London, October 8
With a dominant 14-5 victory, upGrad Mumba Masters staged a crucial comeback, dealing a blow to Sg Pipers' chances of closing in on the league's top two teams.
The game kicked off the action on the sixth day of the Global Chess League. In season one, both teams were in contention for the top places. In season one, both teams were strong contenders for the top spots.
While the Pipers have maintained their high-level performance in season two, the Mumba Masters have struggled. Mumba lost five matches, including a heavy 4-12 defeat to the Pipers earlier in the event, which has left them at the bottom of the standings.
Alpine Sg Pipers had the initiative of the first move. The match started calmly, with a relatively quick draw on one of the women's boards between Hou Yifan and Humpy Koneru. However, the tide soon turned dramatically against the Pipers.
Magnus Carlsen made a critical blunder on the icon board, losing to Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Upset by his loss, Carlsen stormed out of the playing area, visibly shaken.
In response, Pipers' Praggnanandhaa delivered a fierce attack against Vidit's Black king, securing a win and keeping the Pipers in the match. On the second superstar board, Peter Svidler, who up to this point recorded two losses and four draws, claimed his first victory of the tournament, defeating Richard Rapport with the black pieces.
Things worsened for the Sg Pipers from there: Kateryna Lagno narrowly avoided defeat as Harika Dronavalli ran out of time, resulting in a draw. To cap it off, Daniel Dardha was defeated by Raunak Sadhwani in a tense rook endgame.
The final score was 14-5 in favor of upGrad Mumba Masters. Not only was this a remarkable comeback for Mumba, but it also prevented the Pipers from closing the gap with the top two teams, keeping the league standings wide open.
After this round, upGrad Mumba Masters moved to 4th place, just behind the Alpine Sg Pipers.