Bengaluru, Sep 10 (IANS) Defending champions Alpine APL Pipers stormed back in style after losing the opening match of the day to beat PBG Alaskan Knights 11-6 to take the top spot in Season 4 of the Global Chess League (GCL) in Bengaluru on Thursday.

However, Ganges Grandmasters or FYERS American Gambits can grab that top position from them at the end of the day when they face each other in the last match on Thursday.

Ganges Grandmasters began the day with a convincing 12-4 win over the Pipers with black pieces, and CheQ Mumba Masters kept their chances alive with a 14-5 win over Triveni Continental Kings 14-5.

With Ganges Grandmasters and Alpine APL Pipers both set to play two matches on Thursday, the opening clash between the two teams was extremely important in setting the tone for the day.

Ganges Grandmasters showed why they are considered one of the strong title contenders this year by beating the Pipers without dropping a game.

Stavroula Tsolakidou began the Grandmasters march by inflicting a second loss of the tournament on Koneru Humpy. On the Superstar men’s board, two-time World Cup winner Levon Aronian turned the tables on Anish Giri by making the most of an additional knight in the endgame to win in 61 moves.

“I got lucky, very lucky. But I always believed that I could find the best moves despite playing very badly at the start. Maybe not losing the game was what I deserved, but winning, of course, is a huge luck,” said Aronian, who was also adjudged the Player of the Match.

However, Pipers bounced back immediately after the reversal with world number one Magnus Carlsen proving too strong for Viswanathan Anand with white pieces. Koneru Humpy then registered her fourth win of the tournament, handing Nino Batsiashvili her first loss of Season 4.

Volodar Murzin then defeated Abhimanyu Mishra on the prodigy board in a time scramble to put the result beyond doubt. Only 15-year-old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus managed to score four points for a win with black for the Alaskan Knights as Vidit Gujrathi ran out of time on the Superstar men’s board.

In the day’s other match, CheQ Mumba Masters kept their hopes of reaching the final alive with a thumping win over Triveni Continental Kings.

Playing black, the Mumba Masters won three of the six games, with Alexandra Kosteniuk winning the only game for the Continental Kings. On the icon board, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave outplayed Alireza Firouzja, and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov defeated Aravindh Chithambaram on the Superstar men’s board.

With Bardiya Daneshvar also winning on the prodigy board, the Mumba Masters took their game points tally to 73 from 8 matches with four wins.

–IANS

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