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Former World Champions Vishy Anand and Hou Yifan each scored large wins as their staff, the Ganges Grandmasters, cruised to victory on day one of many Tech Mahindra World Chess League 2023 in Dubai.
GM Alexander Grischuk was the day’s different hero, successful with Black to provide the UpGrad Mumba Masters an unlikely win. Day two, when GM Magnus Carlsen joins the fray, begins on June 23 at 6 a.m. ET / 12:00 CEST.
You may watch the Tech Mahindra World Chess League 2023 on our occasions web page right here.
What Is The World Chess League?
The World Chess League is a staff speedy match organized by the Indian firm Tech Mahindra and FIDE that runs June 22-July 2 in Dubai, UAE.
The dream is to get pleasure from some fraction of the success of the $10 billion Indian Premier League that revolutionized cricket. As with cricket, hefty sponsorship has attracted a few of the world’s easiest gamers to play in new “franchise” groups, although an enormous complicating issue is that chess stays a largely particular person sport.
an out-of-body expertise pic.twitter.com/IAlOijRzvi
— Peter Svidler (@polborta) June 21, 2023
Cricket fan GM Peter Svidler, commentating from the venue, bought to fulfill Steve Waugh, one of many best cricketers of all time.
The format is each acquainted and weird. Six groups of six gamers play one another twice over 10 rounds, earlier than the highest two compete in a last match. The time management is a speedy quarter-hour per participant per recreation, with 10 seconds added per transfer, and the purpose is to win a match and earn 3 match factors (1 for a draw, none for a loss).
A twist is that particular person video games are scored 3 factors for a win with White, however 4 for a win with Black, so matches that finish in “rating attracts” shall be gained by the staff that had the black items.
Essentially the most attention-grabbing element is how the groups had been drafted, with every staff of six that includes one “icon” participant. That features the world number-one.
As I’m not the present world champ we’re getting on to new lables. Attempting «Icon» on for measurement now.
Let’s see🤣 https://t.co/70k9PMiwpZ
— Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) June 12, 2023
We had been initially additionally going to get the reigning World Champion Ding Liren, however as within the latest Warsaw Speedy and Blitz, Ding has dropped out and been changed by GM Levon Aronian. The opposite icons are five-time World Champion Anand in addition to GMs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Jan-Krzysztof Duda.
Every staff additionally options two feminine gamers, and whereas GM Ju Wenjun is busy making ready to defend her girls’s world championship title, girls’s number-one Hou has been tempted again into motion.
Pre-event publicity has pressured the combination of women and men, with FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich quoted as saying: “GCL is the one league in professional sports activities with a joint staff format, that includes each women and men gamers in the identical staff, competing for the last word prize.”
In chess phrases, the Professional Chess League is a obtrusive refutation of that assertion, as are, as an example, the French, Polish, and United Kingdom chess leagues, which all require feminine stars on every staff. You may attempt to argue about what constitutes a professional sport, however then we now have, as an example, combined doubles in tennis.
The opposite curiosity is that gamers solely compete towards the identical class of participant; for instance, Carlsen will solely play his fellow icons, whereas the feminine gamers will solely compete towards one another. No IM-elect Alice Lee beating a 2700-rated-grandmaster-style upsets, as we had seen within the PCL, are doable.
That doesn’t imply there gained’t be any younger stars, because the sixth board in every match will function two prodigies, or gamers who had been below 21 years of age earlier this 12 months: GMs Javokhir Sindarov, Jonas Bjerre, Andrey Esipenko, Nihal Sarin, Raunak Sadhwani, and Praggnanandhaa.
Just a little bit about final night time 😇😂 #CGT #GlobalChessLeague @Chingari_IN pic.twitter.com/5VTeqX62SJ
— PhotoChess (@photochess) June 21, 2023
Once more, the prodigies will solely play one another, and in some circumstances, it was arbitrary who was chosen. On Carlsen’s SG Alpine Warriors, we now have 17-year-old Praggnanandhaa because the prodigy, however his fellow 17-year-old Gukesh and 19-year-old Arjun Erigaisi are within the remaining class of “superstars”—i.e. high gamers who don’t fairly match into the opposite slots!
Only one match shall be performed at a time, and the primary day noticed two clashes.
Triveni Continental Kings 7-8 UpGrad Mumba Masters
| Triveni Continental Kings | Pts | Pts | UpGrad Mumba Masters |
| 7 | 8 | ||
| Aronian | 1 | 1 | Vachier-Lagrave |
| Yu | 0 | 4 | Grischuk |
| Wei | 3 | 0 | Vidit |
| Lagno | 1 | 1 | Humpy |
| Dzagnidze | 1 | 1 | Harika |
| Bjerre | 1 | 1 | Sindarov |
This match, and the occasion as an entire, bought off to a sluggish begin, with “icons” Aronian and Vachier-Lagrave enjoying out a cautious attract a top-board recreation that completed, in stalemate, on transfer 66.
The opposite gamers appeared to be taking their cue from the leaders, however then, as time ran down, all hell broke unfastened. Chinese language star GM Wei Yi, nonetheless simply 24 years outdated, burst onto the chess scene as a young person enjoying sensible attacking chess, and we bought a glimpse of that as he took down Indian GM Vidit Gujrathi. 28…Bf5? proved to be a deadly mistake.
That win gave the Triveni Continental Kings 3 factors and that, it appeared, was simply the beginning. All three of UpGrad Mumba Masters’ Indian stars bought into bother, however they stored resisting. Georgian GM Nana Dzagnidze missed a tough win towards Harika Dronavalli, whereas GM Kateryna Lagno additionally missed a intelligent option to convert her big benefit towards GM Humpy Koneru.
That would not have mattered if 18-year-old Danish number-one Bjerre had transformed a successful place towards 17-year-old Uzbek expertise Sindarov on backside board, however, in a recreation the place the strikes on the finish defeated the transmission, Sindarov managed to flee with a draw by perpetual verify.
That unlikely collection of escapes meant that three-time World Blitz Champion Grischuk bought an opportunity to be a hero by successful with the black items towards Chinese language GM Yu Yangyi to clinch the match. He stated afterward:
“The sport was very sophisticated! I believe he had some strain from the start, however then for some cause he retreated together with his knight, and I believe it turned actually sophisticated, after which I took over and at last managed to win.”
Grischuk joked that there was nobody to have fun with as his staff did not consider in him and left, however he bought congratulations as he left the enjoying corridor.
Grischuk brings the win for @umumba! #GlobalChessLeague @GCLlive
Sport: https://t.co/9fjUBetkt7 https://t.co/1afZZRvW3u pic.twitter.com/2iyOVOmYB8
— Chess.com – India (@chesscom_in) June 22, 2023
He could not have been extra thrilled.
If you ask chess gamers to indicate some emotion 👊 https://t.co/oYDuf61a41
— chess24.com (@chess24com) June 22, 2023
The second match could not match that nail-biting end, however chess followers bought to witness two legends not solely again in motion however starring for his or her staff.
Chingari Gulf Titans 4-10 Ganges Grandmasters
| Ganges Grandmasters | Pts | Pts | Chingari Gulf Titans |
| 10 | 4 | ||
| Anand | 3 | 0 | Duda |
| Rapport | 1 | 1 | Mamedyarov |
| Dominguez | 1 | 1 | Dubov |
| Khotenashvili | 1 | 1 | Shuvalova |
| Hou | 3 | 0 | Kosteniuk |
| Esipenko | 1 | 1 | NIhal |
On this match, it was as if the opposite gamers did not wish to distract from the previous world champions on show. Rapport-Mamedyarov and Dominguez-Dubov had been 25 and 28-move attracts by repetition, whereas Esipenko’s strain got here to nothing towards Nihal.
IM Polina Shuvalova spent 52 strikes—in useless—making an attempt to transform an additional pawn towards GM Bela Khotenashvili, however by that time no consequence of the sport might alter the end result of the match. The legends had spoken.
Vishy Anand is now 53 years outdated, and he hadn’t performed an official recreation because the European Membership Cup in October 2022, however the recreation he gained towards 25-year-old Polish number-one Duda was a classic attacking show.
Try the Sport of the Day, with evaluation by GM Rafael Leitao beneath.
Anand stated afterward: “I’m actually comfortable to be right here and even the beginning was very auspicious, so I hope that’s an excellent signal.”
Hou is simply 29 years outdated, however her lengthy profession consists of successful the ladies’s world chess championship on the age of 16. In her mid-20s she went again to review, at Oxford College, and three years in the past she turned a professor at Shenzhen College. Her aggressive appearances have understandably been restricted, however she stays the ladies’s primary by a big margin—and, with a win over one other former girls’s world champion, GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, she showcased why.
Kosteniuk missed an opportunity to eradicate the bishop on b3 when she performed 18…exd4!?, and he or she would not get a second one. Hou went in for the pawn seize and got here out on high.
The match has a really leisurely schedule in comparison with different top-level occasions, however Carlsen shall be enjoying two matches for his staff Alpine Warriors on day two. First, he’ll tackle his world championship challenger GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, earlier than he then comes up towards none apart from Anand.
It is an honour to play chess with world No 1 @MagnusCarlsen & be taught new methods.
Want my staff @SGAlpineWarrior better of luck for the match beginning tomorrow.
# man of metal vs mozart of chess pic.twitter.com/3DxSjVwZUI
— Sanjay Gupta (@SanjayGupta_APL) June 22, 2023
“It’s the massive match… outdated associates!” stated Vishy of the conflict with Carlsen.
Tech Mahindra World Chess League 2023 consists of a preliminary group stage and a last contested by the highest two groups. In every match, gamers of the identical staff play with the identical colour. All video games are within the 15+10 time management.
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