IMAGE: Viswanathan Anand beat Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave but it was not enough to stop his team from recording their first defeat in the Global Chess League on Sunday. Photograph: Kind courtesy Chessbase India/Twitter
Ganges Grandmasters suffered their first defeat after three consecutive victories in the Global Chess League, going down to upGrad Mumba Masters in Dubai on Sunday.
Mumba Masters, who have had mixed results so far, were given a head start by Dronavalli Harika who got the better of Bella Khotenashvili to earn four game points.
Indian great Viswanathan Anand managed to strike back against French exponent Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who was leading with black pieces. In a sharp exchange, Maxime blundered by putting his queen on the wrong square and ended up losing.
Despite Anand’s win, Ganges Grandmasters lost with Richard Rapport going down to Alexander Grischuk, who became the hero of the match and earned three crucial match points for upGrad Mumba Masters.
In another entertaining contest SG Alpine Warriors defeated Chingari Gulf Titans 11-6.
Azerbaijani Grandmaster Shakhriyar Mamedyarov opened the account for Titans defeating D Gukesh to earn three game points. But Titans’ Nihal Sarin, under time pressure, made a fatal error and lost.
After three more games ended in draws, all eyes were on the game between Polina Shuvalova and Elisabeth Paehtz.
In a rook endgame, Paehtz emerged the better player, defeating her opponent with black pieces and securing victory for the Warriors.
The victory brought SG Alpine Warriors on par with Ganges Grandmasters on match points. However, Ganges Grandmasters have a better game points score — 38 vs 34.
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