Mumbai, Dec 17 Alpine SG Pipers stormed their way into title contention by registering their second consecutive win, thanks to yet another clinical performance on the prodigy board by GM Leon Luke Mendonca and a last-gasp victory by Player of the Match Nino Batsiashvili on Matchday 4 of the Global Chess League (GCL) on Wednesday.
The Pipers beat Fyers American Gambits 10-4, while upGrad Mumba Masters registered a dominating 18-2 win over PBG Alaskan Knights.
In the first clash of Matchday 4, Alpine SG Pipers once again chose to play white after winning the toss for the second straight match, looking to build on their victory over overnight leaders upGrad Mumbai Masters.
There was not much to separate the two teams on the top four boards, but Mendonca came up with another clinical performance to beat World Rapid Champion Volodar Murzin on the prodigy board to give his team the advantage. Opting for a Closed Catalan, the GM from Goa gained the upper hand with a bishop sacrifice on the 18th move and maintained the pressure, and his Russian opponent ran out of time on move 46.
In the women’s clash between Nino and Injac Teodara, the former was under pressure for a major part of the 61-move clash, but turned things around with three advancing pawns and forced Teodara to resign and take her team to the top of the table for a brief period.
“I played all in and pushed my pawn, and at some point (I had a chance to win),” Nina, who registered her third win in four matches, said.
Later, upGrad Mumba Masters rode on wins from Koneru Humpy and Dronavalli Harika to register a dominating win over PBG Alaskan Knights with black pieces to cement their place at the top of the leaderboard. Humpy lived dangerously against Kateryna Lagno but pounced on her opponent’s mistake as the Russian failed to correctly follow up after sacrificing her queen and resigned after 33 moves.
On the adjacent board, Player of the Match Harika defeated Alexandra Kosteniuk in 50 moves while Alaskan Knights' Arjun Erigasi lost to Wesley So after running out of time. On the icon board, world champion D Gukesh’s wait for a win got longer after he was held to a draw by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in 31 moves. Bardiya Daneshvar completed the Mumba Masters tally with a win over Daniel Dardha.
In the last match of the day, Triveni Continental Kings will play Ganges Grandmasters.
Action continues on Matchday 5 as upGrad Mumba Masters take on Triveni Continental Kings, Alpine SG Pipers face PBG Alaskan Knights, while Ganges Grandmasters meet Fyers American Gambits.
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