Firouzja's winning streak comes to an end against Caruana, suffers second loss of the day versus Gukesh
Alireza Firouzja's (TCK) hot winning streak came to a screeching halt against Fabiano Caruana (ASGP). It was indubitably the game of the day and perhaps the game of the event so far too. Firouzja finished the day with another loss against the World Champion, D Gukesh. Once again, Firouzja exposed his weakness in his endgame play as he continues to play the endgame like he plays the middlegame. He sacrificed an exchange without any clear plan. Every team has lost at least two matches by now while Round 7 is in progress. Use code CBIGCL to get 20% Off when you buy tickets on District. Link is at the end of the article.
Match #16: Fyers American Gambits vs PBG Alaskan Knights: 0-3 (7-9)
The World Champion, D Gukesh (PBG AK) got himself a winning position against Hikaru Nakamura (FAG). However, in time trouble he faltered and lost the game. Arjun Erigaisi (PBG AK) and IM Sara Khadem (PBG AK) scored the crucial victories to ensure Fyers American Gambits loses to PBG Alaskan Knights by 7-9.
Gukesh - Nakamura
As Dr. GM Karsten Mueller (GER) mentioned in his analysis - the queen is too far away now. 33.Bxh6! The decisive strike c4 34.Qf3 Ne4 35.Ng4 Re6 36.h5? Gukesh rushed. 36.Rd1 would have been a better choice. After a bit of a back and forth battle, Gukesh blundered in time trouble.
Arjun - Artemiev
The above same color bishop endgame should head towards a draw with correct play. 31...a5 should have led to a draw. Instead, 31...c4?? gave White the decisive advantage. Find out the difference.
Replay FAG - PBG AK games
Match #17: Alpine SG Pipers - Triveni Continental Kings: 3-0 (12-8)
World no.3 Fabiano Caruana (ASGP) won an exciting battle against Alireza Firouzja (TCK), ending the latter's winning streak. It was undoubtedly the game of the day and perhaps of the event so far too. Anish Giri (ASGP) also avenged his first-round loss against Wei Yi (TCK). R Praggnanandhaa (ASGP) scored his first win of the event against Vidit Gujrathi (TCK). Alpine SG Pipers managed to equalize their opening match loss against the defending champion, Triveni Continental Kings.
Replay ASGP - PBG AK games
Match #18: upGrad Mumba Masters vs Ganges Grandmasters: 3-0 (11-6)
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (uMM) drew a tough queen vs queen and knight endgame against Vishy Anand (GG).
Humpy - Polina
In an advantageous rook and same color bishop, White made the mistake of pushing her pawn 28.c7 Bd6 29.Ba3 Ke7 30.Ke4 Kd7 31.Kd3 Rxc7 and the pawn fell. Instead, 28.Ra6 would have perhaps allowed White to win the game faster. Check the endgame expert Dr. GM Karsten Mueller's (GER) analysis to find out all the intricate analysis of the endgame.
Replay uMM - GG games
Match #19: Triveni Continental Kings - PBG Alaskan Knights: 3-0 (10-9)
Triveni Continental Kings won one of the closest match of the event so far, against PBG Alaskan Knights by 10-9. World Champion, D Gukesh (PBG AK) bounced back after starting the day with a loss. He handed Alireza Firouzja (TCK) his second consecutive loss of the day. Gukesh and GM Kateryna Lagno (PBG AK) scored the key victories over Firouzja and GM Jiner Zhu (TCK) respectively. The winner for TCK were - Wei Yi, Vidit Gujrathi and GM Alexandra Kosteniuk against Arjun Erigaisi, Leinier Dominguez Perez and IM Sara Khadem.
Firouzja - Gukesh
The endgame expert, Dr. GM Karsten Mueller (GER) shared with us that 46.Ne7! gives White a draw h3 47.Nc6+ Kc8 48.Kd6 Rd1+ 49.Kc5 Ra3 50.Ne7+ Kd7 51.Nd5+ Ke8 52.Nf6+ Kf8 53.Nd7+. Instead, the game continued 46.Rh8+? Kb7 47.Rh7+ Ka6 48.Rh6+ Ka5 and soon Black's soon broke free of the bind and won the game. Check out the complete analysis by Dr. GM Mueller.
Replay TCK - PBG AK games
For more Match #16, #17, #18 and #19 photos, please click at the following links - part 1 and 2.
Replay live stream
Replay Day 6 games
Standings after Day 6
Day 7 matches
Match #20: upGrad Mumba Masters vs Fyers American Gambits - 3:30 p.m. IST
Match #21: Ganges Grandmasters vs Alpine SG Pipers - 5 p.m. IST.
Match #22: Fyers American Gambits vs Triveni Continental Kings - 6:30 p.m. IST.
Match #23: PBG Alaskan Knights vs Ganges Grandmasters - 8 p.m. IST.
Scoring System for Game Points (GP)
4 GP (3+1) | A player wins the Game with Black Pieces |
3 GP | A player wins the Game with White Pieces |
1 GP | Draw |
0 GP | Defeat |
Scoring System for Match Points (MP)
3 MP | The team that scores more Game Points |
1 MP | If both teams are level on Game Points |
0 MP | The team that scores lesser Game Points than the opponent |
Links
Tech Mahindra Global Chess League: Official site, facebook, twitter, instagram, youtube and linkedin
Tech Mahindra: Official site, facebook, twitter, youtube and linkedin
