kicked off the day with a rematch of their round-four clash that ended in favor of the Warriors. Feeling bullish about their chances with the white pieces, a win here would have all but secured the Warriors' spot in the top two.

Carlsen opened proceedings with a commanding win over GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda that featured several crafty intermezzos. As drawish positions materialized on the boards around the two, it looked as though the Warriors were heading toward a tight victory.

In an ominous prophecy of twists and turns sprinkled throughout the day, the Titans picked up a key point with black on board two, with GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov dispatching GM Gukesh D. after entombing the Indian GM's bishop on the queenside.

Mamedyarov's victory proved to be sufficient to get the Titans over the line and heap pressure on the Warriors to win their final season match against the UpGrad Mumba Masters, who now trailed them by two points (a single match win would allow their chasers to leapfrog them).

Triveni Continental Kings 11-6 Ganges Grandmasters

The Ganges Grandmasters' nerves from day nine cascaded over into the final round of the season and a win on board two by GM Richard Rapport did little to navigate his team out of treacherous waters against the inspired Triveni Continental Kings.

Following salient victories in rounds eight and nine, the Kings' board three and MVP, GM Wei Yi, found himself in a winning position on the white side of a classic Nimzo Indian Defense: Samisch Variation, this time against the world number-17, GM Leinier Dominguez.

Wins for underdogs IM Sarasadat Khademalsharieh and GM Jonas Buhl Bjerre on boards five and six respectively confirmed the stunning upset for the Kings and secured their team a shot at the $500,000 on offer for the winning team (each player from the winning team will receive $7,500 plus a potential share of the larger prize which is to be distributed at the team owner's discretion).

For the Ganges Grandmasters, the loss was devastating as they realized they had tumbled off the top of the leaderboard in one fell swoop. With a scoreboard topping 85 game points, Anand's team had individually performed the best but had fallen just short in the match-based format.

For the Triveni Continental Kings, victory could not have been sweeter. One of the team's executives, Tarun Sawhney, summed things up: "Very exciting match, delighted with the outcome! Really well played to the Ganges Grandmasters, but we are delighted to come out on top."

The Kings 👑 moonwalk into the finals with an astounding victory, crushing Ganges Grandmasters.

Revenge is sweet and savory.@ChessBaseIndia#TriveniContinentalKings #GlobalChessLeague #Chess #ChessWinners #TCKWins pic.twitter.com/a7FDPvoU5E

— Triveni Continental Kings (@trivenickings) July 1, 2023

UpGrad Mumba Masters 18-2 SG Alpine Warriors

The biggest news of the day was certainly the UpGrad Mumba Masters' decimation of the SG Alpine Warriors by the most substantial margin seen in the Global Chess League yet. Playing with the black pieces on all boards, the Masters were close to perfect en route to a score of 18-2 and won on boards two, three, four, and five.

Only former world champion Carlsen and tournament MVP GM Praggnanandhaa R. could stand in the way of a clean sweep by the Masters, and the result left even the victors' veterans GMs Alexander Grischuk and Vachier-Lagrave in total disbelief at the outcome.

Grischuk led from the start of his game against Gukesh and had to show considerable technique to win a drawish rook and pawn endgame. Perhaps galvanized by his teammate, GM Vidit Gujrathi also won a rook and pawn endgame against countryman GM Arjun Erigaisi. After exchanging into the endgame, a Carlsbad-esque pawn structure remained on the board, and Vidit used pawn breaks and open files to demonstrate how to win such rook endgames.

Our Game of the Day has been annotated by GM Dejan Bojkov.

GMs Humpy Koneru and Harika Dronavalli capped off the emphatic victory with wins over GMs Irina Krush and Elisabeth Paehtz respectively, both capitalizing on middlegame blunders by their opponents.

Thanks to an earlier match draw against the Chingari Gulf Titans, the win over the SG Alpines Warriors meant that the UpGrad Mumba Masters had miraculously jumped to 16 match points, a single point ahead of the Ganges Grandmasters. Qualification to the finals came as quite a surprise to the team that began the day with an outside chance of finishing in the top two.

Rejoice!@umumba camp celebrate their berth in the final of the first-ever Tech Mahindra Global Chess League 🔥#upGradMumbaMasters #GlobalChessLeague #GCL #TheBigMove #GCLonJioCinema #TheBigWeekend pic.twitter.com/rz4DXDawZd

— Tech Mahindra Global Chess League (@GCLlive) July 1, 2023

Chingari Gulf Titans 4-12 Balan Alaskan Knights

The final match of the day was little more than dead rubber in terms of the leaderboard, but the teams fought tooth and nail to try and win their final match. The Balan Alaskan Knights, who had previously won just three of their nine matches, found their way past the Chingari Gulf Titans by a margin of 4-12.

GMs Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Nino Batsiashvili were the heroes for the Knights in the 10th round and both beat their opponent's queen pawn setups to collect a combined eight points. Relatively uneventful draws on the remaining boards confirmed the Knights' fourth win and pushed them to 12 match points.

Remarkably, by the time the final standings were settled, just six match points separated the first finishing team from the last, a true testament to the balance across all teams and a nod to the competitive format.

Global Chess League Standings After Day 10

With a two-match final awaiting them, team icons Aronian and Vachier-Lagrave will look to carry their round-10 momentum into the clash and claim the inaugural Global Chess League crown. Expect to see swashbuckling tactics, fighting chess, and camaraderie when the spectacle transpires on Sunday. 

Tech Mahindra Global Chess League 2023 consists of a preliminary group stage and a final contested by the top two teams. In each match, members of the same team play with the same color. All games are in the 15+10 time control.

Previous Coverage

• • Team Aronian Rises: 2-0 vs. Carlsen, Nepomniachtchi
  • Team Aronian, Team Anand Prevail In Photo Finish Matchups
  • Carlsen Wins Climactic Clash vs. Anand, Leads Team To Top
  • Anand Gains 4th Victory, But Team Duda Defeats Leaders
  • Cunning Carlsen, Unbeatable Praggnanandhaa Fall To Team Nepomniachtchi
  • Praggnanandhaa Carries Team Carlsen To The Top
  • Wei Yi, Team Anand Keep On Winning
  • Carlsen Beats Anand, But Ganges Grandmasters Strike Back
  • Anand, Hou Show Class Is Permanent As Global Chess League Begins
  • Carlsen, Ding, Anand, Hou Yifan: Big Names Added To Global Chess League Lineup