Nepomniachtchi’s effort against Carlsen eventually went in vain.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Magnus Carlsen rushing to his chessboard is not a very unusual sight.
He was sporting a shy smile at his fans at Lalit Ashok on Sunday afternoon as he walked briskly towards the venue for Alpine APL Pipers’ match against Ganges Grandmasters on day two of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League.
The World No. 1 from Norway was held to a draw by former World championship challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi. Carlsen, however, could afford to smile as his team won 11-6. It was the second victory in as many matches for the defending champion as the two Indians, K. Humpy and Vidit Gujrathi, scored full points – they were playing with black pieces – against Stavroula Tsolakidou and Leinier Dominguez Perez.
Fyers American Gambits, playing at home, lost its first match after posting two wins on the first day. Gambits were beaten 7-9 by Grandmasters. The defeat of Javokhir Sindarov, the World No. 4 and the challenger for this year’s World championship, to Nepomniachtchi proved costly. It was on time that the Uzbek lost.
There was more disappointment for two-time champion Triveni Continental Kings as it went down to Cheq Mumba Masters 9-10. Kings have lost all their three matches while Masters could heave a sigh of relief, after losing two, including one to PBG Alaskan Knights (6-11) earlier in the day.
The results: Ganges Grandmasters lost to Alpine APL Pipers 6-11 (Nepomniachtchi drew with Carlsen; Aronian drew with Anish; Dominguez Perez lost to Vidit; Shuvalova bt Divya; Tsolakidou lost to Humpy).
PBG Alaskan Knights bt Cheq Mumba Masters 11-6 (Anand drew with Vachier-Lagrave; Arjun bt Pranesh; Yagiz Kaan lost to Mamedyarov; Lagno drew with D. Harika; Batsiashvili bt Yip; Abhimanyu Mishra bt Daneshvar).
Ganges Grandmasters bt Fyers American Gambits 9-7 (Nepomniachtchi bt Sindarov; Aronian lost to Nihal; Dominguez Perez drew with Dubov; Shuvalova bt Bibisara; Tsolakidou drew with Khademalsharieh; Leon Mendonca drew with Maurizzi).
Triveni Continental Kings lost to Cheq Mumba Masters 9-10 (Firouzja lost to Vachier-Lagrave; Wei drew with Pranesh; Aravindh lost to Mamedyarov; Zhu lost to Harika; Kosteniuk bt Yip; Pranav bt Daneshvar).
Published – September 06, 2026 10:45 pm IST
