Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi battle it out in the Global Chess League in Bengaluru.
| Photo Credit: SUDHAKARA JAIN
Bibisara Assaubayeva had played seven games and won none. On the eve of her eighth game, her teammate Javokhir Sindarov joked she could take one of his Player-of-the-Match trophies from the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League, as he had many.
Sindarov needn’t be that generous, though Assaubayeva is his girlfriend. She won the award on her own, for her win against Polina Shuvalova, who hadn’t lost a single game in the tournament.
That win by Assaubayeva helped Fyers American Gambits beat Ganges Grandmasters 13-5 in the last match at the Lalit Ashok on Thursday and thus remain in the joint lead with just two rounds remaining in the round-robin league. Sindarov, of course, played his part, winning his game against Ian Nepomniachtchi.
The Grandmasters are still among the leaders though, thanks to a 12-4 victory against the reigning champion Alpine APL Pipers in the day’s opening match. The Pipers, though, bounced back with an 11-6 win against PBG Alaskan Knights.
Pipers, Gambits and Grandmasters have 15 match points each. When it comes to game points, the Pipers and the Gambits have 73 apiece, while the Grandmasters are on 72.
Cheq Mumba Masters, which scored a crucial 14-5 win against Triveni Continental Kings, has 12 points and is best placed to challenge the three leaders for a place in the final. The Kings remain at the bottom with six points, three less than the Knights.
The results: Alpine APL Pipers lost to Ganges Grandmasters 4-12 (Carlsen drew with Nepomniachtchi; Giri lost to Aronian; Vidit drew with Perez; Divya drew with Shuvalova; Humpy lost to Tsolakidou; Murzin drew with Mendonca).
Triveni Continental Kings lost to Cheq Mumba Masters 5-14 (Firouzja lost to Vachier-Lagrave; Wei drew with Pranesh; Aravindh lost to Mamedyarov; Zhu drew with Harika; Kosteniuk bt Yip; Pranav lost to Daneshvar).
Alpine Pipers bt PBG Alaskan Knights 11-6 (Carlsen bt Anand; Giri drew with Arjun; Vidit lost to Erdogmus; Divya drew with Lagno; Humpy bt Batsiashvili; Murzin bt Abhimanyu).
Fyers American Gambits bt Ganges Grandmasters 13-5 (Sindarov bt Nepomniachtchi; Nihal lost to Aronian; Dubov bt Perez; Assaubayeva bt Shuvalova; Sarasadat drew with Tsolakidou; Maurizzi bt Mendonca).
Published – September 10, 2026 10:24 pm IST
