The house was full. Among the spectators were a considerable number of Fyers American Gambits. And they made their presence by cheering loudly, breaking the pin-drop silence, after their team won the opening match of the fifth edition of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League.
It was indeed a perfect start to the tournament, as this is home to American Gambits. The evening became even more perfect for the city-based franchise, as it registered a second win. After defeating PBG Alaskan Knights 10-4, the Gambits scored a crushing 15-4 against Triveni Continental Kings, the most successful team in the GCL, the winner of the first two seasons and the runner-up last year.
But the focus on the opening day of the league was on a player from another franchise, Alpine APL Pipers. Five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen is returning to the league after missing the last edition in Mumbai, but he was held to a draw by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of Cheq Mumba Masters.
Carlsen’s team, however, won that match 10-8. And Alpine Pipers is the defending champion, though the squad is wearing a new look. Anish Giri is the only player from last year’s title-winning side.
The Continental Kings had a day to forget, though. Before the defeat to Alpine Pipers, they had also lost to Ganges Grandmasters 9-10. They need to get their act together soon, in the double round-robin.
The results:
Fyers American Gambits bt PBG Alaskan Knights 10-4 (Javokhir Sindarov bt Viswanathan Anand; Nihal Sarin drew with Arjun Erigaisi; Daniil Dubov drew with Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus; Bibisara Assaubayeva derw with Kateryna Lagno; Sarasadat Khademalsharieh drew with Nino Batsiashvili; MarcAndria Maurizzi bt Abhimanyu Mishra.
Triveni Continental Kings lost to Ganges Grandmasters 9-10 (Ian Nepominachtchi drew with Alireza Firouzja; Levon Aronian bt Wei Yi; Leinier Dominguez Perez lost to Aravindh Chithambaram; Polina Shuvalova bt Zhu Jiner; Stavroula Tsolakidou bt Alexandra Kosteniuk Leon Mendonca lost to V. Pranav).
Cheq Mumba Masters lost to Alpine APL Pipers 8-10 (Maxime Vachier-Lagrave drew with Magnus Carlsen; M. Pranesh bt Anish Giri; Shakhriyar Mamedyarov lost to Vidit Gujrathi; D. Harika bt Divya Deshmukh; Carissa Yip lost to Koneru Humpy; Bardiya Daneshvar drew with Volodar Murzin).
Continental Kings lost to American Gambits 5-14 (Firouzja drew with Sindarov; Wei lost to Nihal; Aravind lost to Dubov; Zhu drew with Assaubayeva; Kosteniuk bt Sarasadat; V. Pranav lost to MarcAndria Maurizzi).
Published on Sep 05, 2026
