Carlsen Beats Anand, But Ganges Grandmasters Strike Back
World number-one Magnus Carlsen beat fellow former World Champion Viswanathan Anand on day two of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League 2023 in Dubai, but it was Anand's Ganges Grandmasters who won the match and boast the only perfect score.
Chinese GM Wei Yi is the only player on a perfect 2/2 after a topsy-turvy day's action. The chess continues on June 24 from 7 a.m. ET / 13:00 CEST.
You can follow the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League 2023 on our events page here. The event is being streamed on numerous TV channels, as well as on the GCL's YouTube Channel.
There were four matches on day two of the Global Chess League, one from round one and all three from round two.
Round 1
- SG Alpine Warriors 9:7 Balan Alaskan Knights (Carlsen vs. Nepomniachtchi on top board)
Round 2
- Triveni Continental Kings 8:7 Chingari Gulf Titans (Aronian vs. Duda)
- Ganges Grandmasters 11:6 SG Alpine Warriors (Anand vs. Carlsen)
- UpGrad Mumba Masters 5:14 Balan Alaskan Knights (Vachier-Lagrave vs. Nepomniachtchi)
SG Alpine Warriors 9-7 Balan Alaskan Knights
Carlsen and Dubai have a long relationship.
So far three world championship titles and a GM title on three visits to Dubai. Time for a global title as well? Starting tomorrow https://t.co/T6y5IFnNlt
— Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) June 22, 2023
It was fitting, therefore, that the first player he faced on his debut in the Global Chess League in Dubai was the player he beat over 11 games to win his fifth classical world chess championship title, GM Ian Nepomniachtchi. All eyes were on that match-up, but what followed was anticlimactic. Carlsen picked up a pawn but Nepomniachtchi had good compensation, and the game fizzled out into a 42-move draw.
At first, things looked grim for Carlsen's team as GM Teimour Radjabov scored a 4-point win with the black pieces against young Indian GM Arjun Erigaisi. The finish was brutal! Can you spot the quickest way to seal the deal?
Black to move and win.
The SG Alpine Warriors fought back, however, with GM Irina Krush getting the better of GM Tan Zhongyi in a tricky endgame, while GM Gukesh D finally needed great resilience and a little luck to survive a 103-move thriller against his great rival GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
Perhaps the highlight of the match, however, saw GM Praggnanandhaa trap, and ultimately capture, GM Raunak Sadhwani's rook.
It was a good start for the SG Alpine Warriors.
Triveni Continental Kings 8-7 Chingari Gulf Titans
On day one of the Global Chess League, Wei scored a sparkling win with the white pieces, but his team lost their match by the narrowest of margins as GM Alexander Grischuk picked up a win with the black pieces to score one more point. A day later, however, Wei was the player who clinched match victory by winning with the black pieces. GM Nihal Sarin caught GM Jonas Bjerre's king in a mating net, but as he had White he scored just 3 points.
In hindsight, maverick GM Daniil Dubov might have regretted giving up his queen.
Wei is the only player in the tournament who still has a perfect score.
Ganges Grandmasters 11-6 SG Alpine Warriors
Carlsen and Anand have played two world championship matches and faced each other countless times, but games between them never get old. On this occasion it was Carlsen who came out on top, after Anand complained of a moment of carelessness when he played 11...e6!? as "just a flick of the wrist." "I should have played e5, for better or worse," he added.
🐐G.O.A.T.S 🐐@MagnusCarlsen @vishy64theking #GGvSG #GCL #GlobalChessLeague #TheBigMove #GCLonJioCinema #VISHYvMAGNUS pic.twitter.com/FkrdfsyPV3
— Tech Mahindra Global Chess League (@GCLlive) June 23, 2023
Carlsen was able to break in the center, win a pawn, and gradually grind out a win. That clash is our Game of the Day, with analysis by GM Rafael Leitao below.
Carlsen was in no mood to celebrate, however, commenting: "It was good to play Vishy, but to be honest right now I’m more concerned about what’s happening in the match!"
He had every reason to be concerned, as GM Richard Rapport took over against Gukesh with the black pieces. A g4-push was the final straw, and the same move saw GM Elisabeth Paehtz ruin her winning position against GM Bela Khotenashvili.
The Ganges Grandmasters won to move to 6/6 match points, already a full 3 points ahead of their pursuers. Did anyone say team spirit?
Team prep! #GlobalChessLeague pic.twitter.com/vp0ZoGjYVF
— chess24.com (@chess24com) June 23, 2023
UpGrad Mumba Masters 5-14 Balan Alaskan Knights
The final match of the day was a massacre, despite GM Harika Dronavalli getting a winning position by move eight and ultimately converting against GM Nino Batsiashvili. GM Vidit was also winning a piece by around move 10 against Radjabov, but he drew a 123-move marathon that could almost have ended a great friendship between the two players. By the final stages of the game, the outcome of the match had long been decided.
Balan Alaskan Knights owed their victory to three 4-point wins with the black pieces. It seems Tan won on time against GM Humpy Koneru, Raunak put GM Javokhir Sindarov to the sword in just 25 moves, while Grischuk-Abdusattorov was one case where Grischuk's remarkable ability to play calmly with just seconds to spare let him down.
16 seconds for Grischuk against almost 8 minutes for Abdusattorov! https://t.co/alltZevo0c #GlobalChessLeague pic.twitter.com/p4rIOlpM2S
— chess24.com (@chess24com) June 23, 2023
Finally, 2021 World Rapid Champion Abdusattorov posed a task that was too tough to solve on instinct and wrapped up the win.
Carlsen-Aronian will be among the clashes to look forward to on day three of the event.
Global Chess League Standings After Day 2
| # | Team | Played | Wins | Losses | Draws | Game Pts | Match Pts |
| 1 | Ganges Grandmasters | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 6 |
| 2 | Balan Alaskan Knights | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 3 |
| 3 | SG Alpine Warriors | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 3 |
| Triveni Continental Kings | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 3 | |
| 5 | UpGrad Mumba Masters | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 3 |
| 6 | Chingari Gulf Titans | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
Tech Mahindra Global Chess League 2023 consists of a preliminary group stage and a final contested by the top two teams. In each match, players of the same team play with the same color. All games are in the 15+10 time control.
Previous reports:
Colin McGourty led news at Chess24 from its launch until it merged with Chess.com a decade later. An amateur player, he got into chess writing when he set up the website Chess in Translation after previously studying Slavic languages and literature in St. Andrews, Odesa, Oxford, and Krakow.
