The highly anticipated second season of the prestigious Global Chess League kicked off in London on Thursday, featuring a star-studded lineup of grandmasters. The American Gambits, Alpine SG Pipers, and PBG Alaskan Knights emerged victorious on the opening day.
In the first match, the American Gambits took down season one runners-up Mumba Masters with a convincing 11:6 win. World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura, playing with white, secured a hard-fought draw against France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave on the Icon board. Nakamura described his performance as “shaky” but remained optimistic about his team’s chances, citing their strong chemistry and overall performance.
Polish grandmaster Jan-Krzysztof Duda stole the show with a decisive win, defeating Vidit Gujrathi with a clever checkmate combination. The American Gambits’ victory was sealed by wins on the lower boards, including Kazakhstan’s Bibisara Assaubayeva’s upset over India’s Humpy Koneru.
The Alpine SG Pipers triumphed over the Ganges Grandmasters, thanks to wins by Richard Rapport and Hou Yifan. The highly anticipated duel between five-time World Champions Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen ended in a draw, with Carlsen recovering from a tough middlegame.
In the final match of the day, the defending champions, Triveni Continental Kings, suffered a crushing 15:3 defeat at the hands of the PBG Alaskan Knights. Despite having the first-move advantage, the champions were outmaneuvered, with the Alaskan Knights claiming three victories on the superstars’ boards and drawing the remaining two.
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