Ganges Grandmasters kept their hopes of making it to the finals alive after securing a convincing 12-3 victory over Fyers American Gambits in their last league match of Season 3 of the Global Chess League (GCL) at the Royal Opera House in Mumbai on Monday.
However, their fate hinges on whether PBG Alaskan Knights can stop the winning streak of Alpine SG Pipers in the final group stage match later in the day. The Grandmasters are tied on 15 points with the Pipers, who have a game in hand.
If the Pipers win or draw against the Alaskan Knights, or if they score at least six points even with a loss, they will finish in second place, leapfrogging the Grandmasters on a better game score. The Alaskan Knights also have a chance for the second position if they can win all six games with black pieces.
The Grandmasters executed their strategy perfectly to keep their final hopes intact.
At the start of the day, Pipers, Grandmasters, and Mumba Masters were embroiled in a three-way battle for the second spot, with the Ganges Grandmasters being the first to take the board against the American Gambits.
Playing as white, Viswanathan Anand managed a draw with Hikaru Nakamura on the icon board. However, Vincent Keymer provided a boost by defeating Vladislav Artemiev in 39 moves. Raunak Sadhwani, named player of the match, triumphed over World Rapid Champion Volodar Murzin in 42 moves, further extending their advantage.
Stavroula Tsolakidou then secured victory against Teodora Injac, finalizing the tally and applying pressure on the other teams.
Mumba Masters faced a daunting challenge against table-toppers Triveni Continental Kings while playing with black pieces. Although Shakhriyar Mamedyarov secured a win against Vidit Gujrathi and Bardiya Daneshvar triumphed over Marc’Andria Maurizzi, the losses incurred by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave against Alireza Firouzja, Wesley So to Wei Yi, and Koneru Humpy to Zhu Jiner resulted in a narrow 10-9 defeat for the local favorites, eliminating them from contention for the second spot.