Alpine Pipers made it to the GCL final despite Magnus Carlsen’s defeat at the hands of Alireza Firouzja.
| Photo Credit: SUDHAKARA JAIN
The only way for Magnus Carlsen’s team — Alpine Pipers — to make it to the final of the Global Chess League after the 6-11 loss to Triveni Continental Kings in the day’s first match, was a victory for the CheQ Mumba Masters in the last league match, against Fyers American Gambits. And they obliged.
The Masters won an edge-of-the-seat thriller 11-6, but it easily could have gone the other way around, and the American Gambits, playing at home, would have been in Sunday’s final. Nihal Sarin was in a winning position against M. Pranesh, but the Kerala Grandmaster blundered under severe time pressure, and then he went on to lose on time. The Gambits’ biggest star, Javokhir Sindarov, did his bit, beating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave on the Icon board, but that wasn’t going to be enough.
So, Pipers will take on Ganges Grandmasters in the match for the top prize in season four of the GCL at the Lalit Ashok. The Grandmasters also tasted defeat in their last league last match, going down 7-9 to PBG Alaskan Knights. But their superior game-points tally ensured a ticket for the final.
At the end of the double round-robin league, Grandmasters and Pipers finished with 18 points. Grandmasters topped the table by virtue of higher game points, 95 against the Pipers’ 88.
American Gambits and Mumba Masters scored 15 points each and will contest the playoff for the third place. Two-time champion Continental Kings and PBG Alaskan Knights ended with 12 points apiece and finished at the bottom.
The results: Alpine Pipers lost to Triveni Continental Kings 6-11 (Carlsen lost to Firouzja; Giri drew with Wei; Vidit lost to Aravindh; Divya drew with Zhu; Humpy drew with Kosteniuk; Murzin bt Pranav).
Alaskan Knights bt Ganges Grandmasters 9-7 (Anand drew with Nepomniachtchi; Arjun drew with Aronian; Erdogmus drew with Perez; Lagno drew with Shuvalova; Batsiashvili lost to Stavroula Tsolakidou; Abhimanyu bt Mendonca).
CheQ Mumba Masters bt American Gambits 11-6 (Vachier-Lagrave lost to Sindarov; Pranesh bt Nihal; Mamedyarov drew with Dubov; Harika drew with Assaubayeva; Yip bt Sarasadat; Daneshvar bt Maurizzi).
Published – September 12, 2026 10:23 pm IST
