GCL: Alpine SG Pipers beat Fyers American Gambits;

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], December 17 : Alpine SG Pipers stormed their way into title contention by registering their second consecutive victory, according to a release.
UpGrad Mumba Masters and defending champions Triveni Continental Kings also registered comfortable wins to maintain their advantage in the Global Chess League (GCL), a joint initiative of Tech Mahindra and FIDE.
The Pipers beat Fyers American Gambits 10-4, upGrad Mumba Masters registered a dominating 18-2 win over PBG Alaskan Knights, while Triveni Continental Kings got the better of Ganges Grandmasters 11-6 at the Royal Opera House, a release said.
After Matchday 4, Mumba Masters and Triveni Continental Kings are both on nine match points, but the former is at the top of the leaderboard with 51 game points, compared with 43 for the defending champions.
In the first clash of Matchday 4, Alpine SG Pipers once again chose to play white after winning the toss for the second straight match, looking to build on their victory over overnight leaders upGrad Mumbai Masters.
There was not much to separate the two teams on the top four boards. Still, Mendonca delivered another clinical performance, beating World Rapid Champion Volodar Murzin on the prodigy board to give his team the advantage.
Opting for a Closed Catalan, the GM from Goa gained the upper hand with a bishop sacrifice on the 18th move and maintained the pressur,e and his Russian opponent ran out of time on move 46.
In the women's clash between Nino and Injac Teodara, the former was under pressure for a major part of the 61 move clash but turned things around with three advancing pawns and forced Teodara to resign and take her team to the top of the table for a brief period.
Nina, who registered her third win in four matches, said, "I played all in and pushed my pawn and at some point (I had a chance to win)."
Later, upGrad Mumba Masters rode on wins from Koneru Humpy and D Harika to register a dominating win over PBG Alaskan Knights with black pieces to cement their place on the top of leader board.
Humpy lived dangerously against Kateryna Lagno but pounced on her opponent's mistake as the Russian failed to correctly follow up after sacrificing her queen and resigned after 33 moves.
On the adjacent board, Player of the Match Harika defeated Sara Khadem in 43 moves while Alaskan Knights Arjun Erigasi lost to Wesley So after running out of time.
On the icon board, world champion D Gukesh's wait for a win got longer after he was held to a draw by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in 31 moves. Bardiya Daneshvar completed Mumba Masters tally with a win over Daniel Dardha.
In the last match of the day, Triveni Continental Kings defeated Ganges Grandmasters 11-6 after Alireza Firouzja defeated Viswanathan Anand in the icon clash and GM Wei Yi got the better of Vincent Keymer on the second board.
2024 World Cup winner Javokhir Sindarov pulled things back for Ganges Grandmasters by beating Vidit Gujarathi with black pieces to earn four game points but that was not enough for his team to save the match.
Action continues on Matchday 5 as upGrad Mumba Masters take on Triveni Continental Kings, Alpine SG Pipers face PBG Alaskan Knights while Ganges Grandmasters meet Fyers American Gambits.