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Global Chess League in Dubai: Aronian stuns Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi to throw open race for honours

Triveni Continental Kings move into a three-way tie for the lead with SG Alpine Warriors and Ganges Grandmasters entering the final day

The two tournament leaders suffered painful defeats on the penultimate day of the double round-robin elimination round, while the hot-streaking Triveni Continental Kings won a third straight match, setting up a three-way tie for the lead and an exciting photo-finish in the race to the two finals slots of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League.

After playing the game of the tournament in the previous round, Grandmaster (GM) Magnus Carlsen suffered a monumental mental lapse against GM Levon Aronian on Friday, missing a simple mate in one as the SG Alpine Warriors’ fell to the Continental Kings, 10-8.

The Continental Kings made it two-for-two on Friday as they also won the day’s final match, narrowly beating the Balan Alaskan Knights, 10-9, with Aronian scoring another big win, outclassing GM Ian Nepomniachtchi on the icon board.

GM Koneru Humpy, meanwhile, finally delivered when it mattered, overpowering GM Hou Yifan, the world’s highest-rated woman player, to help the Upgrad Mumba Masters secure a clinical 12-4 win over GM Viswanathan Anand’s Ganges Grandmasters.

The Continental Kings, who started the tournament at the bottom of the standings, now have 15 points to catch the Ganges Grandmasters and the Warriors at the top. The Warriors, however, have a slight edge as they play two matches on the final day of elimination on Saturday against the Chingari Gulf Titans in the day’s opening match and against the UpGrad Mumba Masters in the third of a four-match playdate.

The Continental Kings and the Ganges Grandmasters, meanwhile, will play each other in a virtual knockout match for a slot in the finals.

In an equal position against Carlsen, Aronian, playing the black pieces, moved his rook to the d5 square, putting it in the crosshairs of white’s bishop. Taking the rook, however, would be a huge blunder, as it would lead to either a checkmate or Carlsen having to give up his queen.

After thinking for over a minute, the world number one inexplicably captured the rook anyway and ended up laughing in disbelief when he realised he was getting mated after Aronian recaptured with hi knight.

Aronian, a two-time World Cup champion who led Armenia to three World Chess Olympiad championships before moving to the United States in 2021, pointed out the game would have remained equal if Carlsen initiated an exchange of queens instead of capturing the rook.

“I saw that Qe7 equalises, so instead of playing Rd5, I was really desperately looking for a move to get an advantage, but I didn’t find it,” said Aronian.

Humpy, who has managed only six draws from eight games despite getting several golden opportunities in three of her matches, finally nailed her first win in the tournament, beating Hou in a thrilling attacking game as the Mumba Masters became the only team to sweep the Grandmasters in both their matches, and more importantly moved to solo second place with 13 points. GM Javokhir Sindarov added another win for the Masters as Ganges’ GM Andrey Esipenko likewise missed a crushing mate in one.

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