Magnus vs Nepo, MVL vs Vishy | Global Chess League Day 2

Voices rising from the stands, history shifting in their hands. Every movement louder than the last, future racing with the past. Under one roof, we're chasing glory. Every second writes a story, no turning back, no time to rest. Welcome to the ultimate test. Everybody say checkmate! Come together for chess. Hands up, let the whole world celebrate. It's the Festival of Chess. Everybody say checkmate. Come together for Chess Day. Feel the pulse as the moments escalate. It's the Festival of Chess. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. It's the Festival of Chess. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Lights up, the world is watching. Every move as the planet Talking tonight we rise tonight we shine all our stars are love. Everybody say checkmate come together for chess. Spotlights burning through the night, legends stepping into the light. Crowds roar like a rising tide, biggest stars standing side by side. Cameras flashing, hear the noise, history made by girls and boys. This is fire you can't contain. Every heartbeat calling your name. Under one roof, we're chasing glory. Every second writes a story. No turning back, no time to rest. This is the ultimate test. Everybody say checkmate! Come together for a chess day. Hands up, let the whole world celebrate. It's a festival of chess. Everybody say checkmate! Come together for a chess day.

Checkmate!

Feel the pulse as the moments escalate. It's a festival of chess. It's a festival of chess. Fans from every corner of the globe holding their breath as the tension grows. Heart rate syncing with the stage. One spark setting off the cage. Voices rising from the stands. History shifting in their Every movement louder than the last. Future racing with the past. Under one roof, we're chasing glory. Every second writes a story. No turning back, no time to rest. Welcome to the ultimate test. Everybody say checkmate! Come together for a chess day. Hands up, let the whole world celebrate. It's a festival of chess. Everybody say checkmate! Checkmate! Come together for chess day. Feel the pulse as the moments escalate. It's the festival of chess. It's the festival of chess. Lights up, the world is watching. Every move is the planet talking. Tonight we rise, tonight we shine. All our stars align. Everybody say checkmate! Come together for chess day! Hands up, let the whole world celebrate! It's a festival of chess! Everybody say checkmate! Come together Spotlights burning through the night, legends stepping into the light. Crowds roar like a rising tide, biggest stars standing side by side. Cameras flashing, hear the noise, history made by girls and boys. This is fire you can't contain, every heartbeat calling your name. We're chasing glory, every second writes a story. No turning back, no time to rest, this is the ultimate test. Everybody say checkmate! Come together for a chess day! Hands up, let the whole world celebrate, it's a festival of chess! Everybody say checkmate! Come together for a chess day! Feel the pulse as the moments escalate, it's It's a festival of chess. It's a festival of chess. Fans from every corner of the globe holding their breath as the tension grows. Heart rate syncing with the stage. One spark setting off the cage. Voices rising from the stands. History shifting in their hands. Every movement louder than the last. Future racing Dancing with the past. Under one roof, we're chasing glory. Every second writes a story, no turning back. No time to rest, welcome to the ultimate test. Everybody say checkmate! Come together for a chess break. Hands up, let the whole world celebrate. It's a festival of chess. Everybody say checkmate! Come together for chess day. Feel the pulse as the moments escalate. It's the festival of chess. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh. It's the festival of chess. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh. Lights up, the world is watching. Every move is the planet talking. Tonight we rise, tonight we shine. All our stars align. Everybody say checkmate! Come together for chess day! Hands up, let the whole world celebrate! It's a festival of chess! Everybody say checkmate! Come together for a chess play. Feel the pulse as the moments escalate. It's a festival of chess. Spotlights burning through the night, legends stepping into the light. Crowds roar like a rising tide, biggest stars standing side by side. Cameras flashing, hear the noise, history made by girls and boys. This is fire you can't contain, every heartbeat calling your name. We're chasing glory. Every second writes a story. No turning back. No time to rest. This is the ultimate test. Everybody say checkmate. Come together for a chess day. Hands up. Let the whole world celebrate. It's a festival of chess. Everybody say checkmate. Come together for a chess day. Feel the pulse as the moments escalate.

It's a festival. It's the best of all the chess.

Fans from every corner of the globe holding their breath as the tension grows. Heart rate syncing with the stage, one spark setting off the cage. Voices rising from the stands, history shifting in their hands. Every movement louder than the last. Future racing with the past. Under one roof, we're chasing glory. Every second writes a story. No turning back, no time to rest. Welcome to the ultimate test. Everybody say checkmate! Come together for a chess break. Hands up, let the whole world celebrate. It's a festival of chess. Everybody say checkmate! Checkmate! Come together for chess day. Feel the pulse as our moments escalate. It's the festival of chess. It's the festival of chess. Lights up, the world is watching. Every move is the planet talking. Tonight we rise, tonight we shine. All our stars align. Everybody say checkmate! Come together for chess day! Hands up, let the whole world celebrate! It's a festival Spotlights burning through the night, legends stepping into the light. Crowds roar like a rising tide, biggest stars standing side by side. Cameras flashing, hear the noise, history made by girls and boys. This is fire you can't contain, every heartbeat calling your name. Under one roof, we're chasing glory. Every second writes a story. No turning back, no time to rest. This is the ultimate test. Everybody say checkmate! Come together for a chess day. Hands up, let the whole world celebrate. It's a festival of chess. Everybody say checkmate! Come together for a chess day. Feel the pulse as the moments escalate. It's the festival of chess. It's the festival of chess. Fans from every corner of the globe holding their breath as the tension grows. Heart rate syncing with the stage. One spark setting off the cage. Voices rising From the stands, history shifting in their hands. Every movement louder than the last. Future racing with the past. Under one roof, we're chasing glory. Every second writes a story. No turning back, no time to rest. Welcome to the ultimate test. Everybody say checkmate. Come together for chess day. Hands up, let the whole world celebrate. It's the Festival of Chess. Everybody say checkmate. Come together for chess day. Feel the pulse as the moments escalate. It's the Festival of Chess. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. It's the Festival of Chess. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Lights up, the world is watching. Every move is the planet talking. Tonight we rise, tonight we shine. All our stars align. Everybody say checkmate! Come together for a chess day! Hands up, let the whole world celebrate! It's the Festival of Chess! Everybody say checkmate! Come together for a chess day! Feel the pulse as the moments escalate! It's the Festival of Chess! Spotlights burning through the night, legends stepping into the light. Crowds roar like a rising tide. Biggest stars standing side by side. Cameras flashing, hear the noise. History made by girls and boys. This is fire you can't contain. Every heartbeat calling your name. Under one roof, we're chasing glory. Every second writes a story. No turning back, no time to rest. This is the ultimate Fans from every corner of the globe holding their breath as the tension grows. Heart rate sinking with the stage. One spark setting off the cage. Voices rising.

It's day 2 of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League. Welcome everyone, we are live from the tech capital of India and it's going to be a fantastic day of chess ahead of us. Today, day 2 here is all about momentum and response. The Fire American Gambits will try to keep their lead. 3 teams will try to get off the zero mark, and joining me for the entire ride is Sagar Shah.

I can't see myself, Tanya. I can't see myself. I can't see Harshit bhai.

Where are you?

I am right next to you, Sagar. So I think we will have us on the screen as well very, very soon. But this is a big day of chess ahead of us.

Huge day.

I mean, look at the chessboard.

It's set up.

There's nice lighting. There are all the category partners at the bottom, the two chairs which are there, a volunteer in the background. Perfect setup.

Perfect setup with tons of spectators eagerly waiting for the matchup that's going to happen because we are going to have none other than Magnus Carlsen playing in the first match itself already. Exactly.

Magnus पहले ही पहले ही घंटे में आ रहा है, like right at the start.

पहले ही minute में आने वाला है and to your point I think this is the scene that people want to see. They don't care about us but you know what they care about is the format of the Global Chess League. So let's break that down. For everyone watching right now, 36 of the world's top players playing for 6 franchisee teams right here. We'll have the Icon Board, we'll have Superstar Men Board, 2 Superstar Women Board, and the Prodigy Board. Harshit, I'll come to you on this one. What were your biggest takeaways from the format that we saw at play yesterday?

Well, I think this format tells us that nothing can be taken for granted. The team which was leading, uh, the entire event for 3 seasons, the Triveni Continental Kings, Are at the bottom of the leaderboard right now with two losses, and this tells us that we are in for a lot of surprises.

And the point system—I love it. Black gets four points for the win, three points for white for the win, and one point for the draw and match points.

भाई लंच अभी किया है. The proof was in the pudding of the point system. It's not just for cosmetics here. I'm going to say this: that the premium on a black win really came to play in the up in the Czech Mumbai Masters taking on the Pipers. 2 wins apiece in that, but Pipers won because their wins came from the black pieces. Will we see more of that today for these 6 teams who will be in action?

Amazing teams, all fantastic ones, but momentum is on the side of 4 of them. 2 of them haven't done particularly well on day 1. We'll see if they can bounce back today.

I want to point out that top right team, Fires American Gambits, did not just produce, Harshit, 2 match wins, But 24 game points already. They have been decisive in their games.

They've had Daniel Dubov, who was the player of the match, uh, in the last game that they played. They are absolutely fired up and pumped up to take their team to the finals.

Oh my God, look at this team! The Czech Mumba Masters mean business. MVL in the middle with Harika and Carissa Yip. Their superstar men board has Pranesh and Mamedyarov, and then we have Dhaneshwar Bhardwaj on the prodigy board. Wow!

क्या टीम है?

प्राणी इज़ अ सरप्राइज एलिमेंट फॉर दिस वन। या। एंड लेट्स नॉट फॉरगेट हरिका का तरीका इज़ व्हाट यू सेड सागर। यस। एक्जैक्टली। हर वे गोइन अगेंस्ट दिव्या। सो लुकिंग इन गुड फॉर्म फॉर करिशा। शी सफर्ड अ सेटबैक अगेंस्ट हंपी, बट दैट कुड हैव बीन अ टोटली डिफ We will have the coin tosses soon. Let's take a look at the team rosters, the six players for each of these teams, and we start next with the fiery.

भाई ये टीम को कौन हराएगा? They won both their matches yesterday and they were unstoppable even at night.

There is one player because of which they're doing so well because of Moritz.

He has won both of his games. Oh my God!

What I want to know is what does Sagar know about what they were doing at night?

At night they were all playing cards. That also there was so much sync and they were so together. It felt like team spirit was amazing. Let's go to the next team.

And the next team is one that is going to be the that is going to be singing the tunes here at the Global Chess League. The Alpine Pipers, Magnus Carlsen leading from the icon board. But yesterday the team win was decided on Vidit and Hampi's board.

Yeah, exactly. Vidit coming in form is incredible because last year in the GCL उसने एक ही गेम जीता था। आइए तो पहले ही राउंड में कर दिया। Coming in hot there, Vidit.

And now let's take a look at the roster of one of the teams which was performing really well for 3 seasons. This time, however, they are on a shaky start. It is the Triveni Continental Kings.

Harshit, I don't think Triveni Continental Kings know where they are right now. They've never experienced it before. They suddenly find themselves fighting from the bottom of the board. 2 matches yesterday, they lost both of them back to back, and this team isn't used to that. They need a response as quickly as possible. I agree, Tani. Sagar, do you think this is almost a do or die day for Trivandrum Continental Kings?

Bit too soon, but I mean very important day. आज नहीं जीते तो पूरा मोरल डाउन हो जाएगा। But talking about morale, PBG Alaskan Knights led by Vishy Anand also need to come back. They lost their match yesterday and Vishy and these young kids, भाई करना है कुछ। They have to get together.

I will say one thing though. PBG Alaskan Knights might have lost their match, but the games that they played, the quality was very high. It could have gone either way, but one team that brought in a massive upset yesterday was the Grand Masters taking on the Praveeni Continental Kings, and it's GGs here. But it was the SS Starula and Shovalova who got it done for the team.

Yeah, I mean, क्या आप जोड़ी हैं? They're so good.

And Levon was telling us how they went to the gym just to get you know riled up before the game, and that seems to have helped them because both the superstar women's boards. Delivered.

You know, Levon is so chill today. He went in the Bangalore traffic somewhere in a taxi. He's just traveling in the city. He's like, "Oh, what time is the match? 3 p.m. I'll be there at 2:30. Don't worry, guys." He is in the complete zone.

Well, I'll tell you who's not chill right now. It is the captains of the two teams that are about to come into play, and we've got Arohi ready for the coin toss.

Day 1 gave us some incredible action, and today we continue from where we left off last evening. Well, what a better start to the day than starting with the 2 teams who have the momentum going in for them. So the first game today will be the Alpine APL Pipers versus Ganges Grandmasters. Both the teams coming in with a win. It's time to call the coaches of the 2 teams for the coin toss. For the pipers, we have Mr. Praveen Tipse, and for the grandmasters, Adiban Bhaskaran. Also joining us for the coin toss, the tournament director, Mr. Bharat Singh, the chief arbiter, Gert Bayer, and Mr. Mangesh Mahali, chief technology officer. Ujjivan Small Financial Bank. It's now time for the coin toss. Who will be taking the call? Heads is a call. Tails.

Alpine APL Pipers wins the toss. Decided to play— we want to play black. Decided to play black.

Thank you.

Congratulations on winning the toss. Great start to the day. Y'all won with black yesterday. Is that why you picked black today as well?

Yes, it is also relevant. Yes.

Yes, it's one of the relevant factors, of course.

What is the other reason then?

Well, I think also we look at the team composition and we think, okay, at crucial moment perhaps it's better to have white against some team and, you know, we do that. But winning with black was one of the major reasons to continue with this color.

So, Vidit and Hampi delivered last night and that helped the team cross the boundary and finally you all won the game. Today, are they going to go aggressive or do we see the entire team pitching in?

But I think this is a question you must ask only after the game.

All right then, all the best for today's game. Thank you. Are you unhappy with white?

Yeah, I, I looks like I don't have to win the toss. Yeah, anyway I get white, so yeah, quite happy.

Yeah, so is the secret to winning the games losing the toss?

Probably. I hope it repeats.

All right, uh, let's talk about the Ganges Grandmasters. What a team! Your superstar women, you retained them, they delivered. And then you have Ian on the main board. He is up against Magnus. Now, too much history there. And then you have Levon, who is on the Superstar Men. He is in red-hot form.

Overall, it looks like a well-oiled machine. Yeah, true.

Actually, all of us are feeling very good as a team and really looking forward to today's match.

What's the one thing that surprised you probably after yesterday's game? Anything that surprised you?

Yeah, I actually didn't expect that we would win so many games.

But also, I thought we will also not lose on the whiteboard. Thought maybe we'll win two matches and maybe rest all might end in a draw.

So something like this I was expecting. Yeah. All right.

All's well that ends well. But this is day two. New day, new board, new perspective. All the best to the team.

Thank you. Thanks.

That is it from the coin toss. The news from here is that Alpine APL Pipers have won the toss, opted black.

Thank you for that, Arohi. Guys, I have to say one thing. Every time I see Grandmaster Praveen Thipsay with the coin toss. There. You know, he's been captaining the Pipers now for so many years. His decisions, Sagar, seem very well thought out of the color choice. And the one commentator who predicted that Alpine will win and choose black was Harshit Raja. Harshit, what did make you— what did— why do you feel that way?

I think that they just want to get as many points as possible with black, and they want to give their team that white pieces for the later stage of the game where, uh, you know, being solid and having the solid will— is going to help them. And this is the standings that we have in front of us, Sagar bhai.

Yeah, the Fire American Gambits won both their matches yesterday on 6 match points but also on 24 game points.

And Sagar, I want everyone watching to pay attention to that final row, MP, match points, because it is going to be that that will decide our top 2 finishers. And then game points, very important as a tiebreaker if 2 teams have the same number Of match points. So fires American Gambit firing on all cylinders right now. Twenty-four match points. Three any Continental Kings at the bottom to get on the stage.

But did you see the second and third row? That was the two teams that are going to play now: the Alpine APL Pipers and the Ganges Grandmasters. They both won yesterday and both won with a match game score of ten points. It was a very close game yesterday.

Both the teams won with close margins. Now they are pitted against each other. This is an important round, as you said.

Very close margins, but I will add very different narratives right there. Alpine coming in because they got the Black Piece victory. Ganges Grandmasters coming in with a massive upset, have to be feeling confident. These are our blockbuster matches today. I think asking which one you're most excited about makes absolutely no sense because each one of them promises to be fireworks.

Yeah, I, I'm actually excited really for the first one because, you know, today we'll go— we are going to see Magnus only once, I think. And that too against Nepo. They have played the World Championship match against each other in 2021.

So, आज फिर से वो एक सेटअप होने वाला है टॉप बोर्ड पे। I'm also super excited about the fourth match coming in between the Triveni Continental Kings and the Czech Mumba Masters because Czech Mumba Masters showed us yesterday that they are a very dangerous team. They got a replacement of Pranesh and they actually had a very close score against APL Piper. So, I'm very excited for that matchup.

I want to just follow up जो सागर आपने अभी बोला हो now every team here will play each other twice. Each team plays a total of ten matches. हर दिन दो teams होंगी जो दो बारी arena में आएंगी। You know yesterday, Fire's American Gambits was one of them. They've had two matches already. Today, as you said, for Magnus, he has one showing. Will he make that count? And Harshit, to your point, it is a rematch of a world championship. Now world championship was fourteen matches. Today, it's going to be what happens in the next forty minutes, and we'll break all of that down for you on the other side of this break. जब एक इंडियन के हाथ में पावर आता है, 10 हजार रन का माइलस्टोन पार हो जाता है। सोचो, जब हर इंडियन के हाथ में पावर आएगा, इंडिया कितने और माइलस्टोन पार करेगा?

इसलिए योनो देता है, हर इंडियन के हाथ में पावर। The all new योनो, power to every Indian। कुछ लोग इतनी तेजी से बढ़ते हैं कि पता नहीं चलता। जैसे कि APL बोलो स कुछ ऐसे ही स्टील की ताकत को एपीएल अपोलो बनाता है, देश की बढ़ती ताकत। एपीएल अपोलो, देश की बढ़ती ताकत। The chief guests have arrived. Salute! Salute करो, salute करो! सलूट हटाओ, ये पीलाओ। Long non-sticky full of veggies.

Formality हटाओ, ये पी खाओ। Magnus Carlsen's Alpine APL Pipers will take on Jan Nepomniachtchi's Ganji's Grandmasters in the upcoming match in just a few moments. So you've got the players coming into the arena, and this is going to be an absolute juicy matchup because both these teams won their matches yesterday, coming in with their confidence. Let's bring on our pairings that we've got on all the 6 boards right now. Now Magnus versus Jan is where it's all eyes on. I just want to point out that for both these players, they have so much history behind them. But today it's a different format. Forty minutes is all that it takes with five simultaneous scores.

I agree. I think Magnus is a small favorite when it comes to Jan. क्या लगता है? I really think he is amazing, and there's also a game between. अनिश गिरी एंड लेवोन अरोनियन। लेवोन इन ग्रेट फॉर्म हर्षित भाई, अनिश अलिटल बिट ऑफ़ द मार्क नॉट सो गुड। डेफिनेटली। येस्टरडे इट वाज प्रणेश हु डिफीटेड अनिश गिरी विद द व्हाइट पीसेस एंड आई थिंक लेवोन हु वॉन हिज गेम येस्टरडे इन अ सिंटिलेटिंग मैनर इज़ गोइंग टू ट्राई The Alpine APL Pipers team yesterday something very cool happened. Anish and Vidit were sitting in the same second row. Suddenly Magnus came and was like, "अरे थोड़ा जगा दो जगा दो" and then he pushed Anish went to the आगे चला गया भाई। तो आज कहाँ है Magnus?

I think उसी का wait हो रहा है and I wonder if he does come right now who will be pushed out of which seat currently?

But Anish is partly sitting on a side where he cannot get off you know.

Yeah he will make Vidit go. But the the question is that you know these buggies which take the players there. Oh no, there is Magnus. Oh no, it's no that's Murzin. Doesn't that remind you of a golf course? Exactly. है ना like Magnus it feels like Magnus को golf वाला feeling देने के लिए ये setup किया है। I wonder if it was in his contract that the only way I get to the venue is in a golf cart. क्या बात है फिर तो it's so cool and by the way they have left without Magnus.

You know we know that Magnus for three minutes games has arrived two and a half minutes late.

I wonder यहाँ पे क्या ही वैसे the ITC Windsor is around eight minutes walk to this Lalit Ashok. So if Magnus starts now as well, he'll reach before he has twelve minutes left.

I think I think the team knows that we don't have to worry about that board.

हम हमारे boards के बारे में worry करते हैं। Magnus तो आके देख लेगा। And I think to that point, एक board जहाँ पे concerning factors exist are Anish Giri's board right there. You know yesterday Anish got Absolutely outplayed by Pranesh, and that's the board the Pipers are relying on. You know, you mentioned the other boards. I will say the women's board will be a massive decisive factor. Ania, break it down.

Break it down. The women's board, Polina versus Divya.

And the reason that this is such an important board is because reputation is on Piper's side. You know, with Divya and Hampi with them, on paper, the two stronger players. But the form that was shown yesterday, I think Polina and Stavrula Rank higher in that, Sagar. When we talk about Polina versus Divya, I think both are very dynamic players in this game. I think we're not going to see an anti-Divya chess, but a very combative fight.

Yeah, true. At the team of the Ganges Grandmasters, they don't have anyone missing.

The entire team roster is on the buggy ride. पसंद आता है you know like पूरा टीम एक साथ एक जुट they are together. Those two girls at the back, Nepo and Dominguez. Those two guys in the middle. And Levon, even though he's in his 40s, he's as young as Leon.

He really is. And they were two sitting together. Both of them have been on the side of a championship team for the Trivani Continental Kings. Now new yellow jerseys.

Divya coming in with a lot of smiles. Hello, Divya!

And she's saying, guys, I'll be back for the autographs later. Right now I've got to take care of business.

Exactly. And by the way, look at Vidit bhai. He's looking confident today. Very sharp. Anish. Feels a little bit, you know, circumspect. He cannot lose two games in a row. I feel now.

This is what team event is about, right? If someone is not doing well, you have to pick up their slack, and that's what we did yesterday. I'm sure Anish Giri is not going to let that happen again. Will be a. तो पाँच ही प्लेयर एंटर किए.

Where is Magnus Carlsen? It's a big thing, right? Magnus can't be. Is he here? No.

You know, I wonder if part of that is whenever Magnus comes in, the fans go wild in the arena. We have seen the cheers he gets. Everyone wants his autographs. Maybe he's just trying to be in the zone, getting at a time where you know he can't be flagged by that crowd, so he can lock in. Because yesterday, let's not forget, against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Magnus did not get the job done on his board.

But his team got the job done, and I think that would be more important than I think Magnus winning because the team has to fire. And there you see the Ganges team coming in: Tanya, Leon, Aronian. Aronian को देखते हैं सिर्फ़. Leon and Levon. Levon will be like. Hey, yeah, guys, I'll come back.

I'll come back. And I think that is something Harshad we've seen about chess players. No matter where you're from, I think before the game they want to of course bring in the smile, show the confidence, but always be with the fans afterwards.

But but Levan, he's a classy guy. Yeah, so nice. He's acknowledging the people.

He's like, मैं आऊँगा, मैं वापस आऊँगा and I'll come with a victory for my team. They've already taken down the Triveni Continental Kings. Yesterday, one of the most, one of the massive upsets that GCL has ever seen. Today, can they do it against the Pipers?

Yeah, I mean, you know, it is a lot of fun for us and exciting to watch the players play, but I have seen them, uh, from close eyes. They are really nervous. They want to do well for their team. This means a lot to them.

Basketball by with Levon and Leon? I did not today. No, I did not.

Yeah, no basketball today. But all that they are, they're having these team events together. Like I saw I heard that the Mumbai team is playing pickleball together. They had MVL, so they are kind of trying to have them in a very comfortable environment to play their best. That's amazing.

And by the way, people, if they miss some kind of shots or something, there's a big screen behind us. थोड़ा सा यू नो पीछे चल रहा है, so you can catch up on that. This is the fan zone. So in case if you come here, of course you want to go inside and watch the matches. But if you don't have the ticket for one particular match, you can hang out in the fan zone, play chess. And of course, meet us.

Yes, and I just also want to point out Magnus.

Oh, let's go!

Solo, they say it's lonely at the top.

It's lonely at the top. Magnus Carlsen knows exactly how it is to be at the top. He is going to be coming up next just in a few minutes playing against Jan Nepomniachtchi.

But is it loneliness by choice or forced loneliness? मतलब maybe it coexists.

To belong there, you have to leave the world behind somewhere, Sagar. Did you again see all the fans had rushed behind the Ganges, the rest of the Pipers game team? And when Magnus entered, you know he has that freedom to get into his own zone.

Right. And I also saw oh we have Irina here. Let's go. I also loved how the manager of the team of Alpine APL Pipers was with Magnus. तो उसको पता था कि ये पांच लोग तो अपना ध्यान रख लेंगे। मेरे को Magnus को लेके आता है। I wonder if he went and played golf today.

You were talking about basketball. You know yesterday we had him right before the match get on the golf course. It's been part of his preparation for so many tournaments. आज भी हुआ क्या ऐसा?

I'm pretty sure Magnus एक भी दिन golf नहीं छोड़ेगा। वो game छोड़ सकता है पर golf खेल के आएगा। शायद इसलिए late हो गया वो। Golf course पे थे वो। हाँ उसका वो क्या बोलते हैं shots को बहुत सारा turn लगा। क्या बोल थोड़ा golf terms से बताओ ना। It took a lot of puts or putts.

Yeah, like to get the get get the ball into the hole.

But I am the full beginner at golf. No, nothing known. I think Tanya, you have someone in your family.

Oh, superstar come in and there are no smiles on his.

Oh my God! He's smiling.

Magnus in a good mood is a dangerous Magnus. He'll be up against Jan Nepomniachtchi, a player he knows. He seems happy. Look at him.

He's happy. I think people are shouting his name, Magnus, Magnus, and he's acknowledging it. But yeah, you know he's got that first win in.

These are the defending champions. Magnus Carlsen is yet to win a Global Chess League crown. This is the team that you feel. अगर इस बार नहीं किया तो कब किया भाई?

ये इस बार तो everything has aligned.

All players are strong, but they have the perfect ingredients for the recipe. But what's the but?

I think the missing element is that. Team spirit. क्योंकि देखो, if six people come together, you feel as a team. But when when there is one player missing, you already start to feel कि भाई team is not together.

But this I have seen this before because you know Messi was one of the only players who did not go in team trainings. He always had this like his own way of coming into the game and doing the job.

And इसके लिए तो final में हार गए भाई इस बार। Sorry, right?

You know, but I think it's very important to feel your comfort zone coming into the match. And I think for these five players, you can see the great camaraderie. You know, they've got the smiles on their faces. They're ready for the fight. I think Magnus likes to be in his zone before the game starts. Not just at GCL. हमने देखा हुआ है across events.

I mean, he he will do his job on his board. I'm just saying, like I I like this team spirit when people are. all being together. Like, look here, everyone's together. You feel like we are all going to win together, we are in this together. That's the only point. Of course, on a given day, if Magnus wins all his games, then, then there's nothing to talk about, you know. They look at that, look at Magnus coming in.

And this, uh, was the moment. And now that the players have arrived on their golf carts, we know what that means, that very soon we will also have the Walk-ins happen, take their place. Another very fascinating thing that I saw yesterday. आपने देखा जब वो stage पे थे, Magnus अपनी team से थोड़ा ज़्यादा ही आगे चला गया था। Arohi had to actually tell him कि bring him into closer to his team. Yeah. As Magnus does arrive with a smile on his face today, the Ganges Grandmasters, it's all smiles. And as we see, our players have entered the Lalit and now they are ready to enter the arena. It is the Alpine Pipers taking on the Ganges Grandmasters and Arohi is ready to welcome them on.

the stage.

Every morning in chess starts with the same thing— 32 pieces, 64 squares, and absolutely no idea of what is gonna happen on that particular day. Yesterday gave us some answers, but today we've come back with a whole new set of questions. Hello and welcome to day 2 of Tech Mahindra Global Chess League Season 4. Now today we have a lot of action coming in, and the first match at itself is basis for what is to come this Sunday. Let's start by calling out the 2 teams who are going to be featuring in match number 1 today. Alpine APL Pipers versus Ganges Grandmasters.

Spotlight, spotlight. It's now time to introduce the players of the two teams. Let's start with the team.

That tasted victory yesterday and is here for more. They are hungry and they are here to prove a point. Give it up for the Ganges Grandmasters! Two times Candidates winner Nepomniachtchi Ian. Two times World Cup winner Levon Aronian. Former World Blitz champion Linnea Dominguez. The speed demon Polina Shuvalova.

Top-ranked Greek women player Stavrula Solakidou.

Tata Steel Challengers winner Leon Luke Mendonca. And their coach Adiban Bhaskaran. It's now time to welcome the second team and introduce the players of the team that's been keeping the momentum going since the finals that they played and won last season. It's time to introduce the players of Alpine APL Pipers, starting with world number 1, Magnus Carlsen. Reigning Grand Swiss Champion, Anish Giri. अर्जुना अवार्डी विदित गुजराती, अनदर अर्जुना अवार्डी दिव्या देशमुख, टू टाइम्स विमेन्स रैपिड चैम्पियन हंपी कुनेरू, फॉर्मर वर्ल्ड रैपिड चैम्पियन वोलदार मर्जिन, एंड देर कोच प्रवीण तिप्से। गिव इट अप विद द टू टीम्स Playing in the first clash today, I request the players to move in for the handshakes.

Everybody say checkmate.

All the best. And now for the first move, may I please call upon the tournament director, Mr. Bharat Singh, the chief arbiter, Mr. Gerd Bayer, and we also have some guests joining us. Mr. Naman Mathur, aka Mortal, icon in the gaming industry and co-founder of SHUL Esports, along with Mr. Suren Rathi, managing director corporate. JP Morgan Chase.

And we have the first move being made here by Vartal, such a big name in India's gaming world. So nice to see him coming here and support chess. And we also have few other guests here from JP Morgan who's made the first I mean, what a nice memory for them as well to make a move on Magnus's board.

It really is. And what a moment this is as chess has also entered the esports arena and become a big part of it. You know, Seoul had a massive representation at the Esports World Cup. Seeing Mortal here at the Global Chess League, worlds are colliding. And here, two players who fought for a world championship are colliding today.

अरे भाई, this is going to be such a huge game. And also, I'm very excited for this one, Tanya. Aronian versus Anish Giri. They both have played a lot of games. And then Leon versus Volodar Murzin is also going to be a very hard-fought battle.

And we often say the spotlights are on the Icon boards, but it is the Prodigy boards that end up stealing match points. And right now, for Volodar Murzin against Leon Mendonça, only one Prodigy will come through. And Sagar, I see behind us that action is on, on our Women's Superstar boards. Should we go there? Let's do a quick roundup of the openings. And both boards start with the Queen pawn on b8.

Oh my God, we should go to the Divya board.

Now this one is a crazy opening, Tanya. If we can get our chessboard here, that oh my God! The chessboard is here, and this is Polina Shualova starting off, Tanya, with D four, Knight F six, C four, and guess what's the opening?

Has to be the Benko Gambit. Gambit आ गया है भाई बोर्ड पे। Divya Deshmukh has sacrificed an early pawn with the black pieces. And that means she's going to play for initiative, for momentum, for open lines.

And there you can see Divya really focusing in. Her opponent goes for the slightly, you can say, not the most ambitious approach by E3. Divya strikes in the center, and now Polina is thinking since the last one minute.

And Divya meanwhile has been blitzing out her moves. उन्होंने left flank पे Counter के लिए A6 चला, फिर center पे the E pawn has moved forward. And you know, if you're not expecting the Benko, it is very uncomfortable to face it over the board.

I agree, I agree. It's a very, very uncomfortable one. And there you can see, guys, there are timers of both the players. You can see Divya has taken a minute's lead. Tanya, should we go to our next board, which is Tavrula versus Koneeru Humpy?

Let's do it. The women's superstar boards, the action now. Humpy Won yesterday, but got very lucky in that final position against Karissa Yip. Stavrula had a fantastic performance against Kostinuyik yesterday, and this one a London opening.

London system आ गया है दोस्तों. London को कहीं पे भी आप ignore नहीं कर सकते. Even if the tournament is in Bengaluru.

भाई GCL भी हुआ था London में season two.

And यहाँ पर you know it's a very positional way that white is trying to play by saving the pawn on With rook b1, but we'll see. It will be a big fight as Tanya. Other two games have now kicked off. Let's go to the game of Levon Aronian and Anish Giri. Why? क्या ही battle?

Oof! So on one board we have the Benko Benoni setup. On another board we have the London System, and this one also equally surprising. Trompowski on the board. Trompowski खेला गया है. Bishop pair दिया गया है. Bishop आता है.

नाइट को ले लेता है तू डिस्ट्रॉय ब्लैक स्पॉन स्ट्रक्चर। एंड दैट इज़ सो इंटरेस्टिंग एंड एक्साइटिंग बिकॉज़ यू नो अनिश इज़ वन ऑफ़ द मोस्ट सॉलिड ग्रैंडमास्टर्स आउट देयर तानिया एंड प्लेइंग द ट्रॉम्पोव्स्की डबलिंग हिज़ पॉन्स इज़ जस्ट ट्राइंग तू सॉर्ट ऑफ़ अनब Very interesting game. We'll follow this one. Let's go to the game of Glenier Dominguez and Vidit Gujarati. Oh, भाई! ये game में क्या हो रहा है, Tanya?

And this one feels like the most sane position out of all of them that we've seen in the opening so far. Sagar, it started with the King's Pawn opening. As we go through with that action, Spanish opening खेली गई यहाँ पे. The knights came out, and I think so far with the symmetrical pawn structure जो है हमारे पास Position in the balance, but white has a slight pressure on that central e5 pawn.

I agree, Tanya, but I feel somehow Vidit has played this position so many times in his career; he's very well versed with it. So, इसके लिए I I have a feeling that this is going to be a very solid game. Let's see if anyone breaks the status quo here as we go to our icon board to see what are our icons doing. They have begun, Tanya, with. E four, C five. Why Sicilian हो रहा है यार?

It's an iconic clash between these two icons. Just what we expect. And Sagar, for a second time, Magnus Carlsen in a Sicilian wants to fianchetto his bishop. The dark square bishop sniper बन चुका है on the longest diagonal on the board. For now, stopping Jan from striking in the center with D four.

Right. And guys, today. We've really tried our best to fix all the technical issues that were there. So if you are enjoying this, please do like the streams that you are watching and do support us because we want to bring you the best of best action.

Best of best action. But what is this action on the board? How do we feel about? क्या कहते हैं knights on the edge fall off the hedge knights on the rim are very dim.

कोने में घोड़ा काम करे थोड़ा। Exactly, Sagar.

But what does Magnus Carlsen want with that knight on h6? I think somewhere black will get his king to safety and could we see an f5 break in the center?

That would be something. I think Magnus is little bit playing with Jan psychology here. He's like, Jan, I'm going to try and test you. I'm going to give you a small advantage out of the opening because you know, Tanya, believe it or not. It's already plus zero point eight for white, which is actually a serious edge that Yan has out of the opening.

This has to be home cooked preparation by Magnus, and he strikes in the center to get that knight closer there. Yan कह रहा है भाई हमने world championship matches खेली हुई है ये कहाँ से आ गया?

तानिया वो तुम्हारा जो था ना left में देख रहा है या right में देख रहा है? Yan is looking at his left, so he's trying to recollect.

So we do have this theory that the side you look on it could mean one of two things. Either you are trying to go through your memory, understand like you said, recollect opening ideas, or sometimes problem solving. If you look the other way, you feel the tension. By the way, Yan Niddekh, but responds immediately. No trade keeps the center blocked. Sagar, this gives white more space. Right. Connect four आ चुका है on the pawn chain there.

Absolutely. A good connect here, and which means that Magnus is. Pieces are a bit passive, but Magnus by care that we'll we'll figure it out. अभी थोड़ा आराम से चलते हैं। Here's a nice view where you can see both the players, Magnus at the top, the clock timings, everything is set.

Pitsagar, I do like Nepoka tempo here. Nepoka tempo nice. Nepoka tempo is that Magnus की जो two bishops हैं, one of them the light squared bishop blocked behind his own pawns, the dark squared bishop Blunted behind Nepo's pawns, while White's pieces have a free play, more space, more breaks in the future. The plan seems easy: you bring the knight out d2 c4 d6 आ सकते हो bishop को बाहर निकालो। I am really liking how White has handled it. By the way, another path chosen by Nepo क्या knight on the edge, but this one is going towards the center.

Yeah, he's going here. He's looking for this weakness on the d6. Square. Actually, Magnus का एक चीज़ which has kept him at the top of the world of chess is not just his play; it's also his psychology and understanding his opponent's psychology. So here he understands that Yan, even if you give him the opening edge, he may get a bit overambitious and would give him chances.

Absolutely, Sagar. And also Magnus's ability to pose practical problems one after another. But I'll say one thing. मैं यान को देख रही हूँ कैमरा में मैग्नस को देख रही हूँ। You know when you play an opening like this, you're counting on an opening surprise कि my opponent will burn the clock a little bit. Right. I don't think Magnus is very happy. I don't think that surprise has worked to perfection just yet. Yan looking comfortable on the clock and the board.

Yeah, I like I like Yan's position. Let's see how this game develops, Tanya. It's still early days, ten moves into the game. Should we go? To the oh, we have the six boards here. Now, Tanya, let's have a look at each of the boards. Which one draws your attention? Like wow, ये तो कुछ crazy हो रहा है.

You know, I'm gonna zoom out and just quickly say that the six evaluation bars that we have in front of us. आप देखोगे top left पे, bottom left पे, bottom right पे. It feels like white is slightly better. Small edge out of the opening. Meanwhile, the other three boards are in the balance. अगर आप पूछो किस board पे crazy crazy हो रहा है, तो I think वो bottom left का board है Polina Shuvalova taking on Divya Deshmukh. We already see a pawn sacrifice in that one by Divya. Let's go there.

Let's go to the Divya Deshmukh game with Polina Shuvalova. And if we can go to the board now, this does feel somehow Tanya that Polina is saying to Divya, "देखो एक पॉन तो आपने दे दिया। I've taken it and I have healthy six pawns. Meanwhile, you have just healthy five pawns." And Divya has to prove her compensation.

And that's the nature of this opening saga. How do you continuously keep proving that compensation? I will say one thing: advantage clock Divya right now.

Oh, चार मिनट ज़्यादा है. चार मिनट ज़्यादा है.

And very often in this position, it is about Piece activity and a well-timed central pawn advance with the black pieces. Divya ने सारे pieces बहुत अच्छी जगह ला चुकी है, and I think now she's thinking what's next? Does she jump with her knight forward to b4? Is she already looking at those pawn pushes? Not an easy decision when you're down a pawn.

I think Tanya somewhere अगर pawn d4 पे आ जाएगा, it would unleash the bishop on this diagonal, and that is what Divya would be looking forward to. Maybe Not so easy to get that. I think Divya has to really think deeply.

And I want to point out Polina's deep idea after her last move, Sagar. Yellow से highlight हो चुका है रुक हटाया गया है A1 to B1.

Such a good point.

X-ray था वो रुक with the black queen on F6. Next what Polina wants to do is push that B pawn forward, get the bishop out, hit the black queen. Plan सामने है. सामना कैसे करेगी Divya?

Yeah, I think Divya को really एक Long think is a rurata. Maybe she will equalize her time. She has three minutes more, but she is thinking. And Tanya, I want to draw attention to the second board, which is between Levon Aronian and Anish Giri. ये देखिए यहाँ पर Black King is saying essentially, Anish bhai, are you sure that you want to play such risky chess opening this king up?

Very, very committed decisions by Anish Giri in this one. Sagar, the one thing that Anish is telling Levon की queen को कि भाई how will you come to attack the king? Notice how that bishop on c8 is controlling the g4 square. Right. White pieces cannot land on the h-file very easily. Oh my queen trade हो गई। भाई queen trade हो गई तो attack तो भारी हो गया and bishop pair है Anish के पास। Wow!

Guys, actually there is some error in the DGT boards, which is why queen takes rook नहीं हुआ है। यहाँ पर rook takes d1 हुआ है। It's around even, but I would still say Tanya, as you pointed out, black has the bishop pair. Black is pressing a bit.

Black has the bishop pair and a direct weakness to attack on c3 का pawn long term बिचारा अकेला pawn है open file पे। Lonely, I'm Mr. Lonely. Copyright strike हो जाएगा आप ही के चैनल पे। Thank you, Dhanya, for that compliment.

Okay, so right now guys we will fix the I think the DGT board here because clearly the bar has gone crazy on this one. But let's go to our third board before we go to our icon board. With it Dominguez को एक देख लेना जरूर। Let's take a look.

It started with a slow Spanish this one. And there we see it's brewing up to be a very fascinating fight.

सागर लेनियर का knight f5 पे land होने को तैयार है। तैयार है and विदित ने एक काफी लंबा maneuver किया था knight को पीछे लाकर let's just look at that maneuver he he kind of undeveloped his knight put it back on d7 and लेनियर is like well विदित are you ready for my attack coming in?

And I also want to point out, Sagar, if you just put that two moves back, the reason that black employs this thematic idea. Notice how white का जो pawn c three पे था was controlling all knight jumps. Vidit का knight कुछ करना ही रहा था। उसने कहा I need to transfer and I'll tell you वो maneuver will continue. That knight from d seven will eventually land towards the kingside as well. f eight e six से आते हुए you retreat. To only move forward for now, Vidit has stopped Dominguez Knight from coming forward.

Yeah, Vidit has pushed his pawn here, and कितना risk ले सकते हैं by pushing your kingside pawns is an open question. But I think Vidit understands these dangers very well. Look at the time, Tanya. Both are equal on the clock. Vidit maybe just twenty seconds ahead. ये बहुत मजेदार game होने वाला है.

And their styles are quite matchy-matchy. Right. You know, both players very technical, strategic, positional. Want positions that they feel they are in control of.

I agree. Absolutely. They both are really, really positional experts. So ये game इसलिए मुझे लगा था draw हो जाएगा। But let's see. It's still early days here. Should we go to the Nepo Magnus encounter? Let's do it.

Nepomniachtchi playing with the white pieces. Last time we checked, we thought that Jan has reasons to be happy with his position. How do you think he's feeling right now?

I think Magnus has really set up for the G5 push, Tanya. ये आ रहा है यहाँ पर G5, G4. But somehow you were right that ये bishop को निकालना है कैसे तो. So I'm thinking about a move like B6 or B5. Get the bishop on this long diagonal and then we'll think what to do.

That's a great idea because that is the only open diagonal available for that light-squared bishop that Magnus has. But Yan is ready to come with his knight to C4. By the way, वो रोका गया है knight C4 B6 नहीं थोड़ा और aggressive होते हुए and Yan now reroutes it towards the center of the board first striking with A4 queenside पे decision लेना होगा Magnus को and अगर Magnus ये pawn push करते तो सीधा it'll be taken while if you take here Tanya after rook takes this pawn is going to become a small weakness so big weakness अगर not a small one सारे pieces A5 पे आ जाएंगे queen A1 queen A2 रुके वन वो पॉन नहीं बचेगा। Yeah, that's a tripling of the pieces there and it's actually happening on the board.

B a रुके four has happened. This is the live board position. I love how Yan top board पे Magnus को रोक के रख रहा है. He's just holding him on the top board and telling his teammates, guys, you go ahead and try to strike.

And that is key for Yan to do because a win with black will mean Four points for the Pipers to hold off Magnus in this one. For Jan would be the ultimate aim. By the way, Magnus' position may apart from the light squared bishop, the other trump was this beautiful post for his knight. He's landed on the d5 square, Sagar. He's going to go b6, knight b6 when needed to kick that rook out. The knight looking like it has a stronghold in the position.

Yeah, I think basically the bishop on g7 is saying. दोस्तों मेरी खुशी के लिए मेरी खुशी जो मैं sacrifice कर रहा हूँ I am actually trying to ensure others are happy. It's like a self sacrifice.

Like look at this very sad. Very true, Sagar. Bishop कह रहा है अच्छा चलता हूँ.

दुआओं में याद रखना.

Copyright strike again incoming but Knight E3 खेला गया है because all those other friends of that bishop that you're talking about Yan wants To trade them off, he brings that knight to the center of the board again. The long-term plan is to double down, triple down, quadruple down on that a six pawn. Everyone watching, keep an eye on Magnus's lone pawn on the left side.

Look at Jan. He gave a small stare to Magnus, saying that "मेरे को तो लग रहा है मैं better है इधर Magnus भाई." I feel my position is better. Your pawn here isn't doing so well. Tanya already has the plan clear in her mind. I'm also going to do that. I think Tanya, a very good position for the Ganges Grandmasters.

You know, in the chess world saga, getting a better position against Magnus is not even half the job done. It means nothing at all. So the game has just started.

But Tanya, when it's Jan Nepomniachtchi, I think he's just kind of starting to believe in himself. He's played Magnus so many times, so he's thinking to himself, अब नहीं तो कब? You know, at some point I need to start beating Magnus, and I think this game is something he's really looking forward to.

Well, so far he's beating him on the clock at least. Oh, for sure. 2-minute advantage right now. Again, everyone watching, no bonus time, no increment until move 40, right?

Okay, so let's go to one board, Tanya. While we are looking here, we can end that Nian is slightly better. There's One board where the Alpine APL pipers have something to celebrate about, or at least be happy about, and that is the board of Conero Humpy, who is playing with the black pieces against Tavrula Solakidou.

The first question that has to come to our minds, Sagar, is कि Tavrula what does she want to do with her king in the center? The rook is not on a1. वो b1 पे चल चुका है, so you cannot go long castle. H pawn आगे बढ़ चुका है. Are you feeling safe enough to go on the right side? What is the future of Stavrula's king?

I think more than the king, Tanya, ये bishop का क्या future है? Because h6 and suddenly the bishop has nowhere to go. This is the main issue here. If bishop f4, I simply take, take, and queen takes. I lose a pawn.

Wow! So actually that last yellow move highlighted the knight jump comes in with the trap that you're pointing out. Sagar, which means she might have to find a way to find a safe square. But you know what Stavrula is saying? I will hit your knight. That knight is undefended. L P D O. And अगर आप अपना E pawn push करते हैं to attack the knight, defend your own knight. E five will be met by knight to B five, Sagar. Oh, that's very well spotted, Tanya.

And if you take the knight, I take it and give you a check. And suddenly white is the one who's better. But Tanya, I have a question. Can we? And I haven't checked the engine yet. It's just something exciting. Oh, she plays h five here, which is a good move. I was thinking, Tanya, to sacrifice the knight. But नहीं चल रहा है, नहीं चल रहा है दोस्तों. My thought was why don't we trap the bishop somehow? But it isn't trapped after take, take, take here. The knight drops and I think it's all safe. Okay, that's why. We are not there. I mean, at least I am not there, and Humpy is there. H5.

Okay, good position. Very promises to be an excellent fight. This position could very well lead to decisive result. Knight बचा लिया है. F6 potentially in the air. I do like how Stavrula played that last move as well. Sagar, let's continue our tour. This one promises to be exciting. We'll keep an eye on it.

I want to take you to a game. Which will shock you, actually. Let's do it. Let me take you to the board of Levon Aronian and Anish Giri.

Remember those two bishops?

Remember those two bishops we were talking about that actually Anish would be the one pressing? Suddenly, Anish is a pawn down. क्या हो गया? कैसे क्या हो गया?

Very nicely done, sir. You know the next line. I think you're going to tell me. नहीं मुझे नहीं पता भाई। भाई knight h five I'll tell you. I don't know the next line, but I'll tell you what the next move will be. King hillne wala hai aage ki taraf attacking the white knight a two is hanging, but do not pick it up.

It's a poison pot. Oh my god! If you take here, guys, what is the winning move here for white? It's a very simple move. This is not going to happen. It's rook to a one attacking the bishop here and here. And that would be terrible. So I don't think Anish can take this, Tanya.

He's a clean pawn down. I still feel that there is compensation. White is the only one pushing for a win here. One extra pawn. Not just that, Sagar. Watch out for some checks along the black king. That king almost feels like it's running out of breathing space. Imagine H four खेल दिया next. Bishop D three से check आएगा। You will not have so many squares to run to.

Tanya, आप Endgame में भी checkmate के बारे में सोच रहे हो। Always, Sagar.

You know checkmate ends the game and specially when you have a red flag like that king on g6, the knight on h5, आपका radar has to be on in this position. I agree. And guys, look at the time.

Levon is now six minutes ahead on the clock. This is not looking great. And there we have the analysis board. The director Saab is telling us थोड़ा analysis भी करो दोस्तों। मैं analysis board लेके आ भाई H four हुआ है कि आपने चलाया? Oh my God, it has happened. It has happened.

I'm telling you, red mark वो जो king पे था is the red flag in the position.

It could be a mate there. The king is in slight trouble.

भाई queens नहीं है board पे but white is coming for the black king anyway without the queen. What happened?

Danya look at this. If rook d two, I simply jump rook b eight and if you are careless enough to pick up this bishop Guys in the chat, white to play and mate here. How does it work? Wow, beautiful!

It is absolutely stunning, Sagar. And I think it's not a direct check checkmate, but again the dangers around Anish Giri's king. Yesterday he almost got mated against Pranesh. Today almost looking like he's about to get checkmated against Levon. Rook पहले चेक देगा, king हटेगा, and then just move the knight away. G five is unstoppable. आप एक चेक दे सकते हैं रुकी वन के साथ, but it only delays the inevitable. King आगे जाएगा. Sagar G five killer next move.

Yeah, this is over. This is one example of what could happen if Anish is not careful enough. Let's go back to our live board position right now. Anish is thinking.

You know, Levon Aronian is called the artist of the chess world, and this is exactly why. In a position so liquidated, such few pieces, he's managed to creatively box up Black's king into a mating net.

Yes, and I think Anish, because he lost his game yesterday, he would be slightly low in confidence. But Tanya, talking about the Ganges Grandmasters doing well— oh, Anish comes in! Will he find Rook to b2, Sagar? Let's wait here. Rook d2 attacking the bishop. I think Levon has seen it. He's going to go Rook B eight. What a moment!

And Rook B eight, with the idea of that big check on G eight, will put big pressure. Anish has ways to still survive, but Dil Dhak Dhak Kartaya at this moment, yeah.

This is not going to be easy. Look at Anish's face there. He is zoned in. Levon Aronian wants to create that magical.

मेटिंग नेट, मेटिंग नेट अराउंड द ब्लैक किंग। आई थिंक दिस डिफेंसिव आइडिया पोटेंशियली कुड बी टू मूव द एफ पॉन वन स्टेप फॉरवर्ड, मेबी इवन टू स्टेप्स फॉरवर्ड टू डिस्टेबलाइज़ दैट व्हाइट नाइट। बट आई थिंक एफ सिक्स आफ्टर ओह यू मीन एफ ब्लैक पॉन सॉरी। तो स्टॉप दैट च I want to show you some more good news for the Ganges Grandmasters. Anish Giri down to under 6 minutes. That tells you everything you need to know for how much pressure the Piper is feeling right now.

I agree, I agree. Let's go to another Piper under pressure. That's Magnus Carlsen, because Jan Nepomniachtchi is actually following what you had mentioned, Tanya. Pressure on a6, pressure on d7, open file, question mark move.

क्या हो रहा है? Shocking चीजें हो रही हैं Bengaluru में Magnus Carlsen feeling the heat in this position compare Yan का हर piece against Magnus's piece the white knight far more centralized than Magnus's knight जो कुछ कर ही नहीं रहा है and is far away from coming into the game Magnus के rook और queen in attacking positions taking on open lines the other rook ready to join the party Magnus के rook behind his own pawns Doing nothing at all. Better pawn structure as well. Safe for king as well. I do not see a single positional plus in Magnus's position right now, and he shakes his head.

He's like, "My kya kar diya?" Not happy with his position. He's very unhappy. And Tanya, you know what's the move that could give a huge advantage here to Yan is rook b four attacking the queen. And now stay with me because there's a brilliant positional pawn sacrifice, guys. Pawn to d5, Tanya. It's just a brilliant move.

I love it. And the idea is you're not only destroying the pawn structure that black has, but there is a clearance of the rook to come to the center of the board. Sagar, you will pick up d5 with premium. d7 is weak as well.

एक weakness था a6 पे another weakness on d7. If Yan Nepomniachtchi finds this right way to continue. He could very well give his team a big, big victory today.

And I want to also demonstrate about pawn weaknesses here. Magnus's last move, queen falling back, a very human move to defend d7. Sagar, if we just go back, rewind one single move right now, he could not have picked up the pawn on b2. Magnus Carlsen here would end up losing the d7 pawn. e6 is falling next. Rook c7 would have been game.

Over, right? And Yan has play. Oh my God! Yan says, "I don't even want to play Rook B four." He goes D five, and guys, remove the question mark from the board. Remove it from your head. This is an incredible move by Yan Nepomniachtchi.

What a move! What an idea! What a find! But I want to point out the difference, and I think I just understood why he had to attack the black queen. Saga, Rook B four had to be played first because I think. Going for D5 immediately. Now can take with the queen. Magnus has that opportunity. He has another alternative. He's just given Magnus a little more space to breathe, and Magnus only Magnus ने लिया नहीं। He misses it.

He goes knight F7. Wow! He doesn't take the pawn. He goes knight F7, and look at the crowd here. It's a packed Sunday.

He can't believe it. He said, "ये क्या हो गया?" Our fan in the front row there, he's saying, "How is Magnus Carlsen in?" Trouble right now, guys.

Thumbs up if you are enjoying this broadcast and enjoying the match between the APL Pipers and the Ganges Grandmasters. Nice, nice, amazing! That's so nice to see. Amazing. Okay, front row से कोई thumbs up नहीं आया हमको। नहीं नहीं, front row में they have to keep it calm, right? Because they are like really close to the players. Okay, so Nepo is doing well and guys. This is such amazing setup here because not only can they see the players in front of them, the the crowd here, they can also tune into the commentary and enjoy it.

And Sagar, we have a house full today. I believe that for almost all of Magnus Carlsen's matches, the tickets have been sold out in Bangalore already. Yes. So whatever's remaining, go right now and book my show. Go on the Global Chess League website and get your ticket. And come to the Lollet.

Right, and while Magnus is struggling and Anish is struggling, there are couple of Alpine players who are doing well. Let's go to Vidit Gujarati, who is actually turning the screws in the position. He's saying to Lenier Dominguez, yesterday I scored a flawless win against Mamedyarov. Now I'm coming for your king. क्या चल रहा है तानिया?

What a position this is! You know, white का bishop boxed up है, white का king पे pressure है यहाँ पे. But what Dominguez is doing, he's playing on the other flank. The board is divided into half. With its focus is on right side of the board. Sacrifices on h3, g2 always watch out. Lenny is saying, my bishop on f1 guards all those spots. I want to open lines on the other side of the board.

But Tanya, एक knight यहाँ, दूसरा यहाँ.

Can he just pick up a pawn right now is the first question, and the reason he can't do that is because the Central pawn is hanging at the end of that line, right?

So take, take. This is what Tanya is mentioning. If you go for this pawn, then you lose the pawn in the center, and I am sure Vidit isn't going to do that. Meanwhile, Tanya, we have to rush back to the icon board because Jan Nepomniachtchi is actually winning his game against Magnus. That is going to be a massive upset here.

And what just is even more shocking about The storyline is that usually the chess world believes that to take down Magnus Carlsen, you need a very tactical, complicated battle, a forest of complications where anyone can go wrong, wild positions. Jan didn't need any of that today to at least reach this point.

No, I think Jan just made one logical move after another, and that's tough, Danya.

He played a very positional, strategic battle from Magnus's slightly dubious opening choice there, where Magnus tried to catch Jan in the opening. backfired. Jan got an opening advantage. He's never let it slip. Like you said, played very logical moves, taken out all his pieces, captured all the open lines. But can he put the finishing touches to this one?

If he can do that, that would be epic. But as people rightly say, winning a one game in chess is the toughest part. So let's get our 6 boards.

Winning a winning position in chess against Magnus Carlsen is even tougher. Still one of the more impossible things to achieve. So can Yan change that narrative today? Sagar, let's do a quick team overview. Where are the points coming in from for these 2 teams?

So for Ganjis, it's Yan Nepomniachtchi who's doing well. Levon's advantage has gone away, and Polina Shualova is striking. So these 2 boards, 1 and 4, are very good for Ganjis. But for the Alpine APL Pipers, it's Vidit Gujarati on board 3 and Koneeru Humpy on board 5. So actually the match is very evenly poised right now.

And that is an exact copycat, carbon copy of what happened for the Pipers yesterday. It was Vidit and Hampi who got those 2 match wins with the black pieces to seal the deal. And right now a white win is worth only 3 points. A win with the black outweighs that. There's a premium on that, getting 4 big points right there. Sagar, look at the positions that we have. I think so many decisive results about to come in from this match. Where are we going next?

board 4. We see Polina Shuvalova and Divya Deshmukh on our screen. Polina is now not just one pawn up. If we can have the full screen, uh, and I mean the board there, you can see that Divya Deshmukh is now 2 pawns down. White has 2 extra pawns. Yes, Divya has very good bishops here, but it's not going to be enough. I think Your Divya is worse.

Divya is in trouble for the second time in a row. Can she find a miraculous save? But Sagar, let's go back and see if Magnus can find a miracle to save his position against Jan Nepomniachtchi. Agar is board pe Jan wins, that really sets the tempo for the match right there. It will set the tone. Jan is coming for Magnus's pawns. Two pawns under attack with that rook that has just moved forward. A six hanging, E six hanging.

That rook is hungry. It's going for both the pawns, and Magnus, you can see, is visibly worried. He has only two minutes forty-two seconds, and Tanya, remember, he's on move twenty-nine. मतलब उसको ग्यारह move करने हैं. Eleven moves in two minutes twenty-three seconds without flagging. That's not easy.

No bonus time at all. And Jan Nepomniachtchi is feeling very confident. He's completely locked into the position. You can. Sense the pressure on Magnus right now. Very fidgety, he's changing his posture continuously. But Magnus is so tricky in these positions. The problem is, where is the counterplay? Where are the tricks coming from?

Nowhere, Tanya, nowhere.

That knight of Magnus is such a problem piece.

That knight is saying to this pawn, what are you doing with my life? I can't go here, I can't go— I can't do anything.

That knight hasn't seen the light of day in this entire game so far. Right now, Rook b6. Asks direct questions. Magnus comes in with his queen. He lands there. Take the pawn, right?

Take the pawn. Queen e6.

Bring your queen in, Jan Nepomniachtchi. You cannot choke in this match at this moment. Queen takes pawn will also put a deadly pin on that knight we've been talking about. White knight ready to jump forward to g5 on the next move. Sagarov, Jan is precise. For the next 5 moves, this is over for Magnus.

I'm going to stick here with this game, but Just to give you an update, Koneiro Humpy is winning her game. That means that even though Magnus might lose, Humpy is going to strike back there. So okay, this is getting too intense now, Tanya. Only one minute fifty seconds for Magnus. Yan has eight minutes. By eight minutes, मैं उनको win find करना है.

He needs to be precise, and one of the things about Yan has always been that he rushes through some decisions. So I really like how he's taken a pause right now. He's going, he's not going super fast with that capture because there are two pawns hanging. You can take it in three different ways.

But that's also quite okay. That's okay. And Magnus quickly moves his king. Magnus को क्या लग रहा है पता है तानिया? ये knight को activate करना कैसे तो like as you said knight is doing nothing. Let's get it out from somewhere.

But where? Still has no squares, Sagar. White's knight and white's pawn is taking away all active squares from that black knight. He had to move away from the pin. Did Magnus Carlsen? He's looking at some checks now. Magnus का counterplay क्या है? Queen से under house, c1 check दो, फिर f4 से check दो, rook को लाओ under in the game. So Jan has to take care of some threats in this position. But now Tanya, isn't the knight just winning this pawn and saying finally I'm freed? I mean, it's poetic that your knight is free only in its own death because it's going to be captured right now. After knight takes knight, the one time the knight got active, it's going to be traded off the board, Sagar. And at the end of that, dust will settle and Jan Nepomniachtchi will be up a pawn.

Just one pawn, Tanya, from a completely—

भाई world number one के against और क्या-क्या चाहिए आपको?

भाई मुझे तो चाहिए था कि वो bait कर दे। पर ये सुनो, ये सुनो। If you take here, queen takes Check में रुक मर रहा है। Oh, there's a block with the rook. बच गए, बच गए. It's not over.

But that is a very good point you make. I mean, that is Magnus hanging in this position by a thread that you have rook c7. Yeah. But is he thinking about throwing in some checks on the way? But you can go queen c1, king h2, queen f4 check, queen g3 blocks आगे.

Ah, queen g3 swings over and the knight is defended. So Magnus Cannot do that. Going back to the position, Yan has six minutes thirty eight seconds. भाई ये देखो what a view! What an amazing view of the auditorium we had there. पूरा packed. भरा हुआ है. I think that two fifty people who can sit in there.

And look at them, they're waving a sargad. They're having a great time watching the action right here. And what an action, guys! Well done on showing up for this match because it's an absolute thriller.

And I love the crowd because they are. so respectful of the silence to be maintained. They are just there. I think chess crowd is one of the most special crowds out there because they are enjoying themselves without making any noise.

And I absolutely love it, Sagar. You know, looking at how chess has evolved from a game that was placed, placed in a, in a locked closed room to one that's now played in front of live audience under the biggest spotlights. And that is where chess belongs. It's fit right in. You know, the most ancient game known to mankind On the most modern stages. I agree, I agree, guys.

We are sticking here, but I want to give you some updates. Okay, Humpy was winning, still winning totally, but Polina Shualova is winning against Divya Deshmukh, which means Ganji's grandmasters are doing well on two boards. Vidit is better against Dominguez, but very slightly. Levon and Anish looks equal, and finally Leon and Volodar is also equal. So that thing of Two-two is still happening.

It's still happening, and again, just a quick reminder: a team playing black is Magnus Carlsen's Alpine Pipers. Those wins with black will outweigh the win with white if it remains equal on the scoreboard right now. He's not happy. Yeah, he's thinking I should have had more. I should have had more from this position, and Magnus can sense it that he's back in the game as well. He brings his king to safety. सिक्स क्या मूव है? This is one of Magnus's favorite safety squares for his king. The amount of times I've seen his white king land on h3 and the black king land on h6 in so many games, even with queens on the board. Amazing. But do not try this at home, guys.

Tanya is down to a minute after rook d1. Magnus has to make seven moves in one minute ten seconds. That is insane. He goes knight takes knight.

Queen takes, pawn up, king be weak है, b4 करे। And Magnus does another Magnus thing, centralizes his queen the first opportunity that he gets. He controls the f4 square, takes it away from Jan's queen. He's hitting the b2 pawn. Oh yes. You need to push this pawn. The moment वो pawn आगे जाएगा, Magnus का rook अंदर आएगा hitting the white queen from c3.

Okay, so that's the plan. We have an active rook here. Jan thinking whether he should push it or not. He goes for it. No, he goes queen d3. What? He gives up the pawn.

Is he just saying I'm going to trade the queens? It's a blunder because there's a pawn hanging. Is he saying he's going to trade the queens and just offer a draw because that was Matt's strategy?

No, no, no, Tanya. But thing is, Yan feels after Queen b2, he can give a check and then penetrate with the rook and try to checkmate the black king. That's the plan.

But the king is very safe on that last rank for Magnus. But what's not safe is his clock. It's a double question mark red for Yan's move. It's red on Magnus's clock. 40 seconds right there. He takes it check. Diagya is playing for the win right now. But can he checkmate Magnus's king? Magnus is down to 29 seconds. You saw that, Tanya.

He saw that his king—he's now safe—and he looked at the other games. He's like, "Bye, मैंने तो बचा लिया है गेम." Magnus Carlsen once again is escaping.

He's escaping because yes, white can double up with the rook and the queen on the seventh rank. Sagar, let's have the arrows. Rook d7 check. Check arrows नहीं तानिया movie हो रहा है. And what he will do is play queen c1, queen f Relying on that diagonal to finish into a draw.

If we go here with a mate, there's already us getting mated here with Queen c1, Queen f4. Okay, going back, what happened in the game? King h2, great move. And now the only move for Magnus is Rook g8.

17 seconds for Magnus. He doesn't bleed. He doesn't bleed. No, he goes Queen b8.

Queen b8. He's winning.

And now Queen d4, Queen g7. There's a checkmate in 2 for Jan Nepomniachtchi. It needs to be stopped. And that queen is coming to E7. Too many checkmating threats right now. Queen D4 finishes the game. Queen E7 finishes the game. Magnus Carlsen is about to lose.

No, but first Jan has to think whether to play G3 or F4. These are the moves that are in his mind. He has three minutes thirty seconds. Jan, you know, just get up, walk around. By the way, we see we see Divya moving. Divya has lost her game. Shua Loa has won. Humpy has won. Score is 4-3 in the favor of Alpine Pipers, APL Pipers. They are doing really well.

That means that the pressure is on Jan Nepomniachtchi right now. He needs to win this game against Magnus Carlsen. g3 has to be found, and he does it, Sagar! He blocks the check the right way.

Queen b2, queen— oh, what? a7! Oh my God, he finds the best move!

Not queen b6.

Take this, take this, Tanya! Take the pawn, h7. Take the pawn and it's a checkmate in one.

And how are you going to stop it? You'll have to bring your rook back into the game.

Maybe queen f6 back, but ah, it's so bad. It's so bad.

And there we have Yana Pomnitsch. He's bobbing his head. I think he's about to grab that pawn. He does it with his rook.

Magnus comes back, queen f6. And now the next move is to bring the rook back to get your queen in and it's game over.

That is tough, Sagar, because suddenly you're changing the geometry of your attack. From lateral you go horizontal.

And we have more results coming in. Anish and Levon drew. Volodar Murzin and Leon drew, which means that still the Alpine APL Pipers one point ahead. This game could change everything, Tanya. And also with its game, just so that you guys know, with it is totally winning.

With it is going to strike once again, and maybe he'll save the destiny of the Pipers one more time this time. But Magnus has gone into Full defensive mode currently brings the rook and the queen. Can Yan take down the world number one? He gives a check, moves away with the king. It's all about getting your queen on the h-file.

With it won, which means that Alpine APL Alpine Pipers have won, I think, Tanya, right? Wow! Because now they have a five-point lead, and even if Yan wins, it will only be three points.

And we will try to have our live scorecard on the screens right now. But Vidit Gujarati getting it done. One more time for the icon.

क्या क्या खाया है ये tour right में? He is coming amazingly well prepared.

And Sagar, what a feeling that it doesn't even matter if the icon goes down on the top board.

हम संभाल लेंगे। But Magnus, but Magnus is saying I won't lose this. You know, you guys have done so well with it. Humpy, I will also fight here. I won't give up. Jan is winning, Tanya, but not so clear anymore.

It's one extra pawn. Lot of pressure on Magnus's king currently. But can you just finish that off with a checkmating idea? How do you regroup your queen and rook? What he's doing is suffocating strategy. यानि पामनशी। कह रहा है मैं सब कुछ अटैक करूँगा। How long can you keep everything defended? He comes back with the queen. Magnus bangs the clock. चार सेकंड में you have to bang the clock.

You're in Bangalore. Wow, that's a good one. Okay, what do we do now, Tanya? How do we win? Actually, Magnus को you know two Break Magnus is the toughest. He's almost got him on the floor. Toda na aye sirf. That's not possible. It's not easy.

And for Jan Nepomniachtchi, there has to be this feeling that my team has already lost.

Yeah.

And even if I win this, to what end?

Do you think he saw the scorecard?

Sagar bhai, it feels like it's slipping out of his hand right now, whether he saw it or not, as Magnus has traded it off. But he loses a second pawn. It comes with the cost of a weakness on the board for Magnus Carlsen. Then you lose. You lose. Clear है ना?

Then it's winning. Just bring your king and rook and win. Jan Nepomniachtchi might win this.

Magnus Carlsen, the team has done its job, but he knows he'll be required on the top board. He needs to get his form into this match.

Beautiful move, Rook d2, to— so that he can get his rook here, pin the pawn. g5 played. hg5, only move here for Jan. Now he has to find a series of only moves if he wants to win, and he needs to do it as his clock turns red as well.

Now under a minute is Jan Nepomniachtchi. G five gives it back. The king comes forward to grab that pawn.

King E two, R I king, rook R I hai. Tanya, this is going down for Magnus. You can see him. He's confused.

He goes there. The king will move up the board. And Magnus Carlsen will have to defend that pawn with his rook. Three at three seconds. Did you see that? Made a move with one second on the clock. Sirf do extra second mil rahi hai.

Oh, but don't take this pawn, Tanya, because then Rook e7 check. So what did he do? He took check king here. Oh, draw! Bye, Magnus Carlsen! Kya admi hai!

Two pawn down also he's able to hold this. But Jan feels this is winning, Sagar. Everyone feels it's winning. Only Magnus knows this is draw. Why Magnus Carlsen endgame goat? Endgame goat and for a reason, Sagar Shah. The point is, white pawns are immobile now, cannot move forward. Perfect blockade by Magnus's king and rook. As the realization dawns on Jan Nepomniachtchi, उनका रुक भी फंसा हुआ है to defend. No way to improve this position. The king is cut off for white as well.

Insane! What a thing!

Someone said he doesn't believe in fortresses. He might have just achieved one.

This is a fortress. But Tanya, do you think that in this time control, it's going to be very difficult for Magnus to hold this? What about Yan?

He's down to twelve seconds now. He's also down to twelve, and he goes back. All Magnus has to do is shuffle his king and rook around. King stays in f four. Sirav rook ko age pichhe karo, making sure that the white king remains cut off, offside on the queenside where there's no action, and do not trade rooks.

Oh, he's bringing his king back. पर आगे क्या रुकी तू control है? King कहीं जा नहीं सकता. What a fortress this is, Tanya! What to create?

And he found it in three seconds. Insane! Magnus Carlsen is about to hold a position that felt absolutely.

Unholdable. I agree, I agree. This is so good, this is so good. And in fact, it's a huge, huge thing for the Alpine APL Pipers because that keeps their icon board in good spirits. That's very important.

This is one of the most beautiful concepts of rook pawn endgame that I will say even I have never seen, Sagar, watching the elite play with practices in rook pawn endgame, that down 2 pawns you can completely offside the white Cut it off from the one half of the board and make sure the pawns don't move forward. The king dominates the white rook. The black rook dominates the white king.

Nepomniachtchi gets desperate. He gives the pawn up, and Magnus is like, "Pawn to mil gaya wapas." Nepo is like, "Once again you have escaped, dear Magnus." क्या करूँ तुमको हराने को?

And the rooks come off the board after the pawn will be taken. Takes, and that is enough for Magnus Carlsen to survive. What a Houdini act!

What a win for the Alpine APL Pipers! The team led by Magnus Carlsen has won it. Vidit Gujarati striking, Hampi striking, and we have a scoreline of 11 points to 5, I think, Tanya. This is a great performance here. You can see Vidit and Hampi smiling there, and the The crowd had immense joy of witnessing one of the greatest escapes in endgame play.

That was an iconic rook and pawn endgame that we just saw. Not a defensive structure that you get to see often, and the remaining 5 boards really showing up there. We saw Nidhi on the camera. She's so proud.

She's like, you know, with it. Another man of the match, another player of the match incoming, or what?

This time there's a lot on the line— player of the match. And we go live to our stage with the arbiter. Okay, good, good afternoon everybody.

Can I ask both the team captains on stage to sign the results, please? Sorry, the result is that the Alpine APL Pipers beat the Ganges Grandmasters by 11 to 6.

Congratulations, Alpine Pipers, with the second win in a row! And what a performance, 11 to 6 victory right now. And once again, it was Vidit Gujarati and Kaneru Hampi getting it done on their boards, just as they did yesterday.

And Sagar, okay, so see you within a few minutes.

Exactly why in every tier list they're right at the top.

Yeah, and I think they managed to actually play so well together as a team. I really want to would have loved to see Vidit's game, guys. We were a bit looking at deeply at Nepo almost beating Magnus. We missed Vidit. Its game, but I think he played incredibly well, as did Hampi.

And I'll point out one thing, I think that endgame that we witnessed between Jan Nepomniachtchi and Magnus Carlsen is going down in every single endgame book from now on.

Yes, I agree, I agree. And by the way, I don't know, Director Saab, if we can get the board up, like just the analysis board, because I want to show the crowd how Leinier Dominguez actually blundered a queen in an equal position. Oh wow, that's just insane. I, I don't know if we will be able to pull that off, but, but let's just say that Vidit won from an equal position in one move because Leinier Dominguez had 40 seconds. He made a move after thinking for 24 seconds and blundered his queen. Crazy.

Unbelievable. I'm seeing the blunder right in front of me, and you can replay that. Go and watch that game for some more shock value. But unbelievable things happen in this format, Sagar. What a day it started with this iconic clash as the teams walked in. Nobody knew what to expect. Ganji's Grandmasters had already taken down the royalty yesterday, the Dravini Continental Kings, and now facing the favorites. And what a fight they put on right now on that iconic board. I think everyone's reeling from the action they saw on this one. I know, I know, Tanya.

And somewhere Ganji's Grandmasters Masters didn't make most of their chances. Levon Aronian couldn't mate Anish, you know, he was not winning but he had his chances. And somehow Nepo, if he would have won that game, he would have really helped his team. But this is the guy, this guy, what is he doing here in Bengaluru, Tanya? Vidit Gujrathi, tell me a bit about him.

What can I say, Sagar? I think I've always known Vidit as a great team player. We've seen what he does at the Olympiad, and I think with the Indian team ready to participate in the Olympiad 3 days after this, this is the performance he needs at the Global Chess League. 2 back-to-back wins right there, feeling his form. Divya still shaky with hers, her second loss in a row, but it wasn't enough for the Ganges Grandmasters to get the flow going in that one.

Because Hampi, she's also in scintillating form. She won her game yesterday and once again delivered. And by the way, The final moment here of the Dominguez, and that was a blunder. With it takes the queen, and Dominguez was like, "I'm very sorry. What did I just do?" And this brilliant fortress. Ah, so good!

And you could see it on Magnus—the relief that I've done it—the Houdini act. Just unbelievable. Only Magnus Carlsen can make these things happen on the board, but it wasn't him to whom the victory belonged. I think the team showing up on all boards. 2 massive wins with the black pieces, and the Pipers making a strong case for their campaign.

I agree, I agree. They are looking right now as the favorites along with the Firs American Gambits to reach the top, and, uh, somehow they've done so well. And these are the live scenes out there. Magnus today feeling in good spirits, even picking up a dropped pen to give a signature there, and the kids are absolutely loving it.

Yeah, what a moment this is for chess fans in Bengaluru to have all these players down here. And a certain Magnus Carlsen now, of course, with the fans. Very different from when he walked in, you know, he was alone in his buggy getting into the match, and now he's ready to interact with the fans.

Yeah, and guys, I hope you were able to enjoy this match. It was so thrilling. And Tanya, we also got our act together here. All— there were no Sort of production errors or something. And guys, if you are watching it online on any of the channels, please do like this stream. Please do support the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League. It's one of the biggest events that's happening not just in India but all across the world. And I think people—you can see here—all people of all ages are coming in with youngsters and elders, and everyone's here enjoying.

वो बोल रहे थे अरे भाई यहाँ से हो रही है commentary.

यहाँ बैठे हैं दोनों.

ये है ये लोग बोले ये चिल्ला रहे हैं भाई इनको थोड़ा What a moment and the Ganges Grandmaster Sagar, a moment for them as well. You know we have to appreciate the fight that they put on on all the boards. Levon Aronian now of course with the fans getting the photos done. Adiban the captain there always with a smile on his face.

I agree and you know Pritanya giving these autographs and pictures always. It always feels a little more sweet when your team has won. But Levon, well, he's an amazing, amazing guy.

And which is perhaps the reason, Sagar, why we are not seeing the rest of the team here, because the Ganges Grandmasters will be back in action later today in the day. They have one more match coming up, and it is against the Fiery American Gambits later in the day. And this is where we are going into Match number six at the top with twenty-four game points. Two matches in the belt. Match points at six. It's Fires American Gambits and joining them, the Pipers.

Yeah, they have three game points less than the Fires American Gambits, but both the teams have played so well. And Tanya, next up we will have the Czech Mumba Masters who are on fifth position taking on the PBG Alaskan Knights who are on the. 6th position. So it's the battle between the 2 teams who are at the bottom right now, fighting to get off that zero mark.

And incredibly important to do that in this next match. And what's important for us is to find out who was the MVP, the player of the match, for the Pipers.

Let's find out. As they say, Sunday is fun day, and what a start to this action-packed day we've had What a face-off in the first match of the day! Well, we are here for the player of the match presentation, and for that I would like to call upon our guest for today, Mr. Naman Mathur, aka Mortal, an icon in the gaming industry and co-founder of SHUL Esports. Now to give away player of the match. Now come on, it cannot be anybody else when you do twice in a row, 2 days and 2 matches and 2 wins. It has to be Humpy Gonero from Alpine APL Pipers. Hampi, I'm not letting you go without having some questions answered because— okay, firstly, congratulations. Let's talk about the game. You had an upper hand, you did convert it, and you got the win.

Yeah, thank you so much.

Uh, after the opening, like when she went for this Bishop g5 on Knight g4, I was very clear that I was having a clearly better position because after h5 I was having having this bishop g3 trick.

So she was forced to play some kind of tries which she made in the game, like knight d4. And once I got this h5, it's very much clear that the g5 bishop was struck. And then it was clear advantage for me with a pawn up.

And then we entered the rook-knight endgame.

Definitely I could have played much better.

I think playing a5 was more, more better and convincing than taking—

rather taking on सीफे बट आई आल्सो वांटेड टू प्ले फास्ट एंड मेंटेन माय टाइम बट आई जस्ट मेड सम स्लाइड स्लिप्स बट स्टिल इट्स क्लीयरली विनिंग पोजीशन टेल अस वाज इट प्रेपरेशन फॉर टुडे के गेम और वाज इट द एक्सपीरियंस दैट यूव हैड थ्रूआउट ऑल दिस इयर्स दैट यूव प्लेड आई थिंक बोथ ऑलरेडी यू More than understanding, we try to give our best over the board.

I think at the end of the day, everybody has to handle their own position.

2 days, 2 matches, 2 wins. Uh, do we see this trend continue?

Uh, well, I'm really not thinking about this.

It's a very tricky format without the increment, so I just want to enjoy the game. All right, congratulations on a great win today. Hoping to see you more at the post-match presentation ceremonies. Thank you. Thank you so much. That is it from the post-match presentation ceremony. We will be back shortly after a break.

जब एक इंडियन के हाथ में पावर आता है, दस हजार रन का माइलस्टोन पार हो जाता है। सोचो, जब हर इंडियन के हाथ में पावर आएगा, इंडिया कितने और माइलस्टोन पार करेगा?

इसलिए योनो देता है हर इंडियन के हाथ में पावर, the all new योनो पावर टू एवरी इंडियन। आपके क्रेडिट कार्ड की ड्यूडेट मैं सोच चुकी है। जिसकी वजह से पेनल्टी चार्जेस की सीटी बजने वाली है और क्रेडिट स्कोर के गिरने की वजह से आपके होश होश होश उड़ने वाली है। यानि कि आपके हालात बिगड़ने की संभावना ह क्रेडिट पेमेंट्स की चिंता हमेशा सर पे आओ चेक पे सारे क्रेडिट कार्ड्स के बिल एक क्लिक में पे करो और वन परसेंट वापस पाओ रिडीम करो फॉर वाउचर्स या सीधा कैश डिस्काउंट क्रेडिट कार्ड है तो चेक करो मानिकचंद ऑक्सीरिच प्राउडली इंडियन। कमांड गाइस, हरियाब। अरे सुनना, एक ब्रेक ले लेते हैं। Guys, I'm telling you.

तुमलोगों को सही से trekking नहीं आता। But that's okay. You can learn.

Bro, इसका ढक्कन देना। हम्म। Bro, ये red वाला है। सही वाला देना। Bro, ढक्कन। पहले तो सही पानी पीना। हम्म। Manikchand Oxygen, proudly Indian. अरे बेटा क्या कर रही हो?

पापा, हमारे यहाँ प्लास्टिक रिसाइकलिंग का प्रॉब्लम नहीं है, प्लास्टिक कलेक्शन का प्रॉब्लम है। और हम सब मिलके नहीं करेंगे, तो फर्क कैसे पड़ेगा?

मानिकचन ऑक्सीरिच प्राउडली इंडियन Welcome back, everyone.

We've got chess superstars here in Bengaluru, and next to us we've got an Indian gaming superstar right here, Mortal Naman. Welcome to the studio. कैसा लग रहा है आज आपको?

बहुत-बहुत अच्छा लग रहा है. It is like क्या एटमॉस्फीयर है यहाँ पे एंड आई गोट टू नो दैट इट्स कंपलीटली सोल्ड आउट बट व्हाट एन एक्सपीरियंस पहली बार मैंने लाइव आईल बी वेरी हॉनेस्ट मैंने पहली बार लाइव चेस का कोई मैच देखा है इवन थो लाइक निहाल सरिन एंड ऑल आर देयर अरविंद इज़ देयर विथ मी बट देन लाइव पहली बार Nervous.

नमन आपको किसी ने बताया क्या move चलनी है कि that was your decision?

No, so D four मैंने सोचकर रखा था कि I'll just do that. Yeah.

That was a good decision.

आपने जैसे move किया I think दोनों Nepo और Magnus ने सोचा भाई इसको chess तो आता है.

Oh but it was so good.

But because of you mortal Naman bhai look at the number of people who are here your fans.

Because of the chess legends come on Sagar don't be so humble now.

भाई नहीं भाई everyone was really Excited to have you here, and I so love it. कि जो एक crossover हो रहा है ना chess और esports का, that is becoming really wonderful, right? Yep.

I mean, अब हमने देखा है कि जैसे chess को online भी खेला जा रहा है and उसका esports हो रहा है. It is it's great that it has been introduced as an esport now chess, and it's certainly gonna bring in more chess players on board because It's like you know everyone uses a mobile and a PC.

तो सही है, अच्छा है। नवनाथ मुझे एक बात बताओ, you know as a gamer who's played under the spotlights and you know the big star that you are, your experience inside the arena watching the chess players there, वो कैसा था? माहौल कैसा था?

देख मैं उनको राहता हूँ nervous नहीं हो रहा था यहाँ पर बैठे-बैठे but I am what my experience is that when you are playing over there you don't Be like you are not nervous at all. वहाँ पर everyone is so focused in just performing and giving their best because I've been there and I've done that. Audience को सबसे ज़्यादा pressure feel होता है, but players को उतना नहीं होता है comparatively.

Because you are in the zone, right?

Yeah, we are in the zone. We have to give our best. We have to come like focus over there. We are never like nervous about who we are playing against or anything.

Just block out the noise and just focus at the job at hand. Do you have a favorite player at the GCL?

I'll always go with Nihal Sarin.

Well, we will talk more about that. Nihal Sarin will be in action later today, but right now we have to head straight over to our Rohi, who's ready for the next match's coin toss.

You know what the great part about this tournament is? Is that yesterday is history, and today you have a new chance, a new opportunity to make make it count till the last breath. And these 2 teams are here to do exactly that— make a comeback. For the next 2 teams, uh, let's call upon the coaches for the coin toss. We have Surya Shekhar Ganguly for Czech Mumbai Masters and Abhijit Kunte for PBG Alaska Knights. For the coin toss, I would also like to call upon the tournament director, Mr. Bharat Singh, along with the chief arbiter, Gerd Bayer. Who's taken the call? Masters will be taking the call. Head is the call, tails it is.

Tails.

So, we will choose white.

All right. Congratulations on winning the toss. Why white?

Well, yesterday we played black, so—

What is— what is a new strategy that you're going to come up with now that you're picking white and you're playing I think I don't—

cannot disclose it now because he's standing with me, but we'll see in the board.

See, yesterday was just first day. Win or lose, you have the entire tournament in front of you. But let's talk about today's game. You are up against a team that has also not got started on the right foot. Does that give you a slight advantage, or, you know, put you in a position where you're like, okay, we're in the same boat?

Well, our team is like a comeback team. So like last event, we had started with -3, but then we come back very strongly, just missed, uh, to get into the finals. So we are looking forward to be better from the beginning in this tournament.

All right, waiting for the comeback. Congratulations and all the best. Happy with black, are you?

Yeah, sure. I mean, we also wanted that, so it's a good deal.

Y'all also lost with white in the last game, so today black Does that switch minds up when you're playing or approaching a game?

Um, I think it's kind of fair, like, you know, then, uh, you don't consecutively keep on playing one color, so it gives us flexibility.

So yeah, we are quite happy.

Surya, I want to ask you, at the last coin toss yesterday, you said this is a new team for you. You have joined the team this season. How was your day one, match day one with the team? Tell us about that.

No, fantastic. I mean, uh, I enjoyed Every game, the way Harika played, the way Pranesh outplayed from a complicated position.

It was pity that Shakh lost to Vidit from the beginning. You know, he was a bit struggling there.

But yeah, we were very close to winning the match. In fact, yeah, but also Carissa, like he she had an equal position, but then she actually wanted to win. So she showed a great attitude. But you know, if she would make the draw, then we were actually winning the game. But But I think it's the attitude that matters at the end.

So I'm very proud of my team, and yeah, they will do good.

Are you saying that the Masters are going to go for wins over draws this season?

Yeah, I mean, when we are playing, of course we are playing for win. There's no doubt on that part.

All right, all the best for today's game. Thanks, thanks, Aaravi. That is it from the coin toss. The news is that PBG Alaskan Knights have won the toss and opted for White.

Thank you for that, Arohi. And these are two teams who are yet to get on the scoreboard. So a very crucial match coming up between the Czech Mumbai Masters and the PBG Alaskan Knights. We got Mortal in the studio here with us. You know, I when we were having the coin toss, you were asking Sagar कि उन्होंने chess कब शुरू की and how that was. Tell us a little bit कि आपकी story क्या थी?

आपने कब gaming शुरू की? I casually started playing during my college times. तभी phone मिला था मुझे And mobile gaming ज़्यादा करता था मैं। PC gaming was something जो cyber cafe में जाके करता था, but then mobile gaming was like always active and then obviously तब PUBG got introduced and then I I saw that a lot of Indians were in the comment section of foreign YouTubers. Oh wow! And I took inspiration from one of those videos and just you know created one of the videos and that went viral.

तो हम अपने YouTube subscribers कैसे बढ़ा सकते हैं ना मनभाई?

मैं आपके अभी seven million plus Almost 7 million. Wow, that's huge.

You know, I want to ask Mortal one more question with his experience, Sagar, that as having an esports organization, the world of esports is so big with these big organizations. Tell us the role of a league like Global Chess League, franchisee teams. How does that change the landscape of a sport?

It helps a lot, uh, for all the upcoming chess players as well and all the existing grandmasters because Next tournament जो भी कब आएगा वो पता नहीं है। इन लोग का जो भी roadmap होगा तब आएगा, but then this fills that gap and it's very important that they are in touch.

भाई we have a massive super chat in on our channel ChessBase India 8-bit Thug और Thug भाई ने ₹10,000 का super chat दिया है और कहा है mortal OP and guys I must say That eight bit is actually responsible for this entire production of the broadcast and a model by, thug by all of them. You know, I've come together. Yep. Thank you so much to. It's an honor. It's an honor.

Chess के साथ आप जुड़ गए हो अभी। Yes, it's an honor and I hope this continues throughout and throughout.

Well, it's the fourth season, Naman, and it comes for the second time to India. And आपको भी लगता है gaming world की तरह India में hype ही अलग होती है fans के साथ। बहुत hype होती है। बहुत ज़्यादा and I love it. We all love to see it and we are going to love the upcoming action that's happening. The Czech Mumbai Masters taking on the PBG Alaskan Knights. We'll have our own legend Naman Vishy Anand on the stage. Yes.

No, it's gonna be fun to watch because I'm gonna be watching him for the first time. I'll be very honest.

अच्छा be very honest and tell us कि आपको हमारी commentary कैसी लगी first match में?

बहुत बढ़िया थी आपका single अच्छा लग रहा था बीच-बीच में it made me look at you, वरना तो हम सब match में match ही देख रहे थे पूरा time.

तो the best part about the commentary वो तो singing आप बोल रहे हो.

देखो सारे feedback. I think basically और गाना है मुझे अभी and I think a new career awaits me somewhere but these are the fixtures Anand MVL, Arjun Pranesh, Yas Khan versus Mamedyarov, Lagnodharika बात्सिया श्वीली वर्सेस करिशा येप एंड अभिमन्यु मिश्रा वर्सेस दानेश्वर बाड़िया Who are the favorites here तानिया according to you?

एक बात तो set है सागर ने और गाना है और इधर एक टीम ने दूसरे को हराना है That is going to happen for sure and like I'm going to be a singer and you are going to be a shyer मेरे में है थोड़ा ऐसे shyer vibes But let's talk है क्या हाँ थोड़ा सा बाद में बात करते हैं इसके बारे में but on our icon board we will have MVL versus Vishri Anand it means Means so much to the fans here as well. Now I'm going to watch our five-time world champion in action.

It's going to be so much fun and so so so many expectations from him as well. जो उनको बहुत time से follow कर रहे हैं, वो तो चाहेंगे कि he goes on to win it.

Yes, and you know he put on a big brave fight yesterday. It didn't go his way, but today looking at a response for that, you know, now man, मेरे लिए one of the most exciting things over the last two years has been How fans have come for chess, how it's become a spectator sport, and I think when we talk about that, the esports World Cup really stands out. It has been so cool to see how chess, the oldest, one of the oldest games known to mankind, has adapted to this atmosphere so quickly.

True. I think just the entire setup here and the love for the sport in the country has made it really, really special. And ये जो love है ना It it's shining through actions. Like for example, Mortal Bhai here. He by the way we have the team entering in of the we have the Mumbai Czech Mumbai Masters who were entering in. We'll show you those shots. But Mortal Bhai was streaming until three a.m. yesterday. क्या बात कर रहे हो? Then five a.m. का flight लेके यहाँ आ गए. Took a bit of rest. वापस यहाँ आके he made the first मूवीज़ यार ज्वाइनिंग अस कहाँ से आ रहे हो आप दो घंटे में ही विल गो बैक भाई ये क्या स्केच्यूल है भाई ये ऐसा प्राइम मिनिस्टर टाइप स्केच्यूल है आपका यही उम्र है मेकिंग अस ऑल फील ओल्ड हियर इन द स्टूडियो नामन जी बट थैंक यू सो मच फॉर बीइंग हियर विद अस एंड जस्ट अ क्विक प्र The Mumbai Masters or the Alaskan Knights?

I would. Oh my God!

किसके लिए root कर रहा हूँ? यार मैं थोड़ा सा प्रणेश के side भी था। अरे said you well प्रणेश। कल उन्होंने अनिश को हराया in actually a very strong manner.

True. And and we've got Anand over here so this is so difficult but then I'm I'm gonna stick with my boy प्रणेश। अरे let's go so you're going for the Czech Mumbai Masters?

Yes. And overall आपको क्या लगता है कौन सा team जीतेगा ये पूरा GC?

Magnus and team. I feel it's a gut feeling.

But I'll tell you one thing, you named Nihal Sarin. Of course, he was part of SADL at the Esports World Cup as well. He's playing for a very big one, the Fires American Gambits. That's later. Right now, we've got our legend walking into the arena, Magnus Carlsen. Vishy Anand, even 5 times world champion, there with a smile on his face, ready.

And by the way, ये जो आगे जो लड़का चल रहा था, उसकी ऐज गेस्ट करो भाई। अब आप ऐसे पूछ रहे हो तो पक्का ये 14-15। Oh my! Let's go! Well done! 15-year-old Yas Khan Airdog must the youngest 2700 in the history of chess and the youngest to become grandmaster as well when he did become a grandmaster.

I did I guess in one of your casting I've heard this.

वो जो हमने कल ही शायद सुना था मैंने। अबे मानियो मिश्रा in that team बहुत मजा आने वाला है। True.

This is going to be very exciting and भाई आप यहाँ पर थोड़ा fan zone में एकाद game win खेल के जाओगे या?

नहीं। मतलब जोश बहुत आता है मैंने जैसे कि बोला when I watch certain e-sport matches and जब e-sport athletes को देखता हूँ मैं compete करते हुए तभी मन करता है कि मैं खेलू And that's what happens. And I guess fans के साथ भी यही हो रहा है यहाँ पर कि they are watching professionals play chess and then they have the board in front of them.

वही adrenaline rush वहाँ पे use कर रहे हैं लोग। आपको ऐसा लगता है कि जब आप खेलते हो esports में, तो all the fans are cheering. The atmosphere is so different and loud. That was my experience. You know, they are rooting for their teams. That energy. But chess में ऐसे pin drop silence। I know.

बहुत opposite है। हाँ। I mean मेरे time पे तो it was like Like total chaos. Yeah. At the top of their voice, they used to shout. We used to get noise cancellation headphones over our earphones. अच्छा। So that कान में हमारे आवाज़ ना जाए। Because everyone's going crazy in the arena.

But you know, थोड़ा सा वो vibe आ रहा है chess में। You see players enter कर रहे हैं, लोग cheer कर रहे हैं। You know, वो जो arena है वहाँ पर शांति है, but outside एकदम energy है। And this was something which was missing.

Right. And it's now there. I completely agree. I guess audience को भी ये चीज़ धीरे-धीरे adapt हो जाएगा, because it's something new for us को भी. It's something new for the chess audience, right? The existing chess audience. उनके लिए ये नया चीज़ है. But then I guess it's they're gonna feel great about it later on when new people come in and become a part of the audience and the chess community.

And by the way, Naman, on that point, what's also been amazing to see is how the younger generation has adapted so well to this. You know playing under the spotlight, fans cheering for you, media pressure, expectations. Yeah, it's amazing.

भाई आपका chess.com पे खेलते हो आप? मत पूछो। थोड़ा बताओ। Please username ही बता दो। बाकि हमें समझ नहीं है। हाँ हाँ हाँ। शायद। भाई 400 भी शुरू होता है chess.com। नहीं नहीं नहीं। अच्छा कम होता है। पीछे जा सकते हो आप। You can even go to 100 तानिया। Okay. You can शुरू कहाँ से भी हो you can go down anywhere. Every Every time I watched some of chess, I just opened chess.com and hearta उधर जाके हाँ एक गेम खेलता हूँ hearta और demotivate होता है। आज शायद on the way back flight में आप खेलोगे। But ये है Czech Mumbai Masters team very nice team that they have and this is Suhail he is the CEO of the Czech Mumbai Masters and there you see The team of PBG Alaskan Knights.

A dogmas leading right there from the front. Vishy Anand with Abhimanyu Mishra, the women players at the back. And also point out that for the Czech Mumbai Masters, they lost to Alpine Pipers yesterday, but so many positive takeaways, scoring two big wins on two boards, and you can see the spirits are high. Yes.

By the way, Naman bhai, I have one question for you. Slightly difficult one here. अरे बात कि मतलब थोड़ा आपका you know you have so much experience in esports and gaming and so तो एक change जो हम यहाँ पर ला सकते हैं which could be a positive one क्या होगा just your feeling जो आपने feel किया है मेरे हिसाब से तो यही जो चल रहा है this is the change अच्छा जो चल रहा है already what is happening is changing so it's already there which means that more fans can gather into the I guess yeah more community building and और creators को यहाँ पे लाना, interact करवाना players के साथ, fans के साथ that would actually build things up. This is how gaming also grew. ऐसे ही grow होता है हर एक I guess every field में जो भी वहाँ पर audience के साथ जब तक connect नहीं होता है उस field का master तब तक community बनती नहीं है। एक मुझे कहना था Mumbai में जब कोई एक event होता है I think it's in October एक gaming का। ठीक है। वहाँ पर like tickets जब live जाते हैं ten thousand tickets get sold in like couple of hours I think that's how the scene is.

It is insane.

That sounds amazing, and hopefully chess is headed in that direction as well. 100 percent. Now man, I have one question for you. Easy है ना? मतलब आप बताओगे मुझे. But your pet sports, esports, whether we talk about PUBG or all the other games you play, आपको उसमें और chess में कौन सी similarities दिखती हैं?

I guess the preparation. जैसे प्रेपेयर करना होता है फॉर फॉर एनी अदर स्पोर्ट यू हैव तू प्रैक्टिस यू हैव तू कीप प्रैक्टिसिंग वो चीज तो है ही बेर मिनिमम स्ट्रेटेजी वाइज और या आई मीन स्ट्रेटेजी कोच के साथ इंटरेक्ट करना देर आर सो मेनी थिंग्स विच आर कॉमन एंड हर गेम में कॉमन होता है इन माय ओपिनियन लाइक व Now for these 2 teams, making a comeback is crucial.

Yes, it is the early days in the game, but every win matters. So here they take on the stage one more time in order to secure their first win of the season. Let's call upon the 2 teams, BBG Alaskan Knights and Czech Mumba Masters. Now, they are the knights. Every move is unpredictable. You never know when they'll come back, and today might just be that day. Give it up for PBG Alaska Knights! 5 times world chess champion Anand Vishwanathan! World rapid number 3 Arjun Erigaisi! The youngest 2700, Yagiz Khan Erdogmus. Former women's rapid and blitz champion, Katarina Lagnau. Georgian superstar, Nino Batsiyashvili. And the youngest GM, Abhimanyu Mishra. With their coach Abhijit Kunde. Now this city has the skyline, this team has the star line. Give it up for Czech Mumba Masters! Former World Blitz Champion Maxime Vachier-Lagrave! India's rising star Pranesh! Former World Blitz Champion Shakriyar Mamedyarov. Reigning Asian Women's Rapid and Blitz Champion Harika Dronowale. 4 times American Women's Chess Champion Carissa Yip. Former Asian Champion Bardiya Dhaneshwar. And their coach Suryashेखar Ganguly. Give it up for these 2 teams who'll be taking on the stage in a couple of minutes. It's now time for the handshakes.

Encounter between the champions. Mumba Masters and the PBG Alaskan Knights. And joining me is the one and only Irina Krush. Hello, Irina!

Hi, Sagar, it's a pleasure to be with you again.

This is going to be an incredible match. Uh, maybe you can lay down what, what's happening here, Irina. I know you have some great insights. Can you share with us?

Yeah, well, absolutely. This is a match between 2 teams who are looking for their first win here at the Global Chess League. And I think actually there's another important component here, which is also it's a match, um, where one of the teams is looking for their first individual win. And this is actually not an unimportant factor because we saw from the previous match how important momentum is and how the 2 players who delivered for the Alpine APL Pipers were the same players who delivered in the first match. And I don't think—

It's all about momentum.

Yes, I think so, right? And so here's the other thing, like Of course momentum changes, especially when you have a league where all the players are so strong. But we also know from previous seasons that momentum can drift for a while, right?

Right.

And by the way, we already have games kicking off here. Uh, Irina, should we start off with the game of Katrina Lagnow and Harika? These 2 players, uh, Who do you think is the small favorite here?

I think it's very evenly matched. These players have played probably around 100 games against each other in— across all the formats, rapid and blitz. It is really a lot, right? And, um, I think their last most significant encounter was the Women's World Cup in 2025, and that was a situation that Harika won in a 4-game match. She won in the rapid tiebreak. And knocked Katarina out in round four. And they also played at the Tata Steel India tournament earlier this year, and Harika won their mini blitz match of two games.

Wow! So Harika does have the momentum on her side going here. By the way, there's also another game that has begun, and here I think is very interesting. It's Nino Batsyashvili versus is Carissa Yip, one of the players you would be knowing very, very well. Uh, can you tell us a bit about Carissa? Uh, she is right now the highest-rated US women player.

Yeah, uh, for sure. Carissa is someone, um, I would love to improve my score against based on our recent encounters. Um, and here we have her playing a Nimzo-Indian. She has definitely expanded her opening repertoire because she is very well known as a King's Indian Indian player, but that's an opening that it's hard to stick with for your whole career. So, uh, she's trying to diversify, so she goes for the Nimzo-Indian. And we actually have this a3 line, which is something that Wei Yi used yesterday against, um, Nihal, right? Nihal, exactly.

Yeah. And so right now, this will be quite an aggressive, uh, battle. It's not going to be a completely positional one. I think I think my eyes are actually set on this 3rd board encounter, which is between Yagiz Khan Erdogmus and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. It's the student versus the teacher.

Well, this is a very intriguing matchup for sure, because Shakhriyar has been training Yagiz Khan for several years, since he was around 12 years old and, um, around 2500 rating. Now he's over 2700. Uh, relationship has been going on for a few years now. They actually played recently in a tournament, I don't know if you know.

Oh, really?

Yes.

And who won?

Well, actually, in their blitz game, I think it was Yagiz Khan that won. They were playing rapid and blitz, a small kind of a speed chess event in Uzbekistan about a week ago, actually. So it was not very well publicized, but somehow I came upon this, uh, fact. So yes, the most recent encounter went Yagiz Khan's way.

Right, and you could see there that Shakriyar is trying to kind of trick the little guy there. He plays the move d6, and you could see Yais was like, I am not so sure what to do here. And then after some thought, he pushed his pawn to d4, knight f6. And I think this will be a fun clash because they are not going to settle for a draw. They're going to fight. Meanwhile, The clash on the icon board is about to begin. Let's head over there. Vishy Anand versus MVL. What a battle this is going to be.

Yeah, well, this is a reprisal of their 2025 GCL clash. Um, in that mini-match, MVL beat Vishy 1.5 to 0, and he actually won with the black pieces, which he is also playing with right now. Um, in that game, he played e4, e5. He moved away from the Sicilian Defense that we usually expect from him.

And today I believe it will be the Sicilian on the board as Vishy will open his game with 1.e4 and MVL will respond with the Sicilian. We are waiting for the game to begin. It's a staggered start, so first 2 boards start of the Women's Superstar board, then we have boards 2 and 3 that begin, and now finally the Prodigy board And we got the handshake.

Let's see if you're right, Sagar. He did go for the Sicilian. Yes. Okay, let's go.

And it will be the Najdorf because— oh no, he goes e6. e6.

Okay, also very popular move. Let's see, is he gonna go for the Taimanov, the Four Knights, or the Kan Sicilian?

There's a Sicilian Kan.

It's an opening you've played this before. I do, yeah. I've played a lot of different Sicilian lines and this is one of them. So let's see, will Vishy go for the solid Maroczy setup with c4, or— nope, I think He brought out his bishop, and usually this bishop goes back to a7. And now White has a pretty big choice between castles, Queen e2, Knight c3. So he goes Queen e2. He wants to prepare the bishop's outing to e3.

I think it's a bit of a risk that MVL has taken here because Najdorf is his very well-known weapon that he uses this. He's played something totally different, and somewhere this could give Vishy a chance, you know, to get an advantage out of the opening.

For sure. I mean, it's a much sharper game here, and it's not like mathematical equality for Black. Although, you know, Black does have these ideas of playing d5 in these positions, right? Because normally if they keep their pawn on d6 and White holds the space advantage, White is going to be at least somewhat better.

So the question is, um, can you get this move d5 Or, uh, Irina, you could even push your pawn to e5 and then start playing on the dark squares, right?

You can try. Yeah, I would say, like, from my experience, it's still not like full equality for Black when they go for that structure. So, um, yeah, if I was Black— I mean, you know, Black— oh, there we go, d5 on the board.

And does that cleanly equalize? That's the big question, because if we take and take And take, then knight takes, and suddenly the rook is coming to e8. And I guess this rook on a7 is feeling a bit uneasy.

Yeah, I mean, the rook normally comes out from the move b6.

Okay.

Um, and uses the 7th rank to come into the game. Um, but d5, yeah, you know, Black, sometimes if you leave that pawn alone, the pawn can even continue to go to d4, and that would not be a bad structure for Black at all. So I think White does need to Uh, respond to this d5 move somehow, and they can take and probably, um, play e5. Yeah, that's what I would think about here.

So is Vishy going to do that? No, he simply castles here, and he says to Maxime, if you take, then I might take even with the queen, but bishop takes, and I have this very powerful bishop and better development.

Yeah, exactly.

That's very typical for this line. I mean, the pawn structure gets liquidated in the center, but White says Your development's not so good. The rook on a7 is a bit awkward and, uh, retains some initiative. So basically, I would say from the opening, of course, MVL is basically playing for a draw, right? There's— this is actually not that likely to get exciting except if White can press.

Okay, so that's a great, uh, assessment of the position. Should we go to board 2, which we hadn't looked at yet, between 2 players Who go crazy on the board, and it's no different here, Irina. Look at this position!

Wow, this is already wild—a fascinating position, right? So we got Pranesh, who was a last-minute replacement for Fedoseev, and I think he's very excited to get his chance to play. He's already beaten Anish Giri. It's a really big opportunity to play in the Global Chess League, and Arjun already had a crazy game against Nihal. So now we have a position that looks like it came out from, like, various Queen's Gambit structures.

Right. It actually began with e3.

Wow.

And then somehow converted into a d4 opening here. And Pranesh is someone who cannot really sit quiet. So he went g5.

Wow.

And then f5. And he's going all in here. But Arjun seems to be doing quite well here.

Well, um, I would say it's so complicated, it's kind of hard to figure out at first glance. I mean, Black has to make a decision about how they're capturing back this pawn. The first thing that comes to mind would have been the e-pawn, but then after f3, uh, they have a problem with their knight being vulnerable and the f5 pawn hanging, right? So that's why, uh, Pranesh decides to capture with the bishop.

And now don't you think there's this a6 pawn that's a bit loose, but maybe not so relevant?

Um, yeah, maybe you can let that pawn go and try to attack on the kingside, right? So let's see what happens if bishop takes a6.

So if you take here, maybe knight takes knight, I don't know.

Take here, move your bishop somewhere like bishop b4. Absolutely, that's a little bit dangerous for white, right, to have the Queen lines up with the rook, and then just simply bishop here, and this already feels very dangerous.

So you're right, he did not take on a6, he played the pawn up to f3. And Arjun did beat Pranesh in the recent EWC, right?

He did, he beat him 2-0, I believe, right? Um, so a little bit of momentum going into this game. So the knight, we expect the knight to go back probably to f6, and then White has to make a decision. Does he trade knights or does he withdraw the knight? I mean, I feel like this is still a super unclear position because it's— White wants to maybe at some point play the move e4, but it's not so simple because there's a lot of things hanging in the center, right?

And maybe, Irina, it's a good idea for us to go to— oh, by the way, before we leave here, there is a big mistake that has occurred on the board. It's almost as big as blunder because white seems to already get a decisive edge.

Well, right now black has 2 pieces hanging, so he was planning to go bishop b4. Let's see what is the problem with that. So white can capture the knight and get 2 pieces for the rook.

So if you move the rook, black is fine. Yeah, because let's say if you just go here, knight c3. So that's the reason why Arjun now The first thought is I'll take here. If you take my rook, I'll take your bishop. And that's the reason why maybe Pranesh had fe4 on his mind to attack this bishop and this rook. I don't know, it's just simply moving.

Even if the bishop moved, right, it still doesn't really work very well. So it's actually a pretty, pretty big blunder. Let's look at it again. So the mistake is his knight was under attack, and instead of moving it, he tries to go for an intermediate move But that leaves 2 of his pieces under attack instead of one.

Yeah, and Arjun doesn't miss such chances. He takes on e4, and the PBG Alaskan Knights are looking good here with Arjun having a big advantage.

Yeah, well, if he manages to win this game, it's going to be the first win of the tournament for the PBG Alaskan Knights, so that would be amazing. And of course, a little bit sad for Pranesh, right? Because it feels like the game just started, and, uh, to be losing material so early on and having A knight on h5 ready to come to f6 is not so pleasant.

By the way, Irina, in the live chat that we have on our streams going online, we got a super chat by Memeto who says it's great to see Irina commentating alongside Sagar at such a wonderful tournament, and there's so many people who are enjoying your commentary.

Thank you, Sagar, and thank you to our audience for, for saying that. We, um, we appreciate you guys as well.

Yeah, this is really great, guys. You should know that actually Irina was one of the participants at the Global Chess League, so she has some deep insights not just as a commentator but also as a player. And it's epic to see these games happening right in front of us. So can we have the 6-board view here and then we can decide? So here Arjun is doing well. If we can get the 6 boards we will know what's happening on the other, uh, boards as well.

Yeah, it looks like there's, uh, the engine bar is also liking the position of Abhimanyu Mishra. So maybe we can take a look at the prodigy board. That seems to be the other big advantage. All the other games look balanced, although I have to say, um, that Nino's game against Carissa also looks, uh, very complicated. And same for Katarina versus, uh, Harika.

Just at this point, if I had to put you on a spot, do you think like PBG Alaskan Knights are the favorites because Arjun already got a decisive edge?

It really helps to start a match with a point so early. I mean, it helps the team enormously because actually then everyone knows what they're playing for, right? They're playing with the white pieces and, um, you know, normally this early in the match, I mean, white's not going to be so much worse. And if they all, if they all know that like they have a win in the bag, then, um, they can all kind of solidify, and it's a pretty big advantage to start with.

True. Let's go to the Abhimanyu Mishra, the board number 6 game, the prodigy board. And Irina, you need to break this down for us as to why at this moment is white better. Like, what's happening?

Well, this is a good question, right? Because the position is still closed, uh, all the pieces and all the pawns are on the board, so I wouldn't say like it's completely obvious to me that white is better. It seems actually pretty playable for a rapid game, especially. I don't see the big problem for black. I mean, perhaps it's this rather strange knight on g7, but to be honest, I mean, he's got potential sometimes to go to e6, sometimes to go to h5. I don't see why black can't just castle in the future. So personally, I don't think things are so bad for black as the engine bar is making out.

Right. Okay, so this looks pretty decent for Dhaneshwar. He's not worse. Should we go and check our icon board once, and then we can go to the female superstar boards? It seems like somehow Vishy made couple of moves which were not the most accurate, and like in this position d5 was played, and after takes. Takes, takes, castles. The knight came out, the rook jumped in, and MVL lined up the rook opposite the queen here. And Vishy Anand dropped his bishop back to pin the pawn on d5 because now the rook is opposite the queen.

Yeah, I guess the problem for white here is that this knight on b1 is still undeveloped, and black apparently has like a big choice of moves, right? So there is this type of moving the b-pawn Put the rook on d7, the bishop on b7 idea. To me, actually, yeah, b6 looks a lot more intuitive than b5 because you don't really want to give up the c5 square for no reason. So this is like a very safe move because Black's rook is still lined up against White's queen, so they're normally not so afraid of e takes d5. And yeah, there is this idea of d4, which is much more double-edged. I don't know if MVL is gonna go for that. Um, it's like, it's a more ambitious move because it keeps more pawns on the board, right?

But he, he did play b6.

Yeah, that seems like a much more solid move for Black.

And Vishy is now thinking, I mean, if he gets his knight out here at this point, then the move d4 is very strong.

And Rook d7 coming, and that rook comes into the game beautifully.

On the other hand, if you decide to take the pawn in the center, then after knight takes All of a sudden, the rook gets activated, the bishop is opening up, and also the other rook is joining in. So looks good.

Very importantly, after white threatens this pawn, they cannot capture the knight because in the end there's going to be back rank checkmate. So I guess that's a really important tactical point.

So take, take, take, and it is a checkmate here.

And we see again how, how relevant it is that the white knight is not developed from b1. Right. So what can we say? Well, MVL's opening has worked very well, right? He's at least equal. Yeah. And, um, potentially there's, uh, there's some chances for him to even take over the initiative.

And a win with black pieces counts really a lot in this format because you get 4 points for every black win. But you know, the team of the Czech Mumba Masters, uh, while they are doing well on this board The PBG Alaskan Knights are doing well on the Women's Superstar Board. Can we go to the Nino Batzyashvili versus Carissa Yip game? The last move that Nino has played by taking this pawn seems to be an error.

Okay, this is kind of intriguing, Sagar, because now White has this choice of how to capture on d5, and both moves actually have a point, right? One of them opens up the bishop in one direction, and the other one undoubles the pawns and gets rid of the weak pawn. So yes, Nino chose to undouble the pawns, allow the bishop trade. And why is her position better here? I think it's pretty obvious. It's the space advantage in the center. It's the possibility— I mean, right now, if she gets a turn to move, well, at some point she might want to push the pawn to c4, pawn to e5. So it's definitely the Space advantage, the potential of the knight on g3 and the bishop.

Yeah, so I mean, Black must push the pawn to c4 and try to say that at least there are some weaknesses, the b3 square weakness. But you are right, these 2 pawns in the center give the team of PBG Alaskan Knights a small—

It's just a very pleasant position to play actually, right? Because there's advantages where things are not clear, and then there's advantages which feel pretty stable, right? And this is one of those.

She goes in with her knight to b3, wanting to trade it off for the bishop. And we see the crowd there, they are having a wonderful time. I mean, if we just get a shot of the crowd, there are so many people who've come on this Sunday afternoon here in Bengaluru. Uh, Irina, how have you found all the fans. I think you also went into the fan zone and interacted with them a bit.

Yeah, well, I mean, there's just a lot of energy here, Sagar. So many people, so many fans asking for autographs, they're wanting to play games with you and just excited about the chess. So it's amazing. And by the way, you know, Sagar, I have to say, I was like, I was wondering like, how good is White's position? I'm like, can we even just give up the rook over here? Like, you know, if you give up the rook and then you try to trap the knight, I was like, Like, like, do we have compensation? We actually have some compensation. Of course, it's not the right way to play for White, and she doesn't, uh, Nino doesn't need to do that. So she saves the rook, she goes to a2, um, and c4 happened. Yeah, this is very important to at least stop White from going c4.

And now just go back, Queen d1, or, you know, just move the queen, and this is slightly better for Nino. Let's move to the game of Yazgan Erdogmus and Shakriyar Mamedyarov, because this one we see is actually looking starting to look good for Yazgan Erdogmus. Look at that knight on H8. It's very sad.

I mean, that is a rare thing to see in chess—a knight in the corner of the board. You even wonder how in the world did it get there? I mean, because it's like the The literal opposite of where you want your knights. Um, but okay, it got kicked there by the h-pawn.

I mean, look at what Shakh did. Yeah, like, first he didn't trade the bishops, he went back. Then he went again, he said no trading the bishops.

It's understandable because he's trying to say that, like, the white light-squared bishop is not the best.

But what is happening here? He's playing so provocatively. Yeah, provocatively. And he's basically— do you think that he understands Yaz well, and he's trying to lure him in.

I mean, it's possible. You know, I have to say, I do see some sense in what Shaq is doing. This is like a rapid game, by the way. Look at the time advantage. He's got almost twice the time that Yagiz Khan has. So I actually don't think Black's position is so bad. Um, you know, the way the engine is telling us, I see some clear ideas, right? There's f5 constantly, which is actually, um, you know, it's cute. I'm curious Like why he couldn't just do it before King g7. Maybe because, yeah, the bishop just steps away and taking is not really an idea, right? Okay, that's why he goes King g7. But, um, f5 ideas are definitely there.

They are there in the air, and it could happen that Black, like a spring coil, could unleash, and then Yash could be in trouble. Also, the time, as you pointed out, is such a big factor Because we have seen Yaskan Erdogmus getting a bit stressed out under time pressure. He's always moving back and forth, and that could play a role here.

Yeah, I mean, there's a big difference how you play the whole game and how you play when you've got under a minute. Exactly. It changes a lot. So I would say this is like still a toss-up for me despite the computer evaluation favoring white.

Right. Okay. And then like We can go to our second board between Arjun and Pranesh because it does feel like Arjun— oh my God, where is Arjun's queen?

Right, so he sacrificed his queen for a rook, bishop, and knight. Yeah, and apparently this is still good. You know, the important thing is that his minor pieces are on stable squares. Wow, what a beautiful move by Arjun. So he— okay, he needed to save the bishop. Yeah, otherwise actually he had to play that.

Right, so he took here, giving up the queen, and now takes.

Ah, and there was Rook d7 and checkmate coming, so the bishop on e4 could not be captured.

And here there's a mate happening, which is why takes, takes, Rook d8. And after Bishop f3, if we count the pieces, white has a bishop, knight, and a rook for a queen. That's just a lot of material.

And the knight on f6 is so powerful too, right? Because it's on an outpost and it's, uh, just a very aggressive piece. And the nice thing for white is that both minor pieces are well protected and the king is well protected, which is what you're looking for when you're playing against a queen, right?

Would you say this is just a matter of technique now for Arjun to win?

I would, but still, let's see how much time— yeah, they have— they both have a lot of time. So I do think that Arjun should be able to do it eventually, but it'll take some time. It'll take some time.

And while Arjun is winning, let's go to the board of Katrina Lagnow and Harika on board number 4, because this is where it does feel like Harika once again is putting pressure on Katrina Lagnow.

This reminds me a little bit of the game between Zhu Jin'er and Bibi Sara from yesterday, Which also featured a position in the endgame where a knight was superior to a bishop because of the better pawn structure. Um, and that's actually what we have here, is that White has 2 sets of doubled pawns. Black's structure looks a lot more solid. But how does Black really improve this position? I guess that first of all, they have to find a plan for improving the knight, right? And are they gonna go—

I mean, if I could get my knight here somehow, To the c4 square, I would be very happy. But it looks very difficult. c4, right?

So maybe, but yeah, knight c8, knight b6 could be an idea, but that allows a trade.

Or maybe c5, knight c6, knight e5 jumping here.

I want okay. That's actually really nice by black because they want to fight for the b file. I mean, actually, I don't know if the computer maybe doesn't like this move, but it looks very reasonable.

It's a very decent move. I think it's a great. Great move by Harika. And at this point, if we look at the match, Vishy and MVL are equal. Arjun is better, winning. Yaskhan is better. We have Nino Batzyashvili who's better. Abhimanyu Biswas slightly better. So very strong, uh, kind of match for the PBG Alaskan Knights.

So we are thinking that there is a good chance they're gonna get their first win And maybe the first team win as well.

But somehow, if, you know, MVL gets to strike with Vishy, those will be 4 points. So let's go to the icon board. Although it does feel like Vishy's got things under control now.

Yeah, I don't really see any, any danger for him. It's just an endgame with 2 pieces apart. His king is sitting nicely in the center on e3. He doesn't have any pawn weaknesses. If anything, his position is a little bit preferable because his bishop is the one attacking the black pawn on f7. So yeah, I mean, I don't really see this getting crazy because especially because they have a lot of time.

So this will most likely end in a draw. Where should we?

Oh, let's go to Erdogmus versus Shaq. Okay. Yeah, because okay, the time situation here is getting quite interesting. And Erdogmu still has to make 13 moves in 5 minutes.

I think he should be able to do that, although here it slowly— Shakriyar Mamedyarov is getting his pieces onto the good squares.

Yeah, I mean, White has a lot of pieces on the kingside and they're pretty nicely established there. I would, you know, the bishop on f5 looks good. The knight on f3, um, it feels like— of course, it's actually harder for Black to make moves here, right? So, so right now it's White's turn after— oh, he just played Rook f1. Okay, bringing in the rook. And what do we do with this bishop on e8? It feels like it's in a bit of a strange position sitting in there amongst the heavy pieces.

Do you think I can push my pawn to h4 and try to open up things? Because then I get rid of my weakness as well.

Yeah, that move definitely occurred to me because it's a way to try to get the f4 square for the knight. But yeah, there are some problems because the black king is not so safe as well, and white can try to kind of come in with all of their pieces, right?

So for now, I don't think Shaq can go for the move h4. He has to stay calm here. His position is okay, it's not so bad, but there is Definitely a lot of pressure on him.

Yeah, I mean, of course, move like Bishop f7 comes to mind.

Yes, to connect the major pieces on the last rank.

Yeah, that, or maybe Queen e7, Bishop f7. You know, it's interesting because like there are also ideas like here, and maybe actually I wonder, you know what, if the queen can come out and start attacking from the other side of the board, and maybe Black can create a bit of counterplay against Against White's king. That would be interesting. That could get a good move. That could get pretty wild if Shaq finds that.

Nice, nice. Okay, if he does that, that could get very exciting. Meanwhile, we have to quickly go to the board number two because Arjun Erigaisi is no longer winning.

I mean, the position has the queen on the board, which he didn't used to have.

What happened? Where did he must have promoted a pawn? So we did see d five. Takes, takes, and he's winning here completely. Better check.

This king is getting a little unstable though.

Oh, he goes e6, pawn takes. What a position! Wow! And now he goes queen check, king h6. What a game this is turning out to be!

Oh, that would be an amazing Amazing save by Pranesh, like absolutely amazing.

Irina, how tricky Pranesh is, right? Like he just escapes. We even saw at a tournament like Chennai Grandmasters where he was worse out of the opening against the world champion Gukesh and managed to beat him.

Like honestly, right here it's hard to even see how Arjun is going to hold the advantage because it looks like the black pawn on e2 is so strong that white might have to just give up a knight to stop And then it's just a draw. Yeah, that would be incredible. And of course, you know, Arjun, that would be like the second winning position that he's, uh, kind of given away so far, because at some point he was also winning against Nihal yesterday.

Yeah, he was completely winning there. Uh, but at this point, Arjun can still try for some tricks. He has check on e6, he has check on d6. He has 5 minutes 40 seconds. Pranesh has 7 minutes 59 seconds.

So let's say we try a check. Which way does the king run, right? Because you, uh, look, look how tricky it is, because intuitively you might want to run backwards, right? And apparently right here there's— yeah, there's a big trick here that white can go here and threaten that. And actually, look at this, when black promotes, you take, and you can take the other queen and protect your queen.

Which would be amazing. This is insane because knight takes d4. So let's say king goes back somewhere. I mean, it's just over. You just it's also checkmate or like this.

Yeah. Yeah. This is completely winning.

He gives a check on d6, but Pranesh making a strong comeback here for the Czech Mumbai Masters. This match is wide open. Can we get our six board view? In fact, the result has just come. Vishy Anand has drawn his game with MVL.

And you know, by the way, Pranesh now has a difficult choice because now the opposite king move is the right one.

Oh, so he has to find the best.

Yeah, he actually— he went for it.

Yeah, King g7 was the best move because there was Queen d6 check. He had to go back. And by the way, Look at the match, Irina. If we just have to see, Pranesh no longer worse. I mean, Arjun is still pushing, but yeah, could be a draw. Then we have Shaq who's getting better with the black pieces against, uh, Erdogmus. I think he kind of understood how to play against his student. We have equality on Katrina Lagnu and Harika. We have Nino who's pushing against Carissa Yip, and we have अबीमन्यु मिश्रा स्लाइटली बेटर अगेंस्ट दानेश्वर भाड़िया और नो बोर्ड, अदर गंगीज़ ग्रैंडमास्टर्स पीबजी अलास्का सॉरी पीबजी अलास्कन नाइट्स अंडर टू मच प्रेशर राइट?

या दिस हैज बीन अ बिग टर्नअराउंड इन द मैच। आई मीन राइट नाउ द पीबजी अलास्कन नाइट्स दे नीड टू विन ऑन द Um, but it might really depend on the game between Yagiz Khan and Shakriyar, which is again, you know, becoming, uh, kind of a changing in evaluation.

So, so at that game, we just see Yaz— Yaz going in Knight to f5 with a check. Oh my God, it's turned around!

Something has happened in the last couple of moves where Black's position was fine, but he had a very tricky move to find. Queen g5, bringing in the queen.

But instead he took check, and now even though White is a piece down, wow, the attack is just too strong. After Rook h1, Rook takes h1 with the queen, knight, and a rook, this king is getting toasted.

So what do you think the threat is after Rook takes h1? Like, what is White's main threat? Is it just Queen h h3, an infiltration on the h-file. Um, that probably— well, it's actually not, not completely obvious, like, why White is totally winning, right?

There's something like Rook h6, the rook coming in, then the queen moving into h5. You just have to be careful about checks and losing your queen.

But I, I can totally see why Shaq went for this though, because like, if you look at this position, you even see like this move, you're like, why am I losing? Yeah, I have a lot defending my king.

And I think he will play that. He's actually gone for that. No, he first takes on d5. c takes d5. And Yaz goes for a check. I mean, this guy is a genius. He's just 15 years old. He will spot some kind of a mating net that can occur here. Irina, the best move is the very strong Queen e6. Wow. Trying to checkmate via g8. How tough is that?

Yeah, I mean, okay, it's a way in. He has to look for checks. He's down a piece, so I think there is a decent chance he's gonna find it. I think that he just moved something in. Yes!

Wow! Yes, Kanner Dogmas! Wow, what a guy he is! He goes Queen e6. He's going for Queen g8, and I think Shaq in big trouble.

Yeah, unfortunately, he can't cover that g8 square so easily because if he moves his light-squared bishop. Then the attack is gonna come from this square, right? So he's basically out of resources to defend against that check on g8.

And Shakhriyar is now very much in trouble. He has 6 minutes, but what to do with all that extra time? He goes Queen g5 and a check on g8. Now, is it easy to finish off this game, Irina, or is it a complicated thing?

I think there's still some things to be found, right? Because he has to start attacking with checks. Bringing in the rook.

Yeah.

It looks like the king is making some kind of escape, actually. And then we go here, here, and—

Oh my God.

Well, we—

I guess the idea is to checkmate from the back rank, which is really not so obvious, right? Especially given that, you know, White's king can be checked as well. Um, so I would say it's not trivial.

It's not easy. No, it's not easy. Yaz has to find a series Only moves. He goes knight f5 check, and that actually lets Shakriyar Mamedyarov off the hook. Wow!

So okay, look at that. He might go for a draw right now.

King g8, and that's the reason why Yaz looked at the big screen. He was like, "Should I take a draw?" Check king g7. It might be a wise decision to take a draw, not to over push and lose your game.

Yeah, okay, but he.

He did not.

He went for Queen c7 check. King f8. And now— but Rook f1 runs into Knight f4 check.

Oh my God, it's a counter check.

So what's the next attacking move from White here? Is it Knight f5 and try to go back?

And we can't take here because of check, right? The check could be too dangerous.

Right, because Black is at least okay there.

Yes.

You have nowhere to hide your king. So it's interesting that he decided not to do the repetition, and he went for this situation. Now he's got under a minute, but he has made it to move 40, so he has the 2-second increment.

He's on move 41 now, and we can see the bars on the bottom of the screen. It's all white; it's all PBG Alaskan Knights. Arjun is winning against Pranesh. Nino Batek Mumba Masters coming. I don't see it.

Yeah, it does look like the PBG Alaskan Knights are gonna get a lot of wins in this match. And let's see what— oh, they're repeating, I think. Uh-huh. So that's what he has found in order to make a draw right now. He has so little time, you can see that he's very nervous, and I think he's going to, uh, agree to the draw. Usually when a player looks like that, you know that it's like they're just gonna go for the checks.

You know, every time I see Yaz, I feel that he's under pressure, but then I realize it's just his natural self. To be playing like this, he's playing for the win.

Incredible! Wow! He changes his mind. He goes knight f five. Yeah, we know. We knew that move existed, but that is very, very cool that even though he's like so nervous, clearly he was still trying to avoid the repetition.

Man, that is insane the way he's playing here. He wants that point, but you know now Shaq has more time. Yaz has only five seconds.

I don't think it's a wise decision. Very risky, actually. Yeah, given their match situation. And this was really not necessary for their team.

But you know, that's why you're 15 years old. You always have this unbridled optimism and you want to win every single game you play.

Yeah, no, this is an amazing position. So okay, right now he's threatening checkmate with Queen g7, right? So Black needs to use their check on the king. Um, now White—

Oh, there's another result that's coming in. Nino Batsyashvili has just beaten Carissa Yip. Which means that the score is now eight-two in the favor. How did? How is it eight-two? Oh, there's one more draw between Katrina Lagnow and Arjun Eri Gaisi has won. So two wins for the PBG Alaskan Knights eight-two. Now Shaq has to win. It's a must, and Dhaneshwar Bardi has to win. I don't think, Irina, that's going to happen. He gives goes for a check.

Okay, he's under five seconds.

Check King F one, Knight H five, Queen check, and now Shaq is winning. Maybe some hope. Wow! For the Czech Mumba Masters here.

I mean, thankfully for Shaq, he still has some time, but it's such a crazy situation when you've got four and a half minutes and your opponent has three seconds on the clock. And you're in such a wild position. I mean, yes, it's very unusual, the situation that Yagiz Khan has created through his combativeness, right?

I mean, one should really commend the youngster's fighting spirit, but on the other hand, well, he didn't have to do that. Goes for a check, check, check, queen takes, and now knight e7 check. And you can feel it that here This game is going away from Yaz's hands. You can see his expressions there. He's upset. He's not happy.

I mean, he played really a great game, and this is a very sad way for it to end with him being down a piece in the endgame now, and the attack is over that he had against the black king.

It's a small training session that Shaq has given his student here.

But you know, I feel like Yagiz Khan kind of gave it to himself, right? Um, you know, I gotta say, it's hard when you have no time to look at the games of your teammates. That's really common problem here at the Global Chess League. But is it gonna matter though for the, for the match result?

I think it could be a very critical aspect if after Shaq, who's winning here— Bardia is the only other game.

Let's take a look at what's going on.

Let's go to Bardia's game. Somehow, do you see any chances for Black to unravel here?

I think White is just so much in control. White is very solid, right? Look at those pieces. We see another knight Entrenched on f6, really not obvious what the targets are for black in this position.

So also white is a pawn up, right?

So yeah, I mean, I don't I don't really see how Bardia is going to even out this match.

Okay, so that means that even though Yaskaner Dogmas might lose his game, and I think he will, it's still going to. not matter so much because the PBG Alaskan Knights have scored importantly on 2 boards. Arjun won, and Nino Batsyashvili as well.

And Nino was an MVP player for her team, uh, last season, right? She scored an amazing something like 7 or 7.5 out of 10. And, you know, again, we talked about momentum at the beginning of this match. You know, when players start winning, they They keep winning, and when they start losing, they keep losing. We saw Dominguez go to his second loss. Now we see Carissa going to her second loss. On the other hand, some players in the PBG Alaska Knights are going to be getting a lot more confident.

I agree, I agree.

And by the way, while this game is going on, uh, I think the, the game of the match though was definitely Yagiz Khan versus Shakriyar. That was so amazing and brilliant by Mamedyarov to kind of hold it.

And by the way, this last move is a small error that has been made here by Dhaneshwar. I don't see what's the point because he's got his pawn back. Still a complicated game with Abhimanyu going down to a minute. Now remember, Irina, if Dhaneshwar wins this, his team wins actually because Shark is winning. So I, you know, with all the pressure that is on and Abhimanyu losing his game yesterday, the match is not over.

That's right. And Abhimanyu has under a minute and what, how many moves does he have to make? So he actually has to still make it to the increment. He has to make 7 moves in 47 seconds. That's already just—

and he's down to 30 seconds. Oh my God. Will he physically be able to make 7 moves, you think?

Yeah, I mean, he's got to also watch out. And sometimes in this position there can be like this g5 break, a lot of dark-squared pawns that Black can try to attack with the bishop.

And there you see, 45 seconds. Abhimanyu has to make his moves. He's better here with White, he has the control, but it's not so clear and he's taking too much time.

Maybe a move like g4 can be tried by White, okay, he goes for the solid bishop e6. What? Okay, he made a trade. d5. Now there's gonna be another trade on the d-file, most likely. Still, I mean, White should eventually advance their kingside pawns. He has 4 against 2 advantage. He should try pushing them. But you know, things can go wrong if he somehow loses the pawn on a5 and it's a bishop versus knight. Yeah, yeah, actually I would say right now things are highly unclear.

Will check Mumba Master Turn it around, Irina.

There's a chance. There's a chance. Right now, the evaluation is getting better for black, and oh, by the way, Shakriyar Mamedyarov has won.

The score is eight six in the favor of PBG Alaskan Knights. Will this game turn in the favor of the Czech Mumba Masters? Daneshwar Bardia has forty eight seconds. Abhimanyu Mishra eighteen seconds only. We are on move thirty eight.

Yeah, he's still got to make three moves. I mean, things are getting better for oh, Bardia is better already.

Rook f8, he finds it, and now this is hanging on f4. How do you even save it? Wow, so Rook f1, he goes Rook f1, and he was talking about now just somehow this knight moving and the a5 pawn falling.

Yeah, this is gonna be crazy. It's just gonna be decided on these final seconds, and there's just a very good chance that it's going to go Black's way.

And look at the dugout of the Czech Mumba Masters, they are excited. They were actually— they thought that they are losing this match, but now with Dhaneshwar Bardia You know, chipping in here, they could win and they're winning.

No, actually, it's white. It's white now that has the advantage because his king is going to come to e4. And yeah, he's finally going to be able to advance those extra pawns. So somehow Bardiya has messed it up in the last few moves. Now, oh, luckily for Mishra, his moves are going to be very easy, right?

Just push the pawns ahead and he's managed to coordinate here.

Wow, maybe f6. Maybe e6, f6 played. Okay, a big relief for the PBG Alaska Knights, right? Because this game really was getting away from them, right?

And now I don't see how Abhimanyu would make a mistake. I think he's going to take this one. It's almost impossible.

I mean, you basically just gotta push your pawns and, uh, check. e6, e6 as well. e6, e7, and that's it.

And Abhimanyu Mishra strikes for the PBG Alaskan Knights. Look at his expression there. He was like, thank God I didn't botch that up.

Yeah, yeah, that was an expression of absolute relief. Let's see what his teammates look like right now. Okay, and the captain looks pretty happy.

Yeah, I mean, everyone chipped in there for the PBG Alaskan Knights. We had Arjun winning, we had Nino winning, and then Abhimanyu Mishra also won it.

I think it's very important for Abhimanyu that he won this game because, uh, he didn't lose the first game. You know, you don't really want to start losing too many games. It's a big hit to the confidence. So for this young player making his debut at the Global Chess League at 17 years old, uh, and helping his team get on the board with a match win is very important.

True, true. And, uh, well, there's always 2 stories in the dugout. One of excitement. I don't know. There's something that they are looking at. Is there some kind of a decision that they are waiting for?

Ah, they're waiting. Ah, they're. Maybe they weren't even sure what the results were.

They were like, oh, but look at this.

It's a it's a mistake there. Ah, there yes.

It's a mistake on the screen. It's not the Czech Mumba Masters who have won because on the screen, ah, and there they have corrected it. It's the PBG Alaskan Night. Who have won with a very good margin, with wins on three boards that they were able to score. The score was eleven six, if I'm not mistaken. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to announce the score of this match.

The PBG Alaskan Knights beat the Czech Mamba Masters by eleven. Can I, can I please invite the 2 team captains to sign the results, please?

Thank you.

Meanwhile, I would like to invite you for match number 7, which will start at half past 6.

Thank you so much. Please. Team captains. Yeah. And Well, B P B G Alaskan Knights have managed to win here, and on our backdrop we see the the mascot of the Triveni Continental Kings. It's called the Strider, the Tiger, or something like that. And, uh, I think a very important day for the Triveni Continental Kings to win because they lost their 2 games. But today, the match that we witnessed— Irina, would you like to sum it up for our viewers?

Okay, it was a match between 2 teams that needed to score their first win here at the Global Chess League, and it went in the way of the PBG Alaskan Knights, who I feel needed it even more because I feel like even though The Czech Mumba Masters lost their first match. They lost by a very narrow margin. 2 of their players got a win, and I don't think they were feeling too bad about it. So the PBG Alaska Knights really needed a win, and they got it.

And here we see the highlights as Team Vishy and Team MVL make their way. Their team jerseys are very similar in colors, so it's easy to mistake them for each other. You know, the But the Czech Mumba Masters, well, they started off quite well. It felt like they were doing well, but Arjun Erigaisi was the first one to get an advantage. Nino, wow, what a player she is in this Global Chess League.

Yeah, I mean, scoring once again for her team, and she did it in a kind of a quiet fashion this round, like, because there were just more exciting games that we followed. But we saw that she had an advantage pretty early on, and she seemed to convert it smoothly, and that made a really big difference for her team.

Right.

And there we see the kid and, you know, maybe his mother there. I mean, you can just come here with your family, have a great time watching these.

I think he's also with his dad for sure. There's, there's an older guy around him that I assume is his father, right?

I mean, the entire family is here. I think a lot of people have come in today, Irina. It's a Sunday, it's a a great, uh, time to be here. You, on a given— any given day, you get to see icons like Magnus playing, Vishy playing. Sindarov is going to play very soon. There's MVL here. I think MVL did a good job to hold Vishy to a draw with the black pieces. And here, under time pressure, this one, I think Harika would have loved to convert this with the black pieces.

Oh yeah.

But that ended in a draw.

But this was the, uh, game of the match between the 15-year-old Erdogmus and his coach, Mamedyarov, who played a very risky, provocative way in the opening. But he held a time advantage throughout the whole game, and in the end, when Erdogmus was just unwilling to ever let this game end, eventually Shaq was able to defend his very dangerous position and take over and win.

Right, and you can see Vishy here today. He's very happy. And Abhimanyu Mishra behind him, it's such a nice contrast. You have the— you have Vishy, 5-time world champion. Abhimanyu is just 16, 17 years old. Uh, it's very nice to be in the same team as the legend. You get to learn a lot.

Yeah, a lot on the— a lot for the PBG Alaskan Knights is going to depend on Vishy's form, you know, and on his ability to hold his board. It's so impressive that he is doing this at 56 years old, right? There's nobody even close to his age here at the Global Chess League. Like, for example, we heard yesterday Daniil Dubov doing his interview and saying that he's the oldest player on his team. He's only 30 years old. Wow, Vishy is 56. So it is amazing that he's performing at this high level on this big stage.

I, I mean, it's really amazing how Vishy manages to still do it. And today, holding MVL to a draw was a very important result. So So I think on the icon board, Vishy still is able to hold his own against just about anyone. Yesterday with Javokir as well, he had a very fine position before he blundered and lost.

Yeah, I mean, yesterday he was black against Javokir, super solid position. We actually didn't expect him to lose that rook and knight endgame. Honestly, it was really just that Javokir was very tricky, wasn't it? Right? I mean, yeah.

And we have the match summary here on our screens. It was Arjun Erigaisi who managed to strike along with Nino and Abhimanyu Mishra on board 5 and 6. Yes, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov did pull one back for the Czech Mumba Masters, but it wasn't enough.

11-6 is the final score here, and 3 very happy players for the PBG Alaska Knights who taste their first victories here at the Global Chess League.

Yeah, and so tough tasks for the Czech Mumbai Masters. I think the Mumbai Masters in general have been struggling in this league after the first edition where they finished as runners-up. Something has to change for them. Something needs to start working. Surya Ganguly is the coach. He will be trying to look at what needs to change. But for the PBG Alaskan Knights, today is the day when they. they start feeling like, yes, they can go up and they can do well. And you know, uh, Irina, Yagdis could have won his game. That would have made the, uh, scorecard even more one-sided.

Yeah, I mean, definitely Shakhriyar's victory was a little bit a product of Erdogmu's overpushing and being, um, well, super ambitious in a difficult time situation. I mean, it made things exciting for And, um, you can't really take away from him for doing that, right? Because it's always nice to see players being so ambitious and taking those risks. But he objectively, he had no time. He had just a few seconds on the clock and he still played for the win. Um, so let's take a look right now at the rankings so far here at the Global Chess League.

In the lead, we have the Fires American Gambits. They will be playing later today. Their 3rd match, while the Alpine APL Pipers did win and have joined them at the top. The Ganges Grandmasters are on 3rd position, and the PBG Alaskan Knights have caught up there. 2 teams who are yet to open their scorecard is, uh, the Triveni Continental Kings and the Czech Mumba Masters. Well, we hope that they are able to do that. Triveni Continental Kings will play later today. The next game is between the Ganges Grandmasters, who already played earlier today and lost their game against the Alpine APL Pipers. They will be taking on the in-form Fires American Gambits.

Well, there are 2 teams who have a tough road ahead of them today because we saw yesterday it is hard to play a second match of the day when you have just lost. So both the Ganges Grandmasters and the Czech Mumba Masters are in that position. Uh, having to play teams— well, at least the Firus American Gambits have won. The Trenin Continental Kings have lost both matches yesterday, but at least they're coming in with a clean slate today. So that one, it's, um, both, both teams are going to be in a kind of a tricky psychological situation.

I agree, I agree. And overall, this, uh, Global Chess League, do you see like this league becoming more and more exciting? You've been part of almost every edition, right? Uh, you've been there How do you see it evolving?

You know, honestly, for me, it's already perfect the way it is. Um, I don't, I don't see how much you, how much you can, how much you can improve on it. Um, you know, because you already got the best players in the world, you've got a great format, you've got the women, the prodigies, you know, all the best players, great time control. I, I personally like the increment on move 41. You like it? Just to keep the chess elements kind of You know, steady.

It's very smart. You know, first they tried it without increment, then they brought this in, and I think now it's just perfect with also the scoring system and the time control.

I mean, it's like there's just so much intrigue, right? Because like when you've been watching chess for decades, there's not a lot of events that are super interesting, right? But for me, the Global Chess League, as a fan, as a commentator, is actually really one of the most exciting events.

And one of the exciting parts of this is that every single match we have the player of the match, and that is going to be now announced for this match by Arohi. Let's go there.

They are called the comeback knights for a reason. Well, they did it last year, they managed to have started doing it this year as well. Only difference, last year it probably came at a time when it didn't matter because they couldn't qualify. This time It is in game number 2, which means they promise that they are going to give us more action in the contest to come. But right now, here we are at the post-match presentation ceremony of match number 6, played at the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League Season 4. Now, to give away the award, may I please call upon Mr. Aditya Soni, CHEQ founder and CEO.

Thank you.

And the Player of the Match award goes to— Nino Batsiyashvili! Nino, congratulations! It's good to see you back. It's good to see you get that trophy again.

I'm very happy to come back in Global Chess League. Thank you.

So tell me, let's talk about today's game. Was it because you were playing white? Was it complete prep, or did things just come to you, and did you play the player?

It was some prep, but after I play, I know some ideas, and I play after myself. And she made a mistake.

She don't exchange my bishop on c1, and it was her mistake.

After that, I think my position was very, very good and very difficult for her to play.

And you know, it showed because you got the control of the game right at the start, and then you kept it throughout the game, and finally you won it for the team. Winning for the team— now, how much does that matter, especially after losing the first game? This is kind of a comeback of sorts.

And this was very important match for us, and it's very good we came back. And so we will try next matches.

All right, a long season ahead of you, but a great start today. Congratulations and all the best for the future games.

Thank you.

That is it from the post-match presentation ceremony. We'll be back after a short break.

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Welcome back everyone to this amazing day of chess that we are having. We are at the half Today, 2 matches have been completed, and to kind of break this down, the next match and all that has happened today, I have with me Sehaj bhai and Irina. Uh, guys, excited today? What, what's your feeling of the day that has just happened?

You know, I think it's been a very, uh, interesting day overall. I think, uh, Alpine, of course, you know, Magnus defending that endgame against Nepo was absolutely incredible. And of course मुंबई मास्टर्स मामेदियारोव डिड अ वंडरफुल जॉब ऑफ़ यू नो डिफेंडिंग दैट पोजीशन अगेंस्ट एर्दोमश बट सैडली इट वाज़ नॉट एनफ़ एंड पीपीजी अलास्कन नाइट चीनो टुक टुक इट होम बट नाउ आई थिंक वी हैव अ वेरी इंटरेस्टिंग मैच इन फ्रंट ऑफ़ अस बिकॉज़ वी बॉट द गंजीज़ ग्र One match, and they're playing the Ganges Grandmasters who lost earlier in the day.

So we have a big matchup between Jan Nepomniachtchi, who was so close to beating Magnus Carlsen. I think he's playing well here, and he's going to be playing Javahir Sindarov, who also did really well yesterday.

Wow! I think Javahir Sindarov beating Anand and then against Firouzja. I think he was also pressing a bit, so he's in form while Jan was. Like very close to beating Magnus. Now the question is, will Jan will Jan come in a good form, like good sort of mental shape? Because he was so winning against Magnus, he could very well be feeling like how did I miss it? Exactly that endgame.

I mean, I'm not sure if you've ever seen that endgame, Sagar, because I saw it with the. I've seen it with the rook pawn, but never with. Connected pawns on you know when it's not a rook pawn. What a what a great find it was, you know by the goat of chess. And I mean for a reason, yeah?

Yeah, I mean Jan probably would have won that endgame against anybody else, right? But Magnus is just so resourceful and he recognized that he could hold that position. But Jan just played an overall great game. Yes, I would say, right? He had control all throughout the whole game. He managed his clock well. He was always ahead of Magnus on the clock. Um, so I don't think he can be, you know, I mean, he's gonna be disappointed, but he's also gonna feel like it's good that he produced that kind of winning position against Magnus, right?

Let's have a look at what's up in store for us. Ganges Grandmasters and Fires American Gambits, what a team we have on the right. They have won both their matches. Meanwhile, the Ganges Grandmasters They have 1 win and 1 loss. Uh, I do feel that some of their players are in great shape, some of them are not, and it will remain to be seen if they manage to fight back here. It's a tough day for Ganji's Grandmasters, right? Like, in, in the same day you play Alpine APL Pipers and then you also play the Fires American Gambit.

Exactly. And on— I mean, they've been on such a roll, the Fires American Gambits. And you could have a case— I mean, I'm not sure if you agree with me, uh, Asagar, by that Nepo could be a bit, you know, maybe not as much in a good mood because of course he was in a completely winning position against Magnus. Now that's an opportunity you don't get very, uh, very often. And you have to play another game. Yes, on the same day. That's bound to have some effect on you.

Well, let's also talk about the second board matchup between Levon Aronian Uh, who drew earlier against Anish Giri, and he's gonna be playing. Wow. And I think, you know, based on their results at the World Rapid Teams over the last few years, we gotta give a slight edge to Aronian based on that. He's won the last couple of their encounters.

Yeah, I think Levon is just very tricky, and somehow he has been a difficult opponent for Nihal. So I do give the edge there to, to Levon. But on board 3 I do feel that Daniel Dubov has a small edge against Leinier Dominguez. Leinier hasn't found his footing in this tournament yet.

100%. And considering the fact that Dominguez was, I mean, doing really well in the earlier, you know, match, and he ended up blundering his queen, which of course is bound to have such an—

and there we see the fan zone here in the venue. If you do come to watch the games, in between these breaks, you can actually play against opponents of your strength. The fan zone is really alive and kicking, right? Like, here so many things are happening. Like, right now we hear someone entering, people are shouting, a Grandmaster simul is happening. Wow, it's so nice.

Yeah, yesterday Grandmaster Ranak Sidhwani Was giving a simul.

Yeah, yeah.

I don't know who's doing it today. Yeah, and and apparently there were a lot of strong players as well who were who were playing in the simul, and apparently there was a 2280. Oh, this Aro Serpalia. Yeah, I know he's too good. Yes, absolutely.

And there you see. So guys, if you are planning to come here, it's not only about watching these great players in action. You could even get to play against some opponents, and who knows? You can get to play against a GM as well in a simul.

Oh yes, Sagar bhai, will you will you do a simul here?

Well, unfortunately, I'm not yet a GM, so I will pass.

Irina, will you do a simul here?

Well, I think we're a little busy here in the commentary with the commentary work, but actually, I know Harshit was coaxed into a game earlier when he was on break.

Oh, did he play?

I think he played someone, not like a simul, but just you know one-on-one normal game.

Wow! Yeah, Harshit Bai always takes up challenges. You know he likes them. But moving on to our match, we have on board number four Polina Shualova versus Bibisara Asaubayeva. Now tough one there because Polina is in great shape. All right, she won both her games. Yes. While Bibisara is well known for her speed chess. So what what do you feel there?

Well, in the 2025 Global Chess League, Asobayeva won their match of 1.5. Okay, half. Not, you know, doesn't— I don't think it means that much. Um, and I think given how Polina is in such good shape, I don't think she's an underdog in this match at all. Um, actually, Bibisar is yet to win a game here while Polina has won 2. So I mean, I would call it a toss-up at this point.

I think I would agree with you there because this is the one match where I think it's It's absolutely 50-50. But, um, yeah, if I had to choose a player, I'm going with Bibisara because I just feel, um, I just feel she's a bit more in form just this overall. But Polina has won.

How much more form do you need from Polina? She just won a Grand Slam.

It's a good point.

She just recently performed 26-80 in a tournament.

I'm talking about the performance of the entire year. I mean, Bibisara has just been, I think, quite, quite phenomenal, I think, in This entire year, so just just just would give her a slight more benefit there.

But yeah, all right, I'm gonna stick with Polina then, Sagar, because you know we got him.

So you are the decider between the two of us.

While I decide that, we have some bit of board control heat map of the last one, last game between Yazgan Erdogmus and Shakriyar Mamedyarov. Now this heat map shows. On each square, how many pieces did you know pass by? And you could see that F3 square is like really a hot square there. I never looked at such such a graph before. I don't know, Irina Sahaj.

What do you have to say about this? Somewhere Reti would be very happy. That's all I can say. But you know, but yes, you know, I. I asked Tanya earlier this question. If you could take the pawn and it becomes— you know, there was a moment that black could take the pawn and it would become bishop and knight endgame. Would you do it, Sagar?

Oh yes, I think Yash would have no problems in winning. I mean, Mamedyarov would have no problems in winning that.

100%, yeah.

Yeah, I don't know about myself, but—

How much time would you need?

I think I can do it. Maybe in a minute, I guess.

A minute, yeah.

Yeah, perhaps there are— yeah, I think without increment should be possible.

Oh, now that's a challenge. That's a challenge.

Let's look at it. Yeah, maybe. I would love to do it. I, I have seen people doing it in 30 seconds.

30 seconds is insane. That's incredible.

I've seen in some training sessions people doing it, and maybe 1 minute should be okay.

I feel like I should be part of these, uh, training sessions. I think they would really help me quite a bit. And Irina, what about you? Would you How comfortable are you in winning the bishop and knight endgame with how much time? Oh, approximately.

Yeah, I think, I think anytime I'm low on time, I'm not comfortable with anything, to be honest. So like, yeah, you don't want to put me in that situation.

Okay, so we did speak about Polina and Bibisara. It was kind of a stalemate there. I do feel the same.

I don't know who's the favorite, but what about Stavrula Solakidou and सारा सदत खादेम अलशरिया लाइक आई थिंक दैट वन आल्सो वेरी डिफिकल्ट तू डिसाइड। वेल, इच ऑफ़ देम हैज लॉस्ट अ गेम ऑलरेडी हियर एट द ग्लोबल चेस लीग। द ओनली डिफरेंस इज़ दैट स्टवरुला हैज लॉस्ट एरियर टुडे। अ प्रिटी कंविंसिंग लॉस्ट तू हंपी किनेरू। यू कैन't रियली से दैट A game against Alexandra Kastenyuk that was a lot more double-edged yesterday. So I think based on what we've seen them play here, it's hard to pick anything. I would say this is also another close one.

Okay, so we want to continue this discussion, but before we do that, there is a coin toss that's going to happen. So let's head over to Arohi.

Two teams, big ambitions. Now today we're going to get close to find out. Which of these make it closer to the aim that they have come in with in this season? It is the Ganges Grandmasters taking on the Fires American Gambits. And now for the coin toss, I would like to call upon the coaches of the two teams: Adi Banbaskaran for Ganges Grandmasters and Srinath Narayanan for Fires American Gambits. Also joining us for the coin toss, the tournament director, Mr. Bharat Singh. And the chief arbiter, Gird Bayel. Who will be taking the call? Srinath will be taking the call for the fires.

Tails is the call.

Heads.

Finally, thank you.

Finally, the Grand Chess Grandmasters have won the toss this time. What do you opt to do?

Yeah, we'll take white.

So you were winning the toss irrespective of winning or losing the toss. This time, how does it feel to take the call?

It feels like I have already won the match.

So let's talk about the last game that you all played today. You all did lose it, but then a lot of positives from that game. Ian actually did hold Magnus, you know, to a certain—

it was more like Magnus holding Ian.

All right, but let me tell you, the audience was quite excited about what is going to happen in that game because, you know, we thought probably this is the time that Magnus Carlsen would be defeated.

Yeah, yeah, probably every game which he starts, doesn't matter which color, is probably the favorite. But, uh, this game, I think Ian just played a great game. And I was very close to beating the world number one.

Yeah. All right then. Shots have been fired at the toss itself. But how's the team looking? What is the conversation that went on after that game? Because now you have to come back with fresh perspectives.

Yeah, we just try to forget it and try to focus on the next game because we have another one today.

So. All right. All the best for today's game.

Thank you.

Happy with black? We don't mind.

We actually didn't expect. I didn't expect them to take 3 whites in a row, and I was giving such lengthy explanations to my team, so they're going to have a good laugh at it. But I think it doesn't make such a big difference whether you have white or black because you're anyway going to play the other color in the next half.

The Fire's American Gambits are on a run this season. I mean, y'all have fired it up through— in starting from the first game itself. What has changed?

I don't know really what has changed, but we have consciously tried to build a younger team this time, you know, taking a cue from the CSK. And maybe it's working, maybe it's not. We'll see how the season pans out.

So far it's been like all the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle coming together to form this team, because we saw it in the first game, we saw it in the second. Hopefully we see it in the third. All the best to you.

Thank you.

That is it from the coin toss. The news From the coin toss is that the Ganges Grandmasters have won the toss, opted white. Back to comms.

And the Ganges Grandmasters getting their third white in a row. I mean, I don't know if you ever want to take some blacks at the beginning so that you have whites later, or what do you guys feel?

Like it's a it's it's maybe a bit too aggressive, you know, for my taste. I mean, considering also that. the previous match where they did have white did not really go their way. Uh, but I'm guessing if you want to take out the tournament leader, taking white would be the, like, the sensible approach, right? Because they— the FIDE American Gambits did win both of their matches on the first day itself. And I think Ganges, if they want to have a chance, uh, you know, win this thing, taking white would be the best approach.

I really like Aarosi's question about What are the fires American Gambits doing differently this time? Well, their whole team is different, right? They've only retained one player from the previous season. So I think that's the big difference. It's that the whole team is completely new, um, and they've got great rapid players. Um, I personally think that it makes sense for the Ganges Grandmasters to take white. I mean, when you lose, putting yourself on the defensive as black is not necessarily the best strategy.

I agree. Let's have a look at the pairings because we were discussing few of the boards and this is the entire matchup.

It's Nepo versus Sindarov, it's Levon versus Nihal, and then it is Leinier versus Dubov, Polina versus Bibisara, Stavrula versus Sara Khadem, and then we have Leon versus Marc-Andrea Maurici. And you know, earlier you guys were saying that between, uh, Levon and Nihal that Levon would be the favorite. I'm actually gonna say that Nihal is is at least going to hold a draw. Wow. You know, I think he's had a spectacular year, you know, you know, throughout. He won the Tata Steel Rapid as well. He won the Bullet Championship as well. Um, I think he is— and, and he, you know, crossed 2700 as well. So he's kind of doing well across all formats, and I feel he's going to be, uh, quite impressive. Your thoughts on that?

Well, he's playing black right now. His first game against Arjun was definitely shaky. I mean, that was a wild game, but I mean, his opening started out a little bit rough for him, even though he is white. Um, I don't know, I don't really see the weaknesses in Levon's play this year either in any of the formats. So I just don't really know. I mean, we might like Nihal, but I just don't know if we, we don't like Levon, right? So, um, it's hard for me to, to say that Nihal is a favorite over him. But I would say in the 3rd board match, um, this one is a tough one for the Ganges Grandmasters because Leinier has lost both games, not going to be in a great mood.

Um, and he's been losing with white, right?

And then he blundered his queen in the last game. And, and Daniil, you know, played yesterday with black.

Daniil sees these weaknesses and he'll try to pounce on it.

Absolutely. I think, um, the Fires American Gambits are going to look at that board as a board where they want to get a point. Um, and I, I don't think, like, you know, I think Daniil, you know, definitely respects Lanier as a player, but he also probably feels quite comfortable playing against, like, a solid player like that, and he's gonna try to, uh, make it tricky for him.

And we, we just didn't, uh, get our thoughts together for the last board between Leon Mendoza and Marc-Andrea Morizzi. Do you have a clear favorite there?

I'm gonna say a very safe draw on that board.

Yeah, Marc-Andrea Morizzi is playing really well, right, in this event?

Yeah, he's got 2 out of 2.

Yeah, but he's also playing with the black pieces, you know, so maybe, I mean, a healthy, safe, solid draw would be My prediction. What about you? You think black will win?

Yeah, I do feel that Marc-André Morizzi is looking really sharp here, so he seems to be a small favorite for me.

Wow, with the black pieces? Yeah. Wow. And, and what about you, Irina?

Yeah, I don't have a strong feeling about this board, I have to say. I mean, okay, Leon Luke has lost one game here. Um, he lost to Pranav with white.

Mm-hmm.

So, okay, I mean, yeah, you don't— you never really go against the player that's won 2 games in a row, right? So I can say, yeah, slight edge to Moritz.

If the Fire's American Gambits have to be beaten today, where do you think the Ganges Grandmasters have to fire? Like, which board are you looking at where they could have an edge?

Linear has to not lose. That's, that's going to be really important. Third board.

Very important for, for Lenny not to lose. What about you, Saiyajin?

I think Levon should win. Should win. He has— I mean, he has to try it because I think, as you said, I mean, on paper, of course, Levon is Levon. Um, but I think Levon should score a win, you know, for the team. I mean, that would be, I think, where I'd be looking to score. And plus, Polina versus Bibisara. Now, of course, this is a tough match. And there we see the players joining in, and Levon and Leon are—

Levon and Leon are always together. I think they found their Very nice bit of friendship here because they not only are spending time together, they go and play basketball together. They have this nice bit of camaraderie flowing, and I think it's always nice when players of two generations can bond on something. It's really nice to see that.

I think the matchup between Shuvalov and Asobayeva has a good chance to be decisive, actually, because Polina participates in a lot of decisive. of games. Um, actually, and even though Asobeva is so strong in the Global Chess League, she actually is more of a solid type of player, right? Um, so I'm kind of counting on Polina with the white pieces to, uh, to bring the fire.

Question for you, Sagar bhai. And amongst all of these players, uh, which player do you think has the highest chance of scoring a win for the Ganges Grandmasters?

Um, that's a good question, actually. I, I also feel it's Levon Aronian. I do think that I saw him beating Nihal live in Hong Kong recently, and I could feel it that Levon was very confident. And he likes playing the youngsters. It's very rare to see that. Meanwhile, we do see the Ganges Grandmasters now getting down from their buggy. And let's see, there is Stavroula who comes out. She is wearing her blue jacket.

And I heard that it's very cold in the playing hall, so you see more and more of the players Are coming in their jackets. And they were also— also, Polina had her jacket on for the earlier game as well.

Right. And, uh, one thing I've seen, Yan is like a very nice team player. If you see, after the players shake hands with their opposing team, Yan gives a high five to just about everyone. He's like, come on guys, let's do it!

Wow, it's nice to have camaraderie like that, you know, within the team, because, uh, It improves morale and of course it creates momentum for the team there. And of course, Ganges Grandmasters do need that momentum considering what happened earlier in the day for them. But of course, in terms of the standings, they're not really that far behind. But still, it's good to be in top 2 in this event.

I mean, one win and they can be back. And suddenly the Fires American Gambits no longer look invincible.

Well, actually, they They can tie the fires American Gambits with this win, right? Oh, right. Actually, so that's what they're playing for—to tie them at the top of the score table. I think they've got chances on pretty much all the boards. I mean, of course, Lanier has chances too, right? He's with the white pieces. It's just like psychologically, the main job is like don't lose that board and let some of the other players who are feeling more confident try to fight for the win with white.

There you see Javokir Sindarov coming in, and he's moving in quickly. You know, he's like, I want to get in to the board.

He's ready for the battle. Yeah, there you can see he's so quick.

Dubov said yesterday that when they had the black pieces, the strategy was actually to play for a win with the black pieces, and they chose very competitive openings. Like, Sindarov went for the King's Indian against Firouzja. Uh, Dubov went for the Hippo. Yeah, yeah. So the question is, are they going to go for that same strategy in this match, or are they going to change it completely and try to be more solid now?

It's a good question, I think. But I'm not really sure, Sagar bhai, because I feel even if you were thinking individually, which board does black? Which board do you try to play for a win with black? Maybe maybe Dubov. Yeah, maybe Dubov can try.

Yeah, Dubov. I think Dominguez is not Dubov and Javokir. I think Javokir would definitely try because Nepo on a given day can beat just about anyone and lose to just about anyone. You know, so Javokir will press. Yes, but I think Marc-Andrea Morizzi, you know, he will also see how— what's the opening Leon going for. If Leon is too solid, maybe okay, draw. But if Leon tries a bit too hard, there, there could be chances there.

You know, I think the, the question for me is like, what move is Dubov gonna do on move 1? e4, d6.

Yeah, that's the move that he usually goes for, always. Yeah, just playing e4, d6, g6. He did that against Pragg as well in the World Cup.

Because we can predict Leinier's first move pretty easily. Like, Leinier will play e4, and then Dubov has a couple of different things in his repertoire, right? There's the Sicilian Defense, there's e5. Those are the main moves.

No, no, I think he will go for Hippo.

So you think he's gonna repeat the opening from yesterday?

I mean, some offbeat structure with the Modern, like g6. That's what I mean.

That's what I want to see. Like, because if we see that, then we'll know he has the same mentality as yesterday's match, right? And if we see something else, like if he goes for e5, we're gonna understand the goal Yeah, let's look at the highlights of the players coming in.

Uh, you know, this is always very interesting to watch them coming in. Uh, many of people have been asking like, why not make the players walk? Like, why are they being given these buggies? It's not like they have to walk like 500 meters or something. It's just hardly like 200 meters. But I guess it adds this new element to the game.

Yeah, it's a new element.

Element to it that they all arrive as one unit, like in one vehicle.

You know, I also took this this morning, like on the way to the commentary box, and it's so nice. Like, it's such a nice feeling. Have you done it? No, I haven't done it yet. It's actually very nice, especially when you're in the back seat, like, you know, with Debisara and Sara over there. That's like one of— I think that's my favorite seat over there, but it's really nice.

You can also hear the crowd Like, when they were entering, like, Jao Kheer was moving quickly, but some of the players there in the team were, you know, telling the fans, we'll come back, we'll come back, don't worry. You know, like, Nihal did it, Sara was there. And sometimes I wonder, you know, if you become like really famous in chess, like if you are Magnus or if you are Jao Kheer, and, you know, like fans want to meet you, you have to learn to walk fast. The moment you slow down, you are mobbed.

I think they you also have to learn to play fast as well, considering the match of Nepo of course there as well.

But yeah, yeah. Well, these this is the fan zone and there are people who are all the time coming in. The fan zone is a place where people keep moving in and out. So like now the game is going to begin. So most of the crowd has gone into the playing venue. They are seated there. They're waiting for the play to start. But the moment the game ends, they go and then wait for the players to come outside, get their autographs. And once that is done, they are in the fan zone for those 20 minutes. That's when it gets really noisy in here.

100%. And rightfully so. Because everyone is waiting for Sindharu, for Nihal, of course, for Nep. I mean, you hear about these players so often. You know, it's it's it's very rare that you get to see them in person.

Yeah, and yeah, well, the match has been discussed. It's the third match of the day: the Ganges Grandmasters versus Fire American Gambits. Let's head over to the playing hall for all the action.

Match number seven: This is between the Ganges Grandmasters and the Fires American Gambits. You know what's different about this game? The audience has promised me that they're going to cheer the loudest when it comes to these 2 teams. So without further ado, let's call Gansu's Grandmasters and Fire's American Gambits. Welcome to the final round of the All right, let's start with the Ganges Grandmasters first. I'm going to introduce you to all the players. 2 times Candidates winner, Ian Nepomniachtchi. 2 times World Cup winner, Levon Aronian. Former World Blitz Champion Linia Dominguez. The Speed Demon Polina Shuvalova. Top-ranked Greek woman Stavrula Solakidou. Tata Steel Challengers winner Leon Lukmendonka. And their coach, Adiban Baskaran. It's now time to introduce the fires American gambits, starting with the world championship challenger, Javakhir Sindarov. Chess.com bullet world champion, Nihal Sarin. Former world rapid champion. Daniel Dubov. 3-time World Women's Blitz Champion Bibisara Sauvayeva. Former silver medalist at the World Women's Rapid and Blitz, Sara Khadem. Former World Junior Champion Makandria Morezi. And their coach, Srinath Narayanan. All the best to the 2 teams. You may head to shake hands. But now we proceed to the first move of the day, and for that, let me call upon the tournament director, Mr. Bharat Singh, the chief arbiter, Mr. Gerd Bayel, and we have a special guest today, Mr. Govind Joshi, managing director, Miraculum Motors.

The third match of the day is about to begin, and for the Ganges Grandmasters, it's the second time they're in the arena as we have the ceremonial move to take you through the action. I'm Tanya Sachdeva. Alongside me, Grandmaster Sehaj Grover. Smiles on the street, on the screens right there. Once the clock starts, there's going to be no friendship over the board.

Oh, hundred percent. But right now, Nepo is smiling. Sindarov is laughing actually, but at the same time. We remember what happened in the previous match. By the way, we do have liftoff already between Polina and Bibisara. What's the first move there, Tanya?

The women's superstar board has begun. It was the Queen's Pawn Opening that started with the Slav Defense. We'll have the moves up on the board. There it is, Bibisara choosing a very solid approach against 1.d4.

Absolutely, Slav Defense as we call it. And I think she's gonna go for Knight c3. You You could take the pawn on d5 as well and, you know, make a safe draw. But of course, both of these players are trying to play for a win. Knight c3 it is. If you want to make it, let's say, more interesting, you can go for e4 in this position. And we all know what can happen after this, Tanya.

Well, they've taken a triangle if you're black right now. The structure that Bibisara has with the pawns, very solid. But if you want to go all out, you strike in the center. How all out do the Ganji's Grandmasters want to go? They started the day with a match against the Alpine Pipers, touted as the big favorites, and now they're playing the hottest team on the circuit, the Firs American Gambits. No e4 on the board, a more cautious approach by Shivalova. Absolutely.

She goes for bishop to g5, and black plays knight to d7. And now she plays e3, and we call— I think, I believe this is called the Cambridge Springs. Let's switch to Stavrula versus Sara Khadim on board five. Oh, we have the London System. My favorite. Let's go! Uh, now I'm kind of rooting for Ganges here, Tanya.

A very happy commentator right here seeing the London System on the board, played by Star Rula, who had a fantastic performance yesterday. She's playing against Sarah Kadam right now, and I'm going to say I love this opening because Black has also had a very combative approach. Sarah going with a central break, getting an early c5 in, promises to be an excellent middle game battle, this one, Sahil.

100%. And on, you know, on White's— oh, she just went for short castle. But this bishop on f4 is a beautiful bishop because at any point if you play Knight h5, the bishop can just safely tuck away to h2, and this diagonal is completely under White's control.

Fantastically explained. Look at that, Sahaj. We've got our men's superstar board just getting into action there. We saw the handshakes coming on. Nihal Sarin taking on Levon Aronian on that board. And they've got their first moves in as well. Let's take a look at what was Levon's choice of opening.

It is the Bishop's Opening, as they call it. You know, there, there is this rule in chess, knights before bishops, and, uh, Levon says no, I'm gonna play Bishop c4 first. And I'm guessing he wants to play f4 at some point. That's why he has not committed Knight f3 just yet.

We might see it happen right now. The advantage of not bringing that knight out just yet in the Women's Superstar Bowl we've seen Ganji start with 1.d4, the Queen's Pawn Opening. In the men's superstar board, so far we've had the King's Pawn Opening. So a bit of strategy there coming on with the opening approaches right now. And Levon decides, I'm not going to rush with the f-pawn, takes out the knight.

Absolutely. And I think this will transpose into the Italian, as we call it, but with the knight on c3. So I mean, it's going to be a safe kind of a game, long game where Levon will try to push, Nihal might try to hold. We'll see what happens. Tanya, I would love to take you to Leinier on board 3. Leinier versus Daniel Dubov, because guess the opening that Dubov has played again?

Well, it's the one that worked yesterday. You know, they say why fix what's not broken, Sahaj. He employed this yesterday, and I have to say, to me, this board is a very crucial one for the FIDE American Gambit. Daniel Dubov is a player built for this format. With his speed, with his combative play, the way he approaches position. And Dominguez has had 2 losses, one on time, and just earlier today, a one-move blunder against Vidit, giving up his queen.

He's definitely not in, you know, feeling the best. But after seeing e6 in this position, I don't think I'm gonna feel better about this position or about my day, because generally you go e5 and that gives your opponent the option to take on e5, perhaps take the queen on d8, and, you know, fizzle out into an endgame where maybe, you know, you can try to push.

But E six. What is E six?

No end games with Dubov allowed so quickly. Let's not forget that. What's going on? Everything six. What's going on? G six, E six, D six, B six, A six. सब कुछ ले आओ. Do you know, Sahaj? This is called the hippo opening in chess.

ये तो delayed hippo हो गई. Knight E seven पे लेके जाएगा. Knight D seven पे लेके जाएगा. It's like I'll play the hippo with two tempos also you can take. Yeah. Usually a knight E seven पे होता है. दूसरा knight D seven पे होता है. That's what we call the hippo setup. But I feel like ये दो वो टेम्पो एक्स्ट्रा देख मतलब देने वाला उसको. What is happening on the sixth rank here?

There's a traffic jam on the sixth rank, but it's H6 खेल दो. The H pawn moving one step forward and the story would get completed for Daniel Dubov who's been blitzing out his moves. But Sahaj, let's go ahead, continue our opening tour because the icon board is in action. Yeah, Nepomniachtchi who drew against Magnus Carlsen from a position of strength earlier today now faces the future world championship challenger. The hottest player on the circuit, Javakhir Sindarov. And so far, this is the most sane opening position I've seen by Javakhir.

Actually, I would second that opinion. But you know, जब उसने D6 खेला ना तो Nepo ने एक हल्का सा smile दिया। I feel like this was predicted, you know, by Nepo. And you can see it from the time difference. He has only spent about 16 seconds. And Javakhir does not look as well prepared to me. मुझे लग रहा है Nepo का यहाँ पे prep आने वाला है and Nepo is gonna You know, do some damage today. What do you think?

One of Nepo's biggest strengths is how he uses the clock as a weapon. The thing is, you never know with him—is it opening preparation or he's just playing fast? Because Nepo always plays fast.

तो क्लासिकल में भी ऐसे ही खेलता है वो तो मतलब क्लासिकल में सेम टाइम ही रहता है उसका one one thirty two one thirty three. It's like so natural, so normal for someone like Nepo.

And I wonder if it's slightly unnatural for Javakhir Sindarov. Let's not forget. Get season three. Sindarov was part of the Ganges Grandmasters in their prodigy supporting board, and now he's challenging them from the other side as the icon of the fires American Gambits. He's already taken down Vishy Anand. He drew against Alireza Firouzja. How will it go against Nepomniachtchi?

Oh, I mean that remains to be seen. But I can tell you, Tanya, जो opening वो खेला है ना, it's my favorite as black. Like I have, I have done this so many times, you know, with a different move order. But I love the transposition there. I think his idea is to go bishop to g7, fianchettoing the bishop, and then it's good short castle. And then at some point you go b5, a5.

He was totally staring at Sinderov right now. Wow!

Because this is not natural. Yeah, आपके opponent ने ऐसे center break किया है and they are putting pressure on the e5, you know, pawn. And you're just very calmly developing g6, bishop g7, not caring about that pawn whatsoever. And now, by the way, Direct transposition to that broiler base, essentially.

And the knight comes out by Yan Nepomniachtchi. Still very much under control here on the clock and the board. Sinderov ready with his response, not giving Yan. कि भाई तुम सेंटर ब्लॉक कर दो। I need that dark-squared bishop on an open diagonal. A trade at the center of the board. Sinderov ready with his response. He jumps with his knight forward. Saying that I want the light squared bishops off the board and keeping my stronger bishop, the one on G7 remaining. And Nepomniachtchi, he's ready. They're not taking any time. Somebody tell them कि भाई 20 मिनट है clock में। Also, एक तिरछी नजर यहाँ पर भी। Knight D3.

If you give me this bishop, I am taking black here every single time. And remember, dark bishop कभी नहीं देना है यहाँ पे। Queen Queen Queen B3 है लोग। ताकि ये भी कवर हो जाए। Knight f1 also I agree with it because you're covering the d3 square and knight can maybe go to g3 next to defend the e4 pawn. अभी के लिए I think Nepo looks fine, but I because of this imbalance and maybe some pressure on the d4 pawn, एक moment पे ना सिंदरोव यहाँ पे c5 आएगा, जिससे वो d5 provoke कराएगा and उसके बाद ये bishop जो अब खुलेगा, this will look extremely scary.

शाबकिर सिंदरोव Although the bar says that white, because of the space advantage in the center, a stronger center, the ability to push back जो उनका knight b4 पे है with a move like a3 next, white knight also heading towards greener pastures. It's advantage Nepomniachtchi according to our engines, according to the bar. But I think practically from a human approach, if Sinderov gets the time for c5, like you mentioned, give him a few more moves. He will get active. Sahaj, look at the bars, the evaluation bars that are below the screen. Let's just do a roundup of what is happening because it feels like the players playing with the white, the Ganges Grandmasters, slight edge from the opening across the boards.

You know, I'm so glad you said that because I, I, I really wanted to take you to board number 2 of Levon versus Nihal because जो चल रहा है वहाँ पे that is absolutely crazy. Tanya, look at that pawn on g4. What is that pawn doing? क्या हो रहा है यहाँ पे? Is he मतलब I I get that he's trying to attack, but there is no g5 incoming. And rook g1, h4, g5 at some point it looks a bit scary. I mean generally speaking when you have a flank attack you want to break in the center. d5 तो नहीं आने वाला यहाँ पे black का.

We'll deep dive, Sahaj. Let's zoom out and take a full board view right now. We see our top left board. Yan Nepomniachtchi versus Javokir Sinderov. By the way c5 आ गया है उसमें. This will be an explosive middle game. Slight edge to Yan, but again, from a practical perspective, looks like Sindarov has his ideas. D five hits that knight right now. It jumps to the center of the board. It looks like a pawn sacrifice. Sahaj, can White grab it? Can Yan Nepomniachtchi get greedy with knight takes knight?

ये को calculation तो नहीं किया मैंने and I'll still say no because knight takes d four, pawn takes d four. कुछ तो कुछ ना कुछ तो होगा इस position में. I mean, my initial thought was knight takes e four and some rook e eight. And maybe you can put pressure on the rook. But I will have so many different discovered attack ideas in this position that I will just not play it. By the way, oh no, no, but, uh, Nepomniachtchi is having different thoughts. He does take it. The question is, does he go Queen takes d4, Tanya? I, I seriously don't think so. No chance. Big question there.

By the way, I'm loving our crowd that has shown up for this match. So much support for the Fires American Gambits and the Ganji. Grandmasters said when the teams were getting in, you could see the fans. They were cheering for them, rooting for them, and that always puts them in the mood for a fight. We'll see if Nepo goes pawn grabbing, but let's go to the other board that you were pointing out as we go around the horn to take a look at the action.

I'm sorry, am I seeing this correctly? Because I I I don't believe it. White ने भी G four खेल दिया, black ने भी G five खेल दिया। I mean attack कौन कर रहा है यहाँ पे तानिया?

Yeah, defense कौन कर रहा है? I want to say traditionally moves like the G On moving forward, might feel like he भाई कोई aggressive हो रहा है, but very often it is aimed to make sure that your opponent doesn't get f4 or f5 on the board. So you are controlling two very important counteractive ideas as well. And now, just a little maneuver I want to point out: whichever piece lands on the squares that Sahaj has highlighted as red, the knight needs to find a route towards these squares. Whoever gets there first will seize the initiative.

Of course, and I think that's a great point by you because you can go knight e two, knight g three, knight f five, or you can go knight d seven, knight f eight, knight g seven. I mean, ideas तो हैं यहाँ पे, but still it's strange to see. I mean, if you could just take the pawn back for both of them, it looks so normal. But g four and g five is I think in in such a structure, I'm seeing it for the first time being played out. By either side. By the way, Bishop e six played, and look at that! Levon goes for Knight e two. Yeah, with the idea of Knight g three, Knight f five. Your plan, Tanya, happening as we speak.

Let me point out the h five square, and somehow Levon's knights will start looking very dangerous towards the black king. Meanwhile, for Nihal, उनका knight कब आएगा f four पे remains to be found out. A clash of generations as we see these two players, and of course, a packed house here at the Lalit for. This blockbuster match that we've got going on right now, both head and hands, a very tense position.

Hundred percent. And and and remember we were speaking about this that this is the match where you know the Ganges Grandmasters have to score a win against the Fires American Campus. This is that match जहाँ पे उनका चांस सबसे ज़्यादा है। Tanya, do you still feel this is the case? Considering G four and G five, I mean.

You know, this is a very crucial board. I will say that the fires American Gambits. What they did yesterday, scoring the number of game points that they did—it's not just having a hundred percent score, but twenty-four game points. Again, firing on all cylinders. It is not easy to take this team down. I think they are proving why they are built for speed, built for the global chess league format. But let's go see what is happening on some of the other boards. Sahaj, I want to go to Daniel Dubov. Dubov's position. Last time we checked, everything was on the 6th rank for the black pieces.

But I think he's trying to kick one of the knights away with e5. Black has captured on e5, white has captured back, and now Dubov has a question. Um, where should I put my knight? Should I put it on h5? Should I put it on d5 or d7? And a question, queen takes queen, now of course we know Dubov does not like endgames. He's not gonna go into You know, a boring endgame. Of course, that's why he has gone for the hippo structure. Now there is knight d5 or knight d7. These two moves seem quite interesting to me, but थोड़ा passive लग रहा है तानिया overall.

And the reason, Sayed, you say that is कि white is the first who's crossed over the opponent's half of the board with that last move, which means for Domin there's there's more space in the position. The white knight can land on e4. There are dark square weaknesses around the black king. So Daniel Dubov, who's got a little extra time on the clock, will he take a safer approach here? Says let's get the queens off the board. The downside of that is you're inviting a beautiful developing trade-off. Queen takes queen, rook takes queen. के बाद you're kind of stuck with where you want to move your knights. Doesn't look like a very pleasant endgame for black this one.

Exactly. D7 का square आपके पास है नहीं, D5 का square आपके पास है नहीं। Knight h5 एकदम कोने में लग रहा है एकदम। Queen takes queen.

I think Daniel Dubov will play with the queens on the board.

Hundred percent. I think hundred percent agreed on that, and I think knight d seven would be my prediction, or knight h five also could happen. Knight d five भी ना मतलब ऐसे लग रहा है कि pieces trade हो रहे हैं फिर से। तो I think he will try to you know avoid that because कल भी you know he he played the same opening, and I think the reason why he played that opening is because he wanted to play for a win. And जितने ज़्यादा pieces trade करते हो, उतना I mean you have a Chance of things ending up, you know, in a draw or something along those lines. And let's not forget, Lanier is not in the best headspace right now. Just a couple of hours ago, he blundered a queen.

Exactly. He needs to reset. By the way, we have a decision. We can see that moves have been played. Let's bring up our live board. In fact, queen trades नहीं हुई थी by the most explosive player for the fires American Gambits. We see knight takes knight, but he offers it now on his terms. He says. अगर क्वीन ट्रेड करनी है, इट विल बी ऑन माय टर्म्स। आई विल टेक इट बैक विद अ पॉन, विद अ बेटर पॉन स्ट्रक्चर। फॉर डोमिन्गुएज़, अ वेरी प्लेजेंट आउटकम ऑफ़ दी ओपनिंग। डज़ ही वांट टू टेक दैट एडवांटेज़ इनटू दी एंडगेम? और कीप मोर पीसेस ऑन द बोर्ड? सहज, आई वांट अस टू He's playing against Leon Mendonça, and look at what we have right now. White, I think, again feels just more pleasant here. The Ganges Grandmasters with a strategic control of the position.

Strategic control as in? I mean, black does have the queen on d5, knight on e4, but you know, ये मतलब कुछ कुछ खास नहीं लग रहा है मुझे। As in, you can just kick them away when when the time is right. For now, I think Leon is looking. Decent to me. Exactly. As long as you don't have the C five or E five while it breaks, and why we why you're saying that? I I think is because white cup on center, man. Black के पास कोई breakthrough नहीं है.

That is why I wanted to bring up the point of positional control. And look at that! It forces Mark to take a committal decision on the other side. Head on hands हो चुका है. The G pawn has moved forward. And I have to say, in this time format, ना सहज, ये चालें होती हैं जो सबसे ज़्यादा uncomfortable होती हैं. Out of nowhere, G five on the board. Is he going to try to push for more with H five, G four coming up next?

Absolutely. And let's not forget G four. जैसे आप H five, G four आप कह रहे हो। Let's say the bishop goes to H two. You play H five or something like this. Let's say आपने G four दे दिया मुझे। ये knight जब भी हिलेगा यहाँ से, knight D two. And Tanya, look at this queen, rook and rook. तीन. It's like a triple attack on the board. So Leon would have to solve some really difficult problems ahead. And and he would have to find a way to parry the threat. Of g four, let's see what he goes for. He plays bishop h two and h five or f five, Tanya. That's the question. कौन सा pawn push करोगे?

H five or f five? Instinctively, it feels like the h pawn, and I think he just reached out for it. We are about to see a pawn move, and it's on the board. Wow! Sahaj, g four का threat is so unnerving to deal with. I think Mendonça has to be careful because उन्होंने अपना एक queen और एक rook Offside कर दिया है. That's on the queen side. The king side starts feeling a little uncertain.

हम्म, थोड़ा isolated भी लग रहा है. King थोड़ा अकेला-अकेला सा लग रहा है. And also let's not forget कि rook is technically in some kind of a pain. यानी you don't want to play rook c2 because queen बहुत बड़ा threat है. But queen takes queen के बाद भी अमीर वो वो endgame भी अच्छे नहीं लग रही है. And जी अगर आपने वो rook नहीं हटाया तो ये d2 का जो square है इसको आप कैसे बचा रहे हो? This looks like a difficult problem to You know, solve for Leon. I think this is a nice decision by Maurici overall. And by the way, I see oh Rook C two played Queen takes B three. By the way, let's also check out the the icon board between Nepo and Sandarov because I'm seeing a slight advantage for the World Championship challenger.

The board पे देख भी नहीं रहे हैं अभी। जो शायद board पे देखने की ज़रूरत भी नहीं है because इतना कुछ exchange हो चुका है. Saj, can we do a quick action replay to understand how we got here? It's an endgame. The queens are off the board. Two sets of minor pieces are off the board, and right now Sinderov has an extra pawn.

Absolutely. Although five moves ago, he he had one pawn less. Yeah, pawn queen takes queen, pawn takes queen हुआ था. F three करके उसने इस pawn को बचाया, and now he goes knight takes d five, rook d one आता है, and then he plays knight b six. If you want to take this pawn on d six, be my guest because knight c four is incoming next, and he plays bishop e three, which was a slight inaccuracy. जिसके बाद आता है knight c four anyway. Bishop to d4 and knight takes b2, and this is a big problem for Nepo. I believe बहुत precise. एकदम Magnus जैसा precise खेलना पड़ेगा, जैसे सुबह सुबह उसने face किया था इसको। I feel this is not going. I I don't think he's gonna save this.

But against Magnus, it was Jan who was up a pawn, then up two pawns. Here he first has to neutralize the material deficit. And then try to push. Bishops are off the board. Rook d1 pe hanging है. Why can you? And I think if you pick up the rook, the bishop will fall back to d4. Where is your knight running?

Oh wow!

Look at this b4. What a move! Knight को sacrifice करते हुए now pawn takes a3. Pass pawns must be pushed. उसको push करने की जरूरत ही नहीं है. वो already छठे rank पे बैठा हुआ है. And now a2 incoming.

But a2 squares away है from becoming a queen. That pawn will not remain a pawn very soon. और उसका best friend b7 pe भी आगे आने वाला है and I have a feeling that सहज गांधीजी ग्रैंडमास्टर्स के यान नेपोम्निशी ने ये आइडिया बिल्कुल मिस किया। Let's go back two moves.

My prediction, my speculation here is that यान की कैलकुलेशन स्टॉप्ड विद बिशप डी फोर। That सिंदरोव कैन नॉट पिकअप दैट रुक। उसको लगा रहेगा कि ये नाइट डी वन के बाद इस पोजीशन में like नाइट टेक्स डी वन के बाद he thought बिशप डी फोर and उसको लगा रुक डी वन के बाद ब्लैक विल on a three and ये pawns फिर भी double रहेंगे। but sindarob ने सोचा कि मैं खेलता हूँ b four and I will untangle these pawns। so एक एक extra move मतलब उसने सोचा। but इस final position में भी तानिया knight d five देखके मुझे तो डर लग रहा है। क्योंकि भाई what about the Swiss cheese around the black king?

हम हैं तो Bengaluru में पर बहुत dark square weaknesses हैं यहाँ पे camp में knight d five knight e seven knight f six highlight all the four B six पे एक, E seven पे एक, F six check. काफी ज़्यादा squares हैं, but that A pawn that Sinderov has everyone watching focus only on that A three pawn. That is what Sinderov is relying on right now. Absolutely, and he plays King F two.

He does not play the best move, and इसी के साथ Sinderov can push that pawn on A two because तानिया अब अगर आप Knight D five खेलते हो, तो I have this extra buffer. ये एक check देने के साथ I can parry all of these threats, and मुझे उसके साथ एक tempo भी मिलेगा। Is Sindarov just winning now?

Sahaj, you know from a human perspective, this looks very difficult for Jan Nepomniachtchi. And again, I think he just missed that idea of the b pawn moving forward using that pin, and nothing could have been done but allowing this pawn structure right now. A huge opportunity for the fires American gambits on the icon board. Let's take a look and see where the Ganges can strike right now.

Absolutely. Let's go to Polina versus Bibisara because this is where the Ganges Grandmasters have a chance. Firstly, Polina has a double bishop advantage, and secondly, there are some tactical ideas like एक तो E5 पे थोड़ा pressure है आपके पास. You know you can play knight f3. You can slowly slowly put pressure on this pawn because it's pinned currently. And secondly, दानिया एक C five जैसे ideas दिमाग में रखने चाहिए। अभी चल नहीं रहा है, but ये ये दिमाग में रखने चाहिए because बाद में बहुत काम आएंगे। Bishop खुल जाएगा, queen पे attack हो जाएगा, so tactics in the air right now.

Shovalova is having an advantage currently the way her pieces are placed. Black के पास काफी pins हैं, tactical problems हैं to solve. So let's say that in this on this board सहज the Ganges can be hopeful for a good result. 100 percent.

I think this is this is looking I would say just as good as Sandarov's position to me. But of course, black से जीतने के you know आपको एक point ज़्यादा मिलता है तो still fires American gambits having a slight advantage over there.

She retreats with queen e seven. She's saying c five नहीं allow करेंगे। हाँ, that idea has to be stopped. I'm not going to allow you to hit my queen and the bishop at the right time. So a good approach by her. We'll come back to this. But Saj, I want to go to Nihal versus Levon के board pick क्या हो रहा है? Levon, an absolute artist, creatively creates complications on the board. Nehal Sarin, whoa! What? I was going to say Nehal Sarin instinctively a great defender.

He might need to defend this position. Oh, G5 pawn कहाँ चला गया? अभी तो वो इतना solid दिख रहा था। अभी पूरा एकदम king is gone. I mean, I get that knights are great defenders. Two knights are even better defenders. But that king is on G8 is completely exposed.

अगर G file पे एक white queen या rook आ जाए, that would be game over for black.

Exactly. I mean, यहाँ पे if Levan could, he would just he would just remove this pawn, you know, from g4 and be like, okay, let's go rook g1 check. Let's try to bring the queen, and that would be very very difficult for Nihal to defend. This pawn is kind of like working against white in this sense. क्योंकि ये white का ही attack रोक के बैठा हुआ है. तो maybe something like g5 g6 could be a plan in the future. Knight f5 can also be a plan in the future. Rook g1, as you mentioned. To like you know add up all of these ideas can also be a plan as well.

Very tense position right now, and let's take a look at the clock. Take stock of the situation. Of course, for Nihal Sarin, जब तक एक मिनट नहीं हो जाता है, it's too much time. He's down to four minutes, but nothing to get afraid. This is a situation, a clock situation. He knows how to manage and handle. Levon played this really strong, but fourteen minutes almost, and a position where he'll push for an attack.

उसके पास चारी मिनट बचे हैं, लेकिन वो how will he? How will he save this? Because I mean, I understand that Nihal is a world bullet champion, right? I like, I get that. But उसके पास कोई increment नहीं है यहाँ पे तानिया। No increment.

He will need all his defensive resources. I've seen him create miracles on the board with less than a minute on the clock. But Levon, he is so powerful in these dynamic positions. I think, Sahaj, that means that you've got Levon Aronian who's doing really well, Shovalova Polina who's doing really well for the Ganges Grandmaster. What is happening on our icon board? Is Javokir saving it for the fires American gambits right now?

Indeed he is, because look at that rook c two check आ चुकी है and king f eight पे भी जा चुका है because so you don't have knight e seven knight f six check के ideas and ये जो pawn बैठा था e three पे भाई a two a one is still on the cards and white basically has no defense.

White is relying कि जब मेरा bishop f six पे बैठा है अगर हम उसको highlight कर दें जरा सह वो इतना attacking piece है but at the same time एक defensive piece भी है controlling that a1 square I think for Javokhir he has to find a way to push that b pawn to assist goal है a1 पे but we all know कि football में भी goal मारने के लिए एक assist तो जरूरी होता है hundred percent क्या बात की है वाह thank you भाई अब इसी assist की अगर हम बात करें तो rook जो है ये pass pawn के पीछे तो बैठा ही है ये bishop e7 check का threat मुझे थोड़ा dangerous लग रहा था निया मैं क्या कहता हूँ?

Just play rook a7 शान्ती से to stop bishop e7 and I'll throw the ball back to you What do you play? क्योंकि अगर white को कुछ attack या कुछ compensation निकालना है तो आपको momentum चाहिए यहाँ पे white से वो momentum rook a7 जैसी चाल से I think break होता है because then you are forced to make moves which are let's say a bit slower क्योंकि आपको चाहिए अटैक अटैक अटैक कुछ कोई एक चेक कोई अटैक कोई थ्रेट, which is not happening I think. So I think on this board सिंधारूप looks decent but okay a win is not guaranteed. I think Nepo is definitely gonna fight back. I can see Barbie is kind of balanced here although practically I do not agree that this is looking that this is gonna be equal.

Given this position you're asked to play with the black or the white pieces.

What are you I'm choosing black. I'm fighting for black. I mean, I'll fight for the black color because I think white के लिए you by the way, I think he pushed one of the pawns. Yes, I think he pushed a two.

So now he's made sure कि जो Nepo का bishop है on f six, वो रहना आएगा वहाँ पे to stop this pawn from queening.

Hundred percent. He can't play bishop e seven check anymore. He can't play the check anymore.

You want to assist that b pawn to move forward. दूसरा रुक लाओ b file पे and go b four b B three with either the C four square. Oh, वो भी रोक लिया। Knight B six stopping Rook C four stopping Rook A four stopping Rook B eight भाई। What a move!

And look at this, Tanya. If he played Rook A six, then Rook takes D six के बाद ये Rook eight checkmate थी। इसलिए Rook eight पे गया वो। And look at this bishop यार कितना useful है और controlling everything। I think he's back.

Look at all of Yana Pomnishi's pieces सारी dark squares पे हैं। Bishop Rook knight super attractive, super active right now. Lots of checking ideas. B four बढ़ रहा है। सहज take a look at the other games if anything exciting is happening. But I think it's fire on the board on this one right now. Absolutely agreed.

He's going to move his bishop.

He's going to move his bishop.

Oh because he wants to play knight f six check. I think that's why you're saying this. Bishop a one maybe Tanya?

Bishop d four पे जा सकता है। A one पे जा सकता है। Yan Nepomniachtchi has extra minutes on the clock, and he's managed to come back. But can he stop b3, b2? Black needs two moves to win this game. That b pawn is two moves away from wrapping this up.

Wow! B3 and b. So maybe bishop d4 जैसी चाल के बाद, if I play b3 anyways, you give me a check. I move my king, and b2 anyways मतलब थोड़ा slow हूँ मैं maybe वहाँ पे। Tan आपको सही में लगता है इस position में Will it be a draw, or do you think white has a chance to win? Do you think black has a chance to win? What is your take?

It's a game for three results. If Jan Nepomniachtchi can stop the advance of those two pawns on the left side, white will take it. Ravikir Sinderov over the next five moves has to be careful about his own king as well. Push those pawns as well. Draw is the least likely result in this one.

Hundred percent agreed. And by the way, we are seeing some bar swings. एक एक बार जाके चेक करना पड़ेगा because we have linear. Versus Dubov, where Dubov is completely winning with the black pieces, and he has double the time in comparison to his opponent as well. Look at that endgame! एक तो दो pawn extras if my math is correct, and no double pawns whatsoever.

Double pawns, double the time. Looks like double the pawns on the board as well for black. I want to say six versus four like you highlighted earlier. Bishop g three the last move है. लेनिए डोमिन्गोएस्की to bring that bishop back. Highlighted in red right now, C7 को attack करते हुए, but it just feels like Daniel Dubov has one pawn too many. वो pawn गिर भी जाएगा सहज. You will still have a majority on the queen side, and he's got double the time as well.

Hundred percent. यार अब तो hippo मैं भी सोच रहा हूँ सीख ही लेता हूँ because I feel like this is two games now he's he's you know played E4 G6 with black and you know won both of them pretty convincingly might I add. Well he He hasn't won the game yet, but of course, getting into such a position after playing e4, just g6, after playing the Hippo, I mean, clearly there is some merit in the variation. Yeah.

And there is some conversation to be made that this— if we zoom out of this for Lenny, he really needs to stop the bleeding, Sahaj. At this point, everything that's happened in his first 2 matches, you know, if he goes down and isn't able to save this one, a very difficult endgame for him ahead right now. Then the team starts thinking that this board, how are we going to salvage it? It is head in hands, understandably very tough position. And right now we see the bars right there. There is one board on Bibisara, Shivalova versus Bibisara. That's the fourth board where we see that white is doing well. On our icon board, you've got the fires American Gambits leading. On our next board, the Ganges Grandmasters were slightly better. Levon had a slight initiative, but a ball. लेनियर इन ट्रबल, शुवलोवा अगेंस्ट बिबिसारा बेटर राइट नाउ. The next superstar women both somewhat balanced but Sara from the fires American Gambit उनपे भी थोड़ा प्रेशर है. सच very even battle right now.

Absolutely and I think as we were talking Dubov made a slight inaccuracy there and now Lenier has some chance and by the way Lenier if he actually you know if this match does not go his way that would be His third loss with white. Now that's I think that's painful for any chess player, especially when you play with white pieces because white seharana is already painful three times in a row is is so much worse. But this is the saving grace for Ganges Grandmasters because Polina Shuvalova might or has a very good chance you know to take down Bibisara there. You can see the bar completely shooting up you know in Polina's favor there. Double bishop advantage तो है ही आपके पास but on top of that E five के pawn को आप कैसे बचा रहे हो? And on on top of that, Tanya, if you do play f six, मेरा एक एक एक hidden idea भी है यहाँ पे। I want to play e four, kick this knight away, and then knight to d six, and get a double bishop versus double knight endgame, which will be very close to winning for me.

And look at Bibisara. She can feel the pressure in this position right now. Three minute रह गए हैं clock पे। It is not only about saving that central pawn. But some tactics on the board. Polina completely locked in. Let's go to our icon board. There have been some shifts in that right now.

You will not believe this. If this was— what is this? Wait, wait, so b2 was a blunder? Having 2 pawns on the 7th rank is a blunder? I do not believe this. How is it, uh, equal in this sense? I mean, there must be some, uh, repetition. I'm guessing knight f6, knight h7 check or something like this. But this looks very difficult for Nepo.

This was the position. Okay, 100 out of 100 players are playing this move. That pawn is screaming to be pushed. You are one move away from queening, and it gets a double question mark. Zhabukhir Sindarov has walked into a position where Jan Nepomniachtchi can save the game right now.

Like, knight f6 check, king f8. Let's actually have those moves As you know, Nepo thinks knight at a check. King goes to f8. You're not going to give this check back because king ऐसे बाहर निकल सकता है e7 पे। You give knight h7 check. King if you go to g8 then फिर से ये knight f6 check देके आप draw कर सकते हो। वो खेलता है कि नहीं मुझे खेलना यहाँ पे। And this is not easy. Bishop f6 check only move यहाँ पे। Put the king to d7 and then take on b2. Then give a check. By a difficult I don't know. बहुत बहुत difficult I would say for Nepo. And now that you know this, do you think Nepo finds this?

I know it, but I still feel I don't know it. I look at this position and it feels कि इतनी ज़्यादा possibilities हैं, इतनी precise calculation चाहिए. Let's go back to our live board. Step one for Jan Nepomniachtchi to save this position is to give a check to that black king from that f6 square. It needs to land right here. It is the only move that saves the game. Step one achieved by Yan. Next, immediate response. He has to take the pawn on H7. It is once again the only move that keeps Yan in the game. Everything else and black is better.

Oh, Tanya, I think he might take on B2 because he's going for the same endgame and take on E8 now. But ये बचाना फिर से अरे यार रुक पॉन एंडिंग फिर से आ गई है तो नेपो के गेम में याद करो मैं इन द मॉर्निंग ही वाज़ कंपलीटली विनिंग अगेंस्ट मैग्नस हैविंग टू एक्स्ट्रा पॉन्स एंड नाउ हीज़ इन अ लेट्स से अ स्लाइटली वर्स रुकेंडिंग एंड इफ दिस डज़न गो हिज़ वे दिस इज़ ऑल बिकॉज़ ऑफ़ रुकेंड गेम्स यार ही सेव्स दिस हीज़ अ वर्ल्ड चैम But Sahaj, I think a little bit of inaccuracy rushing with that b pawn.

Yan is back. We'll come back to this game in just a few. Let's go over and see the other boards. This one back in the balance. Absolutely.

I think still Sindarov can try to push, but okay, more or less equalish. We can take a look at Levon versus Nihal. Firstly, if we remember, Levon के पास 10 मिनट ज़्यादा थे in comparison to Nihal. He also had that crazy attack, but looks like Nihal has turned it around. He's still down on the clock, but the kingside attack is gone, and he is not a pawn down anymore. And rook c two जो आ रहा है, that looks like such a scary threat. And let's not forget, bishop जा किधर रहा है?

And to counter that, जो Nihal का knight है, that's going places. Let me tell you that. A much stronger minor piece than its counterpart. Nihal has the stronger open file for his rook, better squares for that knight. वो knight C5 या F4 पे आएगा। D3 is a big weakness. जो लेवन का pawn है वहाँ पे, वो light square pawn है. Not easy to defend जब आपका bishop dark square है. And I think positionally, if anyone can push here, it has to be Nihal Siddiqui. It feels like an endgame for two results right now. And Fire's American Gambits are the one who are having fun in this end position.

I mean, Tanya, you You said such a great point because because of this knight c five white simplify भी नहीं कर सकता। Imagine इस position में आप rook open file में रखते हो, the typical human response is let me play rook c one as well. But then rook takes bishop takes knight c five and you can just resign.

Pawn गया। Pawn गया game गया हो जाएगा उस point पे। Levon does not have the luxury to take the rooks off the board. So Let's say that the first board we are expecting that fizzles down now that the worst is over. On our men's superstar board, Nihal Sarin with an advantage for the fires American Gambits. Let's move on to our next board, Sehaj Ganji's grandmasters. Are they surviving the Dubov effect?

Oof, that's a good question. But by time, पे तो नहीं survive कर रहे हैं वो that is for sure because Lanier has less than a minute now and last time he had less than a minute, Tanya he ended up blundering you know a one move. Mistake with that where he just, you know, didn't, uh, see that Knight h5 check or whatever it was. But this endgame, firstly, Dubov has zero risk. He has no— he can just play on forever here and he will have no risk here. And on top of that, he has 4 extra minutes. Now on paper, I can see bar is saying minus whatever, minus 1, minus 0.8, or whatever it is. But practically, I think this is— and this An insanely difficult thing to save.

You know what also looks insanely difficult to save is Bibisara's position. She's gone red on the clock, Sahaj. I say we go straight to that. Shivalova for the Ganges Grandmasters is about to get the job done on her board. Full attack on the black king, bhai. Black ka king under so much pressure. Knight hai, bishop hai, knight d7 pe hanging hai. Kya ho raha hai? Are you about to lose a piece?

Bishop takes knight. Bishop takes d7. Looks like an amazing move, but Rook d8 है आपके पास. I am not sure if this is working or not.

And Shivalova gets ready for her response. She does pick up the knight. Rook comes in, and I do see कि वो bishop pin किया गया है. Does she have a way to get out of this pin? If she does, it's over.

Oof! Queen d6 is amazing because if you go Queen takes d6, Rook takes d6 आता है and then pawn bishop takes e5 because piece तो आप है ही. उसके साथ दो pawn भी आप है She's up everything essentially in you know in this position. Queen takes f6, I think was also working by the way. It would have been a crazy tactic in the position, but I think she's going for the opposite colored bishop endgame here. Of course, rooks and knights and bishop. ये pawn मर रहा है c5 भी मर रहा है and ये bishop जो है it it has basically no future. It is being blocked by you know white pawns on the e4 square there.

And Bibisara trying to create her own counterplay. वो आती हैं with the rook inside dashes through to attack that a3 pawn which will be picked up. But at the end of it, she's gone red on the clock. It's come down under 10 seconds, and right now the move number that we are on, they get an extra 2 seconds. But the speed with which the players are playing, and it's game over!

Wow!

That is it! Polina Shivalova is the first to score with the white pieces. She gets a very crucial 3 points for the Ganges Grandmasters. Let's move on and see where the fires are striking back, if at all.

Let's see. The only game I see where they have a chance right now is either Dubov or Nihal, but I'm gonna go to Nihal because On paper, Nehal has the best chance of you know making a comeback for his team, the fires American Gambits. And now we have knight c five played out, and knight ये जो pawn d three का है this is under huge pressure. And on top of that, rook c seven के लिए इसको भी बचा लो। ये pawn को तो कोई बचाने वाला है नहीं। But but did sorry एक minute दोनों players के पास oh and okay one player is a world bullet champion though. एक तो वर्ल्ड बुलेट चैंपियन है, तो I'm taking Nihal here, Danya.

What about you? And एक प्लेयर टू टाइम्स वर्ल्ड कप विनर भी रह चुके हैं। That's also true.

That's also true.

If anyone can defend this difficult endgame, it is Levon Aronian. But Nihal so tricky in these time scrambles, putting maximum pressure right now. Polina Shivalova, what a finish that was, winning pawn after pawn. Baby Sara को कभी चांस नहीं दिया उस गेम में। She's so good, yeah.

Polina is unbeatable. You know, she is also Crossed the three thousand rating on chess.com as well. She's so incredibly good, and by the oh look at that! Levon makes a mistake. He pushes the golden pawn with f four, and इसके बाद it is objectively losing for Levon. Wow! And King e six, the best move by Nihal played out. I think if you go pawn takes pawn, then knight takes d three के बाद ये king एकदम center में आ जाएगा. Beautiful. Wow! Does this Does this mean that Nihal is going to save it for the Firs American Gambit, Sanya?

Well, they need to score first on one of the boards. अभी score जैसे हम देख रहे हैं on that bottom left of our screen. Ganji's Grandmasters lead with one win by Polina Shivalova. Three points हो चुके हैं उनके. And we have another result coming in, I believe, Sahaj. We've had a draw on Stavrula versus Sara Khadem. Right now this one ends one-one. A peaceful, quiet game overall. Let's go straight back. Back to the Nehal Sarin board. Wow! And lot of action there. B2 under attack. That knight has just jumped. Rook is about to infiltrate on the second rank. Rook c2, a really big threat. Levon under big pressure. 12 seconds on the clock.

Exactly 10 seconds or single digits by. He has to make a move, Levon. He has to. Oh, pawn takes e5. That's another blunder for sure. That's a mistake, right? Because I think there was rook c2 incoming. We saw this variation earlier. रुक सी टू के बाद, यस ही प्लेज़ इट। वाओ, निहाल इज़ शोइंग व्हाई ही इज़ द वर्ल्ड बुलेट चैम्पियन हीर तानिया। कम ऑन। ही इज़ वेरी यूज्ड तू दिस टाइम कंट्रोल, आई फील। एंड यू कैन टेक द पॉन विद द रुक एंड ही डज़ इट। लेवोन हैज़ प्लेड सो मेनी ऑफ़ द मूव्स विथ जस्ट अ सेक Nihal, can he continue?

Can he convert? Can he get the ball at the back of the net right now? And he keeps pushing it. Rook c2 played. Levon stops the advance of the pawn. He's about to offer a rook trade.

Wait, Nihal also having 13 seconds on the clock now. This is, this is so stressful. And he, of course, he cannot take a repetition because he knows he has to win for his team in order to win this match.

He's going to push the b-pawn. The b-pawn is coming up the board. That pawn will become the biggest asset in black's position. Neha leans forward. He moves ahead with the knight. We see a trade of the minor pieces, Sahaj. Oh no, that's a mistake.

That was a mistake. And I think they in this rook endgame doesn't matter.

Look at the time, Sahaj. They're playing on their final seconds. Three seconds.

They have a two-second buffer now. Oh wow! What a save by Levon. I mean, it is equal. It's not over yet though. Not over. Umbrella method. King G three A K because the rook is kind. Of blocking the view, B4 played.

That B pawn and some checkmating ideas on the black king. पहले एक pawn उठा लिया गया है। Oh no, that's a blunder! Levon is rushing to the left flank, but Nihal's king is faster. Comes in, he picks up a pawn.

Two passers now. No ways! King goes to C3 and then to C1. This is a theoretically winning endgame. Tanya, rook H2 incoming, and now rook H1 is a checkmate.

Let's go!

Huge threat on the board. He hides it. Levon making moves with just a second on the clock. Nihal about to get the win for the Five American Gambits, but will he succeed? Technically a winning endgame, and Levon resigns. Nihal Sarin scores for the Gambits in this one, taking the score to five to seven. Ganji's Grandmaster still leading.

Wow! But not—I'm not really sure what happened here, but looks like Nepo on the icon board has defeated Sindarov as well.

What? A massive result, Sahaj. And in the end, a big turnaround on the icon board. Zhavukir Sindarov was the one pushing throughout. We will come back to it, but we have one more board remaining. Let's go to Daniel Dubov. The score that we have so far, we have 7 points for the Ganges Grandmasters currently and 5 points for the Dubov. It comes back to this board. Wow, it is on this board. If Dubov wins, the 5th American Gambit's taken.

Wow, he he's repeating moves, but he knows he cannot do it. He has to play. Dubov has to play. He's looking around to check, but he doesn't have enough time. अरे यार repetition ही हो रहा है यहाँ पे king e three played rook d six.

Lenier Dominguez has to hold this position for Dubov. He has to find a way to continue, and I don't think he's being able to find a way to continue.

There is no way to continue. I think repetition threefold यहाँ पे almost हो चुका है if I'm not mistaken because rook e five king f six happened like a bunch of times. Uh, but nobody's claimed the draw. I think they're going to play on. He's maybe trying to get some time, you know, extra time.

The black king tied down to defend the f-pawn, the black rook tied down to defend the b-pawn. You cannot improve your position as Daniel Dubov, even up a pawn in this position, he's struggling to keep the game going. Dominguez needs only a draw here to win it for the Ganges Grandmasters, and that will be their second Massive result, taking down the Trivani Continental Kings, about to take down the fires American Gambits.

Absolutely, and no draw for Dubov. He says, "I want to continue playing." He plays Rook e four, sacks the pawn on b six. But okay, this is maybe like that one last minute try to see what can work. But लग नहीं रहा कि ये try यहाँ पे successful होगा, because I think this is a very elementary draw for in this rook endgame.

Yep. And at the end of it, it is Leinier who's got an extra pawn on the board. Daniel Dubov forced to push to try in an equal endgame but wasn't able to make anything out of it. What a turnaround of a match this has been for the Ganges Grandmaster struggling on board 1. Yeah, Nepomniachtchi with an iconic win.

Absolutely. What a win by Nepo! What a win by Nihal! What a win by Polina as well! But at the end, oh, there it is—a safe and solid draw. And इसी के साथ-साथ, it is the Ganges Grandmasters that take down the Fires American Gambits. Well, so far they have had a perfect run, but Ganges have put a stop to it.

And what a performance this has been by the Ganges Grandmasters finding their flow in this match finally. And for the Fires American Gambits. They go down, their first defeat at the Global Chess League Season 4 right now. And Sehaj, that icon board win by Jan Nepomniachtchi coming at the right time. I mean, Jan leading from the front and proving why. And of course, all the drama that we witnessed on the Nihal Sarin board. Absolutely.

And I think Nepo will be happy with that. Yeah, because, you know, in the previous round he had a winning position against the GOAT of chess, Magnus Carlsen, in a rook endgame. Which he didn't. He wasn't able to convert. But now a drawn rook pawn ending, which he manages to you know win against well a world championship challenger. So that's you know some some compens some consolation there.

And a very happy team right there. Adiban all smiles. Levon's got to be feeling good after what happened earlier at the start of the day, losing to the Alpine Pipers, coming back with a massive win with a team that felt at least unstoppable with their result. Yesterday, right now, Yann Nepomniachtchi discussing team play right there. And here we've got Captain Srinath with his teammates. They've got reasons to be displeased. And Sahaj, it just felt like Javokir Sindarov should have never lost that position. And was that a massive blunder? What happened there?

You know, okay, good evening.

Can I have your attention please for a few seconds?

I would like to announce the score of the match that just has finished. The Genghis Grandmasters beat the Fire's American Gambits with a score of 9 to 7.

Congratulations!

Can I ask both the team captains on stage to sign the results, please? Thank you.

Can I have a pen? Oops, there's no time or what?

Always getting lucky. You got unlucky, huh?

You got unlucky and you Okay, I would like to invite you to take part of the next match. We will start, which will start at 8 PM.

Thank you so much.

And what a match that will be as the Triveni Continental Kings will take on the Czech Mumba Masters. But we have to talk about what we just witnessed right now on that icon board. Just when it looked like Jan Nepomniachtchi had survived the worst. It was in balance, most likely heading into a draw. The most unexpected thing happened, Sahaj. Ravikir Sinderov got flagged.

Exactly. And, and the saddest part is that it was a repetition. Like Nepomniachtchi was just giving him check, check, check, check, check, and he was deciding how can I play on for a win, how can I play on for a win, and suddenly he lost on time. That is, that is so sad.

But that's part of the sport here. The clock is truly the 17th 15th piece when it comes to the Global Chess League, and time management is everything right now.

Where we come from, where we come from, where we come from.

And supporting right now, says the FIDE American Champions. You know, they might have lost their match, but they won a lot of hearts in Bengaluru.

100%. I mean, they After beating, you know, the fires emitting gambit in that style, I mean, you have to cheer for them. And what a what a finish! And it at some point it looked like they were struggling on every board with the white pieces. Yeah, it on. I mean, Levon's position was not the best. Nepo was you know kind of defending. Lanier was kind of defending as well. And and and look at how it turned out. I mean, they are they are ultimately fighters.

Ultimately fighters. And I'm just wondering, you know, if we have to think about how the comebacks happened on each of the boards there for the Ganges Grandmaster. It's not going to be easy to pick an MVP, to pick a player of the match in this one.

Yeah, it will be extremely difficult. I mean, maybe the clock. Yeah.

Maybe the clock was truly the Ganges Grandmasters' best friends. We saw the teams walk in. We saw the confidence on the faces of the Fire American Gambits. We saw the handshakes happen, and it just felt like, who is going to stop the Ganges Grandmasters? gambits, and it was answered by the Ganges Grandmasters right there. Leading from the front was Jan Nepomniachtchi. Found himself in trouble at the beginning, in the start of the game, managed to equalize it, and then finally flagging, winning on time right there again for Jan Nepomniachtchi. The clock, his best friend. Nihal Sarin tried to complicate matters, but Levon had all the answers.

Absolutely, and you correctly said that clock was the you know the best piece there because Nepo had two and a half minutes at the end when Sindarov flagged in the game.

And you know we saw a lot of shake of heads from Levon here. Nehal did win for the Fives American Gambits at the end of it, but Sahaj it wasn't enough for Daniel Dubov. There was disappointment—a board that could have turned it around for the Fives American Gambits. Gambits, a position of strength, and in the end not enough to get the dub. Had to settle for a draw. Jan Nepomniachtchi is out there signing the autographs for the fans. He's got to be feeling really good because it was because of this man that the Ganges Grandmasters in the end got the win.

Absolutely, and what a way to win as well. I mean, I, I think to some extent, you know, after his draw against Magnus Carlsen earlier in the in the day. This is, this is the perfect way to finish today. And I think now Nepo will not have regrets, you know. Now, now, now he will think that, okay, uh, I, I drew a winning game, but I also won a drawn endgame, which is, which is fair.

And especially in a match like this where it matters a lot, where the result on your first board, a draw in that, would have completely changed the tone of the match that we just witnessed right now. For the 5 American Gambits, you know, they had 2 winning Their first loss today. Are there any positive takeaways from this match against the Ganges Grandmasters?

Uh, I think that, um, overall that no one is invincible at the end of the day. I think that's the take— that's the first takeaway for me, because to me, after looking at the first day, it looked like Faiz American Gambits were just— they didn't have any weakness overall. But it looks like they can be taken down, and Ganges must be happy with their performance.

And to me, what is also so fascinating is that Sinderov is such a speed chess specialist, right? The performances that he's had with little time on the clock, and then to lose out on that, that has got to hurt at this point from a completely drawn position. That, that as well, uh, Sehej. But it wasn't just the— just that board, right? What we saw Dominguez hold and stop the bleeding on his board, very important from an overall picture for the grandmasters as well. Yeah, I mean, 100%.

I mean, Linier, he had lost 2 games with white back to back, and he was, let's say, at least -1 in this game as well. So the fact that he was able to fight back is, um, was extremely necessary.

Well, you know, they say yellow is the happiest color, and right now that really seems to be the case as the Ganges Grandmasters are out there having fun with the fans, and they've got reasons to celebrate as they end the day on a high.

Yep, absolutely signing those autographs.

Um, um, Mendonça right there, he was part of the Trevini Continental Kings winning team last season. This time, new color, new jersey, but at the end of it, a big win right now for the Grandmasters. And again, the question on everyone's mind has to be who will be given the player of the match. Uh, Sahaj, do you have any contenders for this one?

I, I, I will give the player of the match to Nepo's clock, but I think we will have Arohi to let us know.

Hello and welcome to the post-match presentation ceremony for the second last match of the day. This is just day 2 and we are serving the best action possible in chess history right here. So if you're not tuned in, you have to be because here is where we give away the player of the Match award, the player that has played exceptionally well in this game. We had a couple of options, but finally we have the name. But before we take on the name, let me call upon the guest who will be presenting the Player of the Match award, Shri MS Raksha Ramaya, founder and director, MSR. And now the Player of the Match award goes to, for the second time this season, On day two, Polina Shuvalova. Polina, congratulations after the. loss in the second game today when you played the third game of the tournament. How were your spirits?

Uh, yeah, thank you. I'm, I'm very happy that we won the match. Uh, when I finished my game, I saw that we have a little bit of trouble, and, uh, um, but then Jan showed his masterclass and, yeah, and won his game. So we went on to lead, and other guys, they made their job. They hold worst positions, so I'm very happy.

Talk us through your game today. How did you stand out?

My game was, I think, actually pretty nice. I like the way I play. I think she had chances to, to have a decent position, but at some point I got, I got better and then just pushed and capitalized.

Polina, your Y'all have played 3 games so far and 3 whites. Bold decision there.

Yeah, it's a little bit strange.

Um, we'll see, maybe we'll play next 2 games with white as well.

Is that you giving out secrets?

No, I'm just guessing.

All right, congratulations on today's win and all the best for the games to come.

Thank you.

That is it from the post-match presentation ceremony. We'll be back with We'll be back with the final match of the day shortly after a break.

Thank you.

जब एक इंडियन के हाथ में पावर आता है, हाईएस्ट सेंचुरीज़ का रिकॉर्ड टूट जाता है। जब हर इंडियन के हाथ में पावर आएगा, सोचो इंडिया और कितने रिकॉर्ड तोड़ेगा? इसलिए योनो देता है हर इंडियन के हाथ में पावर। The all new योनो Power to every Indian.

तीस से ज्यादा quality checks, vitamin A और vitamin D से युक्त और खाना भी बने स्वादिष्ट। खाने में समझौता नहीं, अच्छा खाना शुरुआत से ही independence। पर हम भी जिद्दी हैं। आपके credit card कि ड्यूडेट मैं सोच चुकी है। जिसकी वजह से पेनल्टी चार्जेस की सीटी बजने वाली है, और क्रेडिट स्कोर के गिरने की वजह से आपके होश होश होश उड़ने वाली हैं। यानि कि आपके हालात बिगड़ने की संभावना है। क्रेडिट पेमेंट्स की चिंता हमेशा सर पे। आओ चेक पे। सारे क्रेडिट कार्ड्स के बिल एक लिक में पे करो Three matches of the day done, one more to go.

And what a blockbuster match we have ahead lined off for all of you here. Trivani Continental Kings taking on the Czech Mumbai Masters. But what action we saw joining Sahaj and I is Mr. Raja in the studio. I have to say. That the Ganjis Grandmasters at the end of it played like the Rajas.

Oh, they played like the Rajas, but it was only for one reason. The thing that Magnus said he's most excited to do in this tournament: flagging. Won his game. He actually, yeah, Nepomniachtchi won his game against Javokir Sindarov because Sindarov lost on time. That was a huge upset for the Fires American Gambits.

And सहज उधर कुछ और हुआ होता, we would have been talking about a completely different scoreline.

Hundred percent because Sindarov was trying to push throughout the whole game and you know. Last repetition, and Sindarav was thinking, why should I take, take it or not? And suddenly time is gone.

Time is gone and chances are going for some right now. 2 teams still at the bottom of the leaderboard, and guess what, guys? It is going to be Triveni Continental Kings taking on the Czech Mumba Masters to leave that zero mark, to get on the scoreboard right now. At the end of today, we have 3 teams at this point. At the top, we've got six match points for American Gambits, Grandmasters, Pipers, Harshit, Sehaj. What are you most surprised about looking at this leaderboard?

I'm definitely surprised about the team on the fifth spot, which is the Triveni Continental Kings. Still did not get their name on the scorecard, and imagine a scenario where two days are over.

CCL में कभी नहीं हुआ है sir.

And that's going to actually be my bold prediction. I'll talk a bit about that a bit later, but I have a feeling that check Mumbai Masters. Will take down the Triveni contest?

No, no, no, no, no. You can't. No, no chance. I feel because Triveni is. I mean, they have been the favorites and they were the favorites last year as well. When remember when Firuja scored five out of five in on on the icon board itself. Firuja is still playing, but you know he has not you know had that impact just yet. But is the picture अभी बाकी है दोस्त? Picture अभी just शुरू ही है.

My picture baki hai, but Ali Reza needs to really show up for his team. He has to become a hero in this one like he was in season three. It hasn't happened yet, and the bigger thing is, सच मुझे ऐसा लगता है कि Triveni Continental Kings उनको इस they it's a new feeling for them. They are fighting from the bottom. They don't know what that's like. This is a true test of response, and they are against a team Czech Mumbai Masters who've had quite a few high moments so far.

Yeah, and they need to find one player who basically boosts the morale inside the team. There needs to be one player. कौन होगा वो? Yeah, that's not easy. So far, I I mean you know in general I thought that Badi Pranav on the prodigy board will be someone who'll do really well. Let's take a look at the upcoming match that we have coming up between the Triveni Continental Kings and Chekhumua Masters.

We are getting ready for this big clash between these two teams leading from the front Alireza Firouzja and. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. We've often seen the spotlight on them, but the match gets decided on the supporting act. Where are you seeing the results come in? Make a case for each of these teams. Uh, Sahaj, what do you think? What is Mumbai Masters— let's start with them— their big strengths here?

I, I think it has to be Pranesh because I think that that player is massively underrated. I, I— because he's extremely young, he works with the top top players, you know, like, uh, like Pragg and like Arvind and like Vaishali and all of these guys. And I, I like to think of him as the human calculator. Oh, because he's, he's, to me, he's the— he's, he's someone who can calculate the fastest. And, and in this format, calculation is everything. So for me, Pranesh is the guy who's gonna bring it.

Throwback to a previous GCL talking about human calculators. But Pranesh is going to play against a very tough He's going to play against Wei Yi from China. It's not going to be easy to take that guy down.

But Wei has to find a way to come back into the competition right now because just like Alireza, he hasn't really found his rhythm for the Kings just yet. I think these 2 boards have to score if the Kings want a chance. Now I want to talk about the Czech Mumba Masters having played one match already against the PBG Alaskan Knights. They lost to them just a few hours ago. 6 to 11. How much time is enough for a reset after that? Are they ready for this battle?

Well, they do have great camaraderie and positivity in the team flowing with Suhail Chandok being the team owner. I think he really sets the tone for the entire team, having a very positive atmosphere and uplifting them that just enjoy your games and don't really worry about the result.

Sahaj, I will come to you with this one. You know, the other big draft that we've seen for the Czech Mumba Masters has been Carissa Yip. What role are you expecting for her in her battle against Alexandra Kosteniuk?

I think this is a toss-up because Carissa is extremely— I mean, she's quite young and she's, uh, well, she's on the rise. But Kosteniuk is someone I have admired for a very long time, since I was, since I was a kid. Um, and it's, it's, it's difficult when it's, you know, uh, experience versus youth, I guess. And For me, I still think it's 50-50. 50-50, a toss-up.

Well, it's time for a coin toss right now to decide which team starts with which color.

Sometimes all you need is one win to turn things around, and both these teams are currently looking for that first win. Probably from there it might be a launchpad, but for that we need that launchpad to happen. Now playing the final game of Day two at the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League Season Four. We have the Triveni Continental Kings going up against Czech Mumbai Masters, and now I'll be calling for the coin toss coaches of the two teams: Luke Wanveli for the Kings and Surya Shekhar Ganguly for the Masters. Also joining us at the coin toss is the tournament director, Mr. Bharat Singh, and the chief arbiter, Gert Bayer. Mumba Masters will be taking the call. Heads is the call.

Heads.

All right, what would you pick?

We pick white.

Y'all have tried white, y'all have tried black. Somehow the results not gone your way. But what is going to change in this game?

Well, those were the only 2 options we have. But yeah, no, we are— let's see. We— I mean, it also takes time to settle down and everything. And it's just the tournament just started. So I'm completely confident. We'll see.

You know, you have had a quite short turnaround time today. You played one game already. How are the players looking now before the second game?

Some players got rest, they got a little bit of nap. Some players preferred to stay here, so they are all, you know, following their own routine.

And yeah, I'm looking for the best.

You know, we know Mumbai Masters to have a great team spirit, and you have these activities going on with the players as well. So today, after the first game, you know, you may have— the players may have wanted a change in their mindset, you know, just to move around. And you said some of them had rest. What did you do?

Well, today there was not much of time, so mostly, you know, players took some nap.

But in general, yeah, we would be doing different kind of sporting activities and so on. Yeah, team is in good spirit.

Well, as I've heard from all the chess players, they love taking naps, and probably that is something that is going to help the Mumbai Masters today. But all the best for today's game.

Thanks a lot.

Luke, happy with the decision?

Well, the good thing is that in the first 2 rounds, I won the toss. But the team lost. So today I lost the toss.

So well, what else I can say?

So now, other than the toss decision, what has changed? Because yesterday y'all played a game. Today, unlike the Masters, y'all did not. So y'all are coming fresh.

Yeah, well, I mean, this is our first match for today, and we had like 24 hours to recover from, well, from yesterday's disaster. So, well, there are no more excuses.

Also, you know, it's quite interesting because Trevini Continental Kings, one of the most successful teams in the tournament. It's day 2, but even on day 2, y'all have never gone without points so far in the tournament in the last couple of seasons. How important is winning points today?

Well, it's very important to get back on, on the scoring board, you know, to get the feeling of winning.

But okay, we know it's It's also a long tournament, you know, and so of course, you know, we're not very happy about our start, but we know that, uh, like last season, that we were completely dominating in, in, um, in the qualification and then we still lost the finals.

So yeah, but okay, still we have to reach the finals.

This is, uh, for now that's a problem.

You know, as they say, slow and steady wins the race. As long as you get there, even if you do slow and steady, I think the job is done, but all the best for today's game. Yeah, thank you very much. Yep, that is it from the coin toss. The news is that Czech Moba Masters have won the toss, opted white.

Thank you for that, Arohi. The Czech Moba Masters will start with the white pieces, which means that Grandmaster Lurk Van Veli's Trevini Continental Kings get a premium with every win. Black scores 4 points right there. Now again, taking from what Van Veli just said on The stage to Arohi there. I think the follow-up here has to be for both of you. How much of a must-win match is this for both these teams who are currently struggling to get a single match point at GCL?

I mean, a lot. I mean, because if you're just on zero, you just— you want to believe that you can win one match before you can believe that you can win the whole thing, right? And this is only round 3. I mean, this is only day 3. I mean, sorry, day 2. So far, so not really nothing has been set in stone yet. And of course, Triveni specifically have very high expectations because well they have been in the finals all the the entirety of GCL and they've won it twice as well.

I mean talking about that the team needs to get going. They are on their way towards the playing hall. We saw on the buggy the Triveni Continental Kings making their way to the playing arena. For your question, Tanya, I think it's super. Important that both their teams get some points on the leaderboard. I wish there was a possibility that they could draw the match. Actually, is it? It's only possible if all the games are drawn, I guess. Only because they're playing against white and black and black gets a premium. I mean, it's not so easy to get a draw in this sort of a format. I don't think we've almost ever seen a draw.

Very rarely. There was an earlier season where we saw it, and very rightly so, that you need draws on every single board. The score scoring system is so unique and really incentivizes fighting for those big points in decisive games. Right now we saw Alireza Firouzja right there in the buggy getting into that arena. It just felt like it was a bit somber, the atmosphere for Triveni Continental Kings. You know, the players that were there, uh, I think they just know the weight that this match carries.

Yeah, he somehow really needs to light that matchstick, get fired up. Firouzja Alireza, this is a huge match for him playing with the Black Kings against Mashir Lagrave. And that's the man. That's the man they're relying on, who leads their way, who leads the pack from the front. Firuja followed by Wei Yi playing on the second board. We then get to see Badav, Badi Pranav in the back, Arvind Chidambaram, and then we have the two girls, Zhu Jin'er and Kosteniuk, making their way.

And I want to point out those women superstar boards. I think a huge strength for the Trevini Continental Kings with Zhu Jin'er and Alexandra Kosteniuk. You know, for Kosteniuk, she knows how to get those championships. Points in the Global Chess League, but again hasn't yet found her rhythm here in Bengaluru. Very important for them to start doing that right here, right now. As we have seen some of the teams running away with those game points, what are you expecting in the battle between the women superstar boards? Facing them will be Harika and Karesayep.

Um, if I had to choose a result, I I think Zujener is a slight favorite over Harika, even though Harika is. Extremely solid, so it so it will be tough. And I think Harika is also playing with the white pieces. Extremely difficult to beat her with the black pieces. But and also Kosenik versus Garry Saib. I think I I like already mentioned that for me that's a toss up because it's fifty fifty youth versus experience. And I'm not sure who's going to prevail there. But for me, I think Alireza is the guy who has to strike. It's been like three rounds. He has he has to strike now. Let's go.

And while the Trivani Continental Kings haven't shown up just yet in the arena, their mascot has been showing up everywhere right there. The Trivani Continental King impressing the security guards.

Maybe they want to sneak in something inside. One photo, one photo.

A big pat. Wow, wow.

Throwing some punches off the board. They will try to throw some punches on the board against the Mumba Masters, the Czech Mumba Masters who are just making their way inside the playing hall. I like this camaraderie, you know. Even though they did not do well, they're talking to each other. I think it's very important that they both throw— like, they throw energy off each other in this matchup.

Again, as Suryashaker Ganguly earlier said to Arohi, you know, some players after their match against the PBG Alaskan Knights decided to stay in the arena to reset. Some of them went back to the hotel to get a little bit of rest before coming back in. How quickly will they be able to turn around what happened earlier in the day against the Alaskan Knights? The camaraderie is there. The team spirits are there. Now they need some of those match points.

Yeah, and for me, uh, I think it's going to be decided by who gets the first 3 points or 4 points for the team, who gets the first win. I wouldn't say this in other matches, but in this match, I think the player who gives a team lead in the first, in the first round, I think in the first match, will win the match.

I love that you bring that up because in the previous match, you know, it just got down to Jan Nepomniachtchi flagging जावुकीर सिंदरोव एट द एंड ऑफ़ इट। हैड दैट नॉट हैप्पेन इन अ पोजीशन वेर वी हैड रेपीटिशन, इन अ पोजीशन दैट वाज कंपलीटली ड्रॉन, द फाइज़ अमेरिकन कैंपस वुड हैव टेकन अ विन। इन दिस मैचअप बिटवीन द त्रिवेणी कंटिनेंटल किंग्स एंड द चेक मुंबा मास्टर्स, हाउ मच ऑफ़ अ रोल आर of 5 in the first half of the event.

I mean, when Firouzja doesn't, you know, just completely explode in an event like GCL, I mean, you think something is wrong. Yeah, so I, I feel it is Firouzja who, who for— to me is a, is a favorite on paper, but MVL also is a former World Blitz champion, so we have to take that into account as well.

You know, when we speak of the Trivandrum Continental Kings having a dynasty at the Global Chess League with their performance in the first 3 seasons, Firouzja has been truly the king of that team. Now make a case for Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. We see him entering right there. How does he make sure that Firouzja does not— this is not the round that they find their rhythm on?

Well, I think that Vachier-Lagrave holding that game against Magnus Carlsen in a worse endgame really showed the kind of strength and grit he has in this kind of a format. And let's just quickly take a look at the board pairings that we are going to have in this matchup.

And Harshad, I want to point out that for Maxime Vachier-Lagrave right now, he's held off 2 former world champions, Magnus Carlsen and Vishy Anand. So he's yet to lose his match on that Icon board. So he's keeping it solid. And we see our lineup here, the pairings here. Again, coming to the point of the Prodigy board, which has played such a key role in all the matches— Dhaneshwar versus Pranav.

Is there a favorite in that I do think that Pranav is going to be a small favorite on the Prodigy board. I think that he's a much higher rated opponent than Dhaneshwar Bardiya, but Dhaneshwar has been doing really well in the Global Chess League, and he's not going to make it easy for the higher rated opponent Pranav to show his to show his strength there.

I also think that Carissa Yip, you know, she has lost both of her games. I mean, I think she is. The player who has to really strike back, I think to some extent. And same can be said for Wei Yi as well. Even though he's he's extremely solid, but he's not scored any wins. You know, so far just yet. And Pranesh played a fantastic game against Anish Giri with the white pieces on the first round itself. And against Arjun also, he had very good chances. But of course, Arjun is Arjun. But I think overall, it's been a good performance. But I think Karissa, yeah, like if If she can hold off to a draw or if she can win her match, I think that would give, uh, the Mumbai Masters really good chances to prevail.

Look at Viruja here making his way inside the playing hall, playing with his fingers, really, you know, trying to find that rhythm that we are waiting to see from him. That's, uh, the highlight of the Mumbai Masters making their way into the playing hall. A lot of security, a lot of fans for this special team here. And look at Maxime there, he's saying hi guys, he's acknowledging all of his fans there. A very nice moment for them. Harika saying thank you for coming, but I will greet you after the game is done. And Tanya, this match is saved for the last spot of today.

This is going to be a big one, and one of these 2 teams will be able to climb back on the leaderboard and start their campaign at the end of it. Right now both of them with 0 match victories at 0 match points, and we saw Harika in that last frame. Now for years I've been in the same same team with her. Looking at their walking in, you know, this means a lot to her. You could tell she was completely locked in, wants to get her job done on the board, just avoiding any eye contact in that moment. She wants to get into the zone, and that's exactly what's required. Coming to Sahed's point of Karissa Yip, very important for them to have that board show up as well. And right now we've got our teams showing up in the arena, and our Rohi is ready for the walk-in. Over to you, Arohi.

Now this is a race to get some points before day 2 ends of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League Season 4, and one of these teams is going to climb up that leaderboard. What is waiting to be seen is who does that. Well, before that, let's call upon the 2 teams, Trivedi Continental Kings and Czech Mumba Masters. It's time now to introduce the players of the two teams, starting with the Czech Mumba Masters on the icon board. We have. Maxim Vashilagrav, superstar men Praneesh, Shakriyar Mamedyarov, superstar women Harika Dronavalli, Carissa Yip, prodigy boy Bardiya Dhaneshwar, and their coach Surya Shekhar Ganguly. And now give it up for the Triveni Continental Kings. On the icon board, you have Ali Reza Firouzja, superstar man Wei Yi, Arvind Chidambaram, superstar women Zuzina, Alexandra Kostyanuk. And on the Prodigy board, Pranav! With their coach, Luke Van Vaelie! All the best to the 2 teams. You may proceed to shake hands. Ladies and gentlemen, please give it up for the kings and the masters as they take on the center stage. Before the first move, and for the first move, I would like to call upon the tournament director, Mr. Bharat Singh, our chief arbiter, Mr. Girt Bayal, and along with that, our special guest for today, Mr. Aditya Soni. Hello, everyone. Founder and CEO, Czech.

Oh God!

What a nice scene we have here with Aditya Soni coming in to make the move, Tanya. He is the man behind the Czech Mumba Masters. They are the title sponsors, and here he is making a move. A two-time MP champion. Did you know that? He's almost twenty-two hundred FIDE rated. And I think he would really enjoy this battle between MVL and Alireza Firouzja. Tanya, मजे आने वाले हैं ये मैच में। बहुत ज़्यादा। Look at that icon board.

Look at the women superstar boards. And we've got handshakes. We are off for the final battle of day two of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League. And Harika starts with the first knight move coming forward. Ju Jinan ने अपना pawn आगे बढ़ाया है। Harika ने एक एक्सचेंज ऑफर किया है, सागर। I will again want to point out while our focus might be on the icon board, the women superstar board for me will be the key in this match.

Yeah, and I'm actually surprised that Zuzina hasn't particularly been able to strike here. क्योंकि वो इतनी talented है कि मुझे लगता है कि she'll be able to beat just about anyone. But here playing with black against Against Harika is not going to be easy. Harika ने यहाँ Divya को भी हरा दिया है.

पर यू नो सागर जो रूजना की जो opening choice है, जो वो pawn आगे बढ़ चुका है, taking more space. That center black pawn is one of the most aggressive responses to this opening.

Yeah, I mean when you push the pawn here, it's already very double-edged and check दिया गया है. I have a feeling that this game is going to get very exciting. Let's go to another. Women's board, Carissa Yip versus Alexandra Kosteniuk. Oh my God! We have the French defense Winawer variation.

French आ गई है board पे and usually in positions में Kosteniuk को अपने bishop की problem solve करनी होगी that light squared bishop is often the problem child but you get a lot of pawn breaks. एक आ चुका है at some point f pawn आगे बढ़ेगा challenging Carissa center right now. The highlighted pawns that you're talking about, Sagar. Another very double-edged game. This one will be.

I like Costinuk's choice here because she's going for a strategic fight. So कैसे होता है कि Carissa is this young tactical beast and Alexandra is saying धीरे-धीरे खेलेंगे। We'll play like a positional game. Let's see who comes out on top.

You know what that's called, right? Anti-young player chess. Yeah. That you just try to keep it as strategic as possible. Try to draw them into those end games if you can. And Carissa Yip really wants the tactics on the board. We'll see if she manages to create something in this French.

Tanya, look at the time. Carissa is taking so much time. She's a bit confused. क्या मैं Queen g4 खेलू? The aggressive line. क्या मैं h4 खेलू? So many options here.

And for Carissa, it's also a question of confidence. She still hasn't found her form in this tournament. She decides to bring out, go for the most theoretical battle here.

पॉन अटैक था जो कि बचा लिया है अब अलेक्जांड्रा कोस्टिन्यूइक ने विद दैट लास्ट मूव G6 एस वी वेट फॉर आम मेंस सुपरस्टार बोर्ड्स हैज़ बिगन तारिया लेट्स गो सारे लेट्स गो टू बोर्ड नंबर टू फर्स्ट प्रणेश वर्सेस वे ही एंड प्रणेश वर्सेस वे ही ये वाले गेम में भाई प्रणेश यही This simple opening, and then later on actually this is one of the favorite lines of Javokir Sindarov as well. You try for a later d four in this position as white, and मतलब काफी even रहता है, but white gets a small nagging edge.

And ऐसा लगता है काफी closed है symmetrical position लगती है, but the moment a pawn break arrives, that's when the position explodes, and he's setting up that d four idea सागर जो आपने कहा था. पहले अपनी डेवलपमेंट कंप्लीट करते हुए बिशप को बाहर लाते हुए रीनफोर्सिंग नट सेंट्रल स्क्वायर। एब्सोल्युटली। लेट्स लुक एट नाउ द थर्ड बोर्ड। बाय द वे द आइकन बोर्ड इज़ अबाउट टू बिगिन, राइट? एंड वी विल कैच दैट बिगनिंग। आई आल्सो सी द प्रोटेजी बोर्ड इज़ अबाउट टू स्टार Let's go to MBL versus Alireza Firouzja, a battle of two French grandmasters.

French number one versus French number two. बढ़िया यहाँ पर Bangalore में pull and a handshake. Let's go boys.

At the top and the bottom board number one, board number six starting right off there and for Maxime Vachier-Lagrave he starts with the king's pawn opening. Alireza says हम knight off खेलेंगे, हम Sicilian खेलेंगे. Absolutely fearless there. It's going to be fire rooja versus maximum velocity lagrave. M V S. Very nicely put there, Tanya.

And I must say, वो रहता है ना कि अब शेर के मुंह में हाथ डाल रहे हो। This is what Alireza is doing by going for the night off, right?

वो रहता है ना शेर के den में खुद ही जाकर fight कर रहे हो। That is what Alireza is doing. Let's tell everyone, Sagar. That Naidov has been Maxime Vachier-Lagrave's childhood love, childhood love, and often that's the most important one. Correct.

The first love, the first love. He keeps playing that over and over again with black. Or आज MVL white है और फिरूजा कह रहे हैं कि मैं ही ये खेलूँगा black से। I want to challenge you in your own territory.

Exactly, Sagar. And the Naidov is on the board. MVL knows this opening at the back of his hand. What approach will he have to challenge Alireza? Setting up for a long castle here. That last move queen आगे लाते हुए, Alireza says, "I will tempt you further. I will start my pawn storm already on the kingside.

Are you ready to go long castle?" Yeah, I think long castle is the best move. Alireza के last move h5 has stopped MVL's expansion on the kingside. ये game जो होने वाला है ना, ये पूरा दमदार धमाकेदार game होने वाला है. So guys. Fasten your seatbelts if you are in the venue. Just hang on to your headphones. क्योंकि यहाँ पर से बहुत सारे you know exciting tactics आने वाले हैं ये game में। And also the style of these two players is so uncompromising.

Yeah. अगर इनको एक combination sacrifice chance मिला board पे, they will both go for it. Cautious approach is not how they play. And we see the first attacking aggressive move on the board. Knight bar nikla hai, knight age aaya hai and a trade on that d5 square. Sagar, I was going to say that Naidov often revolves around that d5 square. That is the strategic point. Agreed. But now a pawn has landed on that spot.

And Tanya, now white may even castle short and then go for this c4. Rook ko yaha laya hai, dhire dhire. Ye dekhो हमारे पास चार pawn हैं यहाँ पर. Well, as black has only three pawns, so you can actually create a majority.

And I think Maxime completely agrees with that point. Sagar, उन्होंने रुक लिया है वो C pawn के पीछे setting up, x-raying the black queen. Ideas of C four, C five become even more tempting. And I wonder if he's taking it more into a strategic fight because Alireza might feel more uncomfortable in that battle. Agreed.

Playing against his style. I think that's a great Thought by MVL. वो कह रहे हैं कि ज़्यादा complications पे जाऊँगा तो Firuja से, you know the fiery Firuja will make me burn my hands. So let me just play calmly. Let's take it step by step. Tanya, should we move on to the Pranesh versus Vehi? Actually, we saw a bit of that. How about Shakriyar Mamedyarov versus Arvind Chidambaram? Let's see it.

That's another very sharp players right there for the chess. Mumba master Shakriyar Mamedyarov. It has been a bit of an up and down journey so far for him on the board. And Sagar, जो position हमारे पास है, हमारे सामने है। Shakriyar के पास एक pawn है center में, जो कि isolated queen's pawn के जैसे जाना जाता है। Oh man! And that becomes a long term target for Chidambaram. But Shakriyar will try to create kingside attack.

Anja, ये मैं जब मैं छोटा था, I grew up on Such positions, it's called these isolated queen pawn positions. कभी sacrifice यहाँ आ जाता है, कभी ये bishop active हो जाता है, कभी rook ऊपर से यहाँ आ जाता है. It's like a very aggressive position for white.

For Arvind, he will aim at doubling down, tripling down on that pawn. But for shark, he has to bring that shark attack on the pawn. He has to attack.

He has to attack and shark today is in good spirits. क्योंकि उन्होंने उनके student को ही हरा दिया यास कान air dog He beat him today with an excellent game, not a perfect game by any standards, but a fighting game. So इसलिए today I think Arvind has to remain very careful. Shaq has a very cool position, I feel.

And now his last move connects the rooks, finishes development. वो रुक सेंट्रल फाइल में आ सकता है. Things looking like they're about to brew up into a fun middle game for us because बहुत ही ज़्यादा Asymmetry opposition. I agree, I agree.

I am actually excited for this game, Tanya. There's one game that has caught my attention in a way that it seems like very weird to me what's happening. Board number five between Carissa Yip and Costenuk. We spoke about this, you know, strategic way of playing. कि भाई white खेलेगा, black खेलेगा French defense. White will try to play. Positionally, ऐसे. But it seems like Carissa is putting a lot of pressure on Kostyuk.

And what is baffling is that Alexandra की जो last move है, उन्होंने वो H pawn एक step बढ़ाया है. If we just back up one move, Sagar in this position, H six has been played voluntarily giving up the G six pawn. जो उनका pawn उसके साथ में है. After that can be picked up. But what Alexandra is saying, if Grab that pawn twice. My pieces will come out with so much tempo and open lines. And hello, Karissa! Hello, king in the center! Where are you going to finish your development, and when are you going to finish it?

I I think Kostyanyuk is playing with this kind of psychology of Karissaip. And by the way, look at the fans in the in the auditorium. They're must. एकदम they are enjoying themselves. So many people have turned up. Remember. This is the 4th game of the day. It's 8 PM here in India and we have a packed crowd.

It's been a super Sunday here, Sagar. All the action that we've seen, and of course such a heavyweight match at the end. And when I say heavyweight, I'm not talking about the players, but the weight the match carries for these players. I agree, both currently in the last position, yet to get on the leaderboard.

I mean, whoever loses this will have a very tough time to get back to The top two spots. So ये बहुत ही important game है. It's one of the most critical games of this entire tournament. Even you can say from the qualification perspective. So players have to peak right now. They have to play. And oh my god! Let's go to board number three. Something insane has happened. Arvind Chidambaram played the most unbelievable move, Tanya. Bishop c six.

And Sagar, all those sacrifices that you were talking about. That bishop move has made the pawns on the right side very vulnerable. Exactly. He completely forgot about that.

I don't know what Arvind is thinking about because he didn't think.

He didn't think before this move. Can Shark?

I mean, Shark will play this in his sleep. He will play it in his sleep. He'll be like, "Ha, क्या हुआ position?" Knight takes f and boom! He sacrifices his knight, guys. And look at Arvind there.

Arvind is like, "What the hell am I doing?" He cannot believe that he just allowed this. This is the most thematic sacrifice in this position. And जैसे आपने बोला, Shakriyar will not blink twice to take that pawn. This is his bread and butter. These sacrifices is what he lives for. He's played them five thousand times in his life. वो pawn चला गया है. E six का pawn next जाने वाला है. And essentially, Arvind Chidambaram Has gifted him a massive advantage in one move. Huge, Tanya.

You said bread and butter. If we are in Bangalore, what is the bread and butter version of it? Penedosa, maybe.

Oh, I don't know. I don't know. Penedosa.

या फिर some kind of rice. Guys, you may know it. You can write to us in the chat कि भाई क्या होता है वो staple food यहाँ पर in Bangalore. But think about it. If you take with the root I'll simply play queen takes e six. ये मर रहा है। What do you do? I mean, you save it queen e eight, but then I simply take this bishop.

ये पूरा फस गया है। इतने सारे pins हैं on the board. You pin it and you win it. The rook cannot move. The king is behind it. Sagar and Arvind is realizing all this, but too late. You know, these are the kind of sacrifices which it's almost impossible to come back unless Shock makes a. One move blunder, right? He's gifted him a game point.

I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if Arvind just resigns here. It's gone to that stage.

Team championship na Sagar.

नहीं करना चाहिए। नहीं करना। बैठे रहना चाहिए। बैठे रहो भाई। You can sit there for. But I think on the board all the teammates would see. Also Arvind, I mean he's looking at the board. He's not too happy. Okay, let's say what whatever happens. But I'm pretty sure check Mumbai Masters get those valuable three points in this game.

मुझे लगता है वो मिलने ही वाले Adriel, and especially for a player like Shakriyar, who is so strong in these attacks. I also want to quickly show that अगर king बाहर आता है, तो वो और भी बाहर आएगा. After that bishop captures that central pawn with a check, and you don't have the time to retreat. The pieces are in the center. Deep on आगे बढ़ने वाला है. Sagar, it just feels like black long-term suffering here.

This king is going for a walk. You know, Tanya, I went to the For a walk today to Cubbon Park in the morning. Very beautiful, by the way. But it feels like it's just started to rain and the king has no umbrella. It's it's so bad. No shelter. No shelter here. King on G six. Terrible. So but firbi, I think Arwin might take with the king. It's slightly more complex than rook takes, but he'll lose.

This is my feeling. Very tough board for the Triveni Continental Kings, which kind of. It just ripples through the team now. Yeah, the pressure rises on every single board early on, Sagar.

I agree with you, Tanya, and I think this is real pressure now for the Triveni Continental Kings. Because if you think about it, if we can get the 6 boards on the screen and try to give you a small summary of what's happening in this matchup, uh, you will see that on this board, white is better.

Maybe we can have the six boards, and we've got the evaluation bars telling us that same story.

You want to point out? Yeah, it's there already. Yes, there we have it. So Tanya, board number one small edge for MVL. Correct. That's good news for Czech Mumba Masters. Board number two equal. No problem. Board number three game over. Shakriyar is better. Game number four slightly better for Harika. Game number five. Better for Karissa. Yep, game number six. Maybe this is the game on which Pranav Venkatesh has to strike with black for Triveni Continental Kings.

With the black pieces, the position that we have, our bottom left board की बात कर रहे हैं यहाँ पे दो minor pieces already exchange हो चुके हैं। White का knight center पे है। Pranav will have to fight it out for a win because trouble on all the other boards. But does he have enough to make something of this position? F pawn को आगे जाने दो, रुक को लाओ game में। कुछ जादू तो प्रणव को करना होगा इधर। प्रणव will have to do it for his team.

But let's go to the icon board now. MVL versus Firouzja is what we are going to focus upon. यहाँ पर, Tanya, I think very enjoyable position for white. ये देखो, he pushes his pawn, he opens up the He's saying that your pawn on H5 is better. It looks really good. And by the way, you can see there we have the CEO of the Mumba Masters team. You know, he's the guy behind the Mumba Masters team, Suhail, there. You know, he's calm there, he's looking at the match, but deep within he should be pleased right now. His team is doing really well.

He wants his team to win right now. They are yet to get a match point going. Very important for those top 2 finishes. You know, so Hale's a man who's super proud of his players, but then you you want them to feel good. And Sagar, in a tournament, you lose the first match. You know, you start feeling that's fine. It's just started. You lose a second match. You start doubting yourself. But when you lose three in a row, it's so easy to go on a tilt.

Yeah, yeah. Third loss in a row is not something that either of these teams want. Bishop G5, a wonderful move by Alireza. Remember, if you go and take. This pawn यहाँ पर आपकी रानी मर रही है। You cannot do that.

रानी से खत्म हुई कहानी। That you cannot play at all. Yeah.

So as of now, let's see what MVL does. He plays knight b five and he's trying to eye this pawn. छोटा सा advantage है white को। We'll see where this builds up, Tanya. Do we want to draw our attention to that game of Shakriyar and Arvind? Because there's only one thing that's happening there.

And it's the most decisive position we have, Sagar. Let's go straight back to that. Arvind is frozen on his board.

He took it. He took with the king. Bishop takes आगे है भाई बारिश शुरू हो चुकी है। King को भागना पड़ेगा। You can run but you cannot hide in this position.

Arvind के clock पे problem, position पे problem. The king moves forward. Shakriya looking for those patterns जहाँ पे ये checkmate deliver कर सकते हैं। सागर क्या वो किंग, वो बिशप को खाने वाला है?

अभी तो किंग कितना खाएगा भाई? इतना खा के एक तो बारिश आ रही है, फिर आप खाना खाने के लिए रुक जाओ। बारिश में जो खाने का मजा है। इतना मजा नहीं है तानिया। You're going to get trapped there. You're going to get trapped. This is not looking good for Arvind. But small question here for Shark now. What does he do? How does he checkmate this king?

I want to point out one idea, a defensive resource that Arvind has. Everyone watching should pay attention to अगर अरविंद को दो moves यहाँ दिए गए, h pawn एक step आगे करो सागर और king को hide कर दो h seven पर and then suddenly if you are Shakriyar Mamedyarov, if you are not checkmating that black king, you are down a piece.

कुछ भी हो जाएगा Shakriyar ये king को भागने नहीं देगा that much I know I mean that's his basic instinct to attack he's made a small inaccuracy he should have maintained the tension with h four But it's still a clear advantage for white.

One thing that is in Arvind's favour is that notice that the white queen है वो किसी भी घर से check नहीं दे सकती थी on the diagonal. Correct. E4 control, D3 control, C2 control.

Everything is controlled here by either the knight or the bishop. So no checks are possible. As of now, he's simply taken bishop takes knight and Arvind has to respond.

भाई, a fourth check becomes possible after this trade. What Shakriyar has done is bishop takes knight. उन्होंने अपना bishop बचाया और वो कह रहे हैं मेरा queen का path खुल गया है not giving Arvind his king the time to escape सागर। या वो क्या आपने गाना गाया अभी you can run but you cannot hide क्या था?

You can run but you can't hide। नहीं यहाँ पे बोले ना कुछ तो you said I think कुछ होटल कैलिफोर्निया का गाना है। You can check out anytime you want, but you cannot leave. I think the king is going to get cannot leave from here. So the thing is, this is looking bad, right? But look at this one, Tanya. Board number four, Harika Katarika is working once again. Harika is better against Zuzhiner and very clearly. She has this amazing pawns in the center.

Beautiful, and the pawns are ready to move forward. The mobility on those pawns is so high—not easy to block, Sagar. कर दिया block.

Rooks ते तो लाया है.

अब तानिया कैसे unblock करे? You can double down on that idea, Sagar. Also another weakness and a way to double down: put your rook on that b-file at the right moment. Oh nice! Hit on b7. Bring the rook up to destabilize the queen, and you're pointing out a big weakness at the center of the board. Is Harika going to get greedy, or will she try to push the c pawn?

वो रहता है ना the name of the team is Check Mumba Masters. हाँ. So should she kind of check out right now? Like you know कि कि capitalize कर लो कि I'm going to win a pawn, or she says अभी check out नहीं अभी और खेलना है. I want to play more. I don't want to win the pawn because guys look at This take, take, take, take. Pawn up है भाई। And a healthy pawn up, right?

You still have ideas of the attack on the b7 pawn. Right. Rooks are in here between. Sundar. Such a harika kind of position as well.

No risk. Risk free. She loves it. And something's going wrong with Zuzhina here. I think if you look at it, Tanya, Zuzhina not in form. Arvind blundering here. Something's going wrong with the Triveni Continental Kings.

सागर, we've been talking about the domination that the kings have had for three seasons. They have been in 100% finals of the Global Chess League, and here they are winless.

Yeah. So far. Maybe this might be the third loss in a row because they are worse on four boards. That's not a small thing.

They are fighting from the bottom. This is not a position they are used to at all. So something is not working, सागर. But I want to go back to that Arvind board. Has he managed to make something work for his own king, or do the troubles continue there as the clock goes tick-tock? 7 minutes for Arvind Chidambaram. 7 minutes.

But right now it's Mahmed Yaro's time to think. You can look at him, guys. The thing about good players is कि वो जो right moment आता है न तब सोचते हैं। जो players अच्छे नहीं होते who are you know still improving, they think at the wrong moments. You can see Shark knows. That if this moment I don't make a good move, then Tanya's idea of the king running away and hiding itself will become very powerful, and white could even lose the game.

Exactly. It's Bhag Arvind Bhag right now for that king, but Mamedyarov cannot give him the time to achieve that. And Sagar, you've got one check on G four. Of course, Shark sees that check. He's trying to see the follow up. कि क्वीन जब वहाँ लैंड करेगी, ब्लैक का किंग जब साइड पे जाएगा, can I continue the attack?

That's a good question. Check दिया है, किंग यहाँ जाएगा, and I think शाक is thinking रुक को ऊपर लाते हैं, checkmate करते हैं। And the problem in this position will be the other idea.

G pawn को एक स्क्वायर पुश करो, किंग को भागो from the dark squares। तानिया, are you a defensive expert यहाँ पे? ये क्या तुम defence कर रही हो tremendous defence and it's losing suddenly भाई ये नहीं हुआ है दोस्तों I'll come back to the live board shark is thinking the position is better all the Czech Mumbai Masters fans if they just join in they'll be like भाई क्या हो गया ये हमारा piece कहाँ गया हमारे player का but that hasn't happened Shakriya और Mamedyarov ने quick round up piece sacrifice किया है to get Arvind's king out get him in a kill zone To try to checkmate him, and he's trying to calculate where does that checkmate exist. Speaking of check Mumba Masters, let's go to our icon board. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave versus Alireza Firouzja.

You know, Tanya, मुझे ऐसे लग रहा है कि somehow ये जो pawns हैं ना, it's like a chattan. It's like a mountain in the position. It's kind of dividing black's camp into two. यहाँ पर रुक थोड़ा अटका पड़ा है, यहाँ पर ये लोग अटके पड़े हैं। There's no coordination between the pieces. Meanwhile, white के pieces are working on both sides. ये देखो रुक्स beautiful, knight amazing, queen can also enter this way, this way.

क्या ही सुंदर position है MVL के लिए। It feels like all the trumps are there for only the white pieces in this one. While for Alireza there's no coordination of pieces like you rightly pointed out. You know the armies are completely split for black in this side of the position. You don't have any pawn breaks. White has a better pawn structure with two pawn islands. Al Reza has three, which means more weaknesses for him as well. As we see the actions not only on in our arena but behind in our fan zone as well.

Dosto, after you finish the game, all those who are sitting in the audience, you know, you can come to the fan zone. There are chess sets. If you are inspired by Shakriyar Mamedyarov's sacrifice. Or if you are inspired by how Alireza Firouzja is playing here, or MVL, do come and join us here in the fan zone. It's a beautiful space, very lively.

And space is the problem in Alireza's position right now, Sagar. He is struggling for it. White का जो center d5 pawn है, जो Maxime ने ले रखा है, is really killing the action.

And we have Pavel Trigubov there. there in the audience. He is the better half of Alexandra Kosteniuk, who's playing for the Triveni Continental Kings. He's a bit worried. Let's go to that game to see what's happening in Alexandra's board. It is not a great position for Black right now, Tanya. Look at the White rooks who have just started putting pressure on b7. Bishops are well placed.

Alexandra has to find some way To create some imbalance, it's like white has managed to get all the attack in. Black hasn't even started on the right side of the board. जब opposite side castling होती हैं सागर, it becomes a race to each other's king. And like you pointed out, white already has a big threat. The move highlighted in blue currently, the rooks doubled up. Rook takes pawn. Yes, is coming up.

You have to put your knight behind to defend it, but that's a little bit too passive. You have to do it.

And then you're already looking at some sacrifices on a6, Sagar. Bishop takes pawn idea, rook coming in.

That's a great point.

I'm not sure if it works, but it looks very scary in this position. I agree.

The only way in which Alexandra can survive here is through tenacious defense. She mustn't give up. She should keep fighting, and if she does that, maybe she'll be rewarded. Let's see if that happens or not, Tanya.

But Sagar, that means that the Trevini Continental Kings are Feeling the heat on every single board.

Not really, Tanya. Let's go to board number two because this is where the real hope for the Triveni Continental Kings lies. Pranesh versus Wei. Wei is saying, "Ruko zara sabar karo." I am there. I am the silent assassin of the team. He's got his rook here. He's got the bishop knight. Dूसरा रुक आ रहा है.

Wei is saying, "I'll find." I'll show the way for my team right here. And again, a win with the black points comes with that one extra point. You know, you get four points for a win there. Rook, like you said, is ready to jump on again. More active pieces for Wei Yi in this one. But Sagar, he has to finish this off. He has to convert. जो भी थोड़ा advantage है इस position में and Pranesh isn't going to make that easy.

What tricky है Pranesh is the trickiest. He is the best person out there. It's not easy to beat him. You have to play carefully.

And Pranesh's MVP in this position, the most valued piece, is that knight in the center of the board.

Too good.

It is not only an attacker but a beautiful defender. You know, it is cutting off, blunting the black queen, stopping the rook from lining up against the white king, defending that f2 square, protecting the g5 square. He makes another defensive move, gets the king to the side away from the open diagonal. Pranesh is not going to let this conversion be easy.

So, so Tanya, hope here for Triveni Continental Kings. Yes. And another hope is the prodigy board. You can see here it's the game between Dhaneshwar Bardia and Pranav V. This is where Pranav is hoping that my central majority is going to help here because white's queenside majority is a bit crippled. ये थोड़े doubled pawns हैं वो आसानी से आगे नहीं बढ़ेंगे। शायद मैं यहाँ पर अपने ओपोनेंट को हरा सकता हूँ। One thing is clear, even if this position remains in balance, he has to play this out till the end. Yes, खेलते रहो, play for two hundred moves, don't go home.

नहीं, आज रात का डिनर cancelled and you just keep fighting this out, make your opponent sweat. It's not just your board, it gives hope to the other boards as well, to your teammates as well. So Pranesh has to continue. I think he brought his king out. Very important to play with every single piece, including your king. For white, I will point out that for Dhaneshwar, that a-file being open, yes, he can think about putting some pressure on that a7 pawn at the right moment. Agreed, agreed.

Can we have the six boards once again, Tanya? I want to kind of drop a strategy here for both sides. What are they looking forward to at almost? This kind of important moment in this match. So if we can get the six boards, I think if you are a Trivani Continentals fan, you know Trivani Continental King fan, you want Alireza Firouzja to hold on board one against Maxime. If we can get the six boards, that would be really amazing. By the way, here B four, you want Pranav Venkatesh to fire. You want on board. You can see first board draw. On second board, you want Wei to win. On the sixth board, you want Pranav Venkatesh to win. But now look at boards 3, 4, and 5. The white bars have climbed in each of these games, Tanya. It looks impossible to salvage those positions.

It almost feels like a point of no return where we see the white advantage there, right? Top right, bottom center, bottom left board there. A miracle is what the players need. Harika has an extra pawn on the board. Karissa Yip there with the white pieces is putting pressure on the black queen and the black king. And that top right board has Shakran Mamedyarov managed to checkmate the king? Not yet, Sagar. Let's deep dive into that one.

Blackboard number three. I'm amazed that Arvind Nappnar Rooko यहाँ पे D four center में लेके आया। Where the hell did that rook come from?

You know, you look at this position. If one hasn't been following it, and this is where they join in. किसार ये king G सिक्स पे है, रुकने कोर पे है। इस सब फ्री स्टाइल चेस। It really feels like that and it all comes down to one opening mistake that Arvind made which allowed a big sacrifice from Shak. But is there a knockout blow in this position? Is the big question. No, Tanya.

Actually, it's very not so simple. But the point is this rook is creating a lot of problems in the center. So just trade it off. Like play rook d1, take this, take this, and then later on with your superior pieces you will win. Let's see if Shaq kind of understood this fact. No, he plays pawn to f4. Is Arvind going to save this? I mean, that would be the biggest save ever.

Huge moment right now for Arvind, who's hanging by a thread in this position. The idea of this move is bishop हटाओ, attack लगाओ. Once the bishop gets out of the way, the white queen comes forward and starts giving some devastating checks, Sagar.

Yeah, but the king will still step aside. It's still not so clear, Tanya. कि कैसे मेट होगा? कहाँ से मेट होगा? Where is the dark square piece who's going to finally deliver that check? मजेदार गेम है यार. It is so good.

This is fantastic. But I have an idea that I want to show in this position. You know, Sagar, just to throw the dangers that are there. The white queen can continue checking, and the problem is अगर कोई bishop block करता है वो piece मर जाएगा। अगर king भागता है the pawn comes into the attack। ये तो mate हो रहा है। तो कहाँ मतलब this is decisive कि क्या?

Oh you have the bishop to block. Okay okay bishop है। अच्छा आप g four भी खेलोगे?

Crazy threatening a checkmate. Crazy crazy pressure भाई चार minutes से कम है clock में for Arvind Chidambaram. सागर I'll say one thing if he survives this This game, I think it'll be a turnaround in the match. Triveni Continental Kings will get the confidence to come right back. Shakriyar for the Mumbai Masters has to finish this off. You know what?

Shakriyar turned around a completely losing position in the morning against Herdogmus. Yeah, and now it's maybe going the other way. But okay, let's not speak too soon. One thing that's going well for the Triveni Continental Kings, you can see from the bar, was equal position for MVL Firuja. But no, things changed on the last move. It was this position, Tanya. It was equal almost. He had to keep the queens, but Firouzja somehow blunders. Queen e5, take, take, and now completely winning position for MVL because of the passer. The passer—

it is 4 versus 2 on one flank and 4 versus 2 on the other side as well. सागर व्हाट फिरूजा इज़ रिलायिंग ऑन वो कह रहे हैं आपका डी पॉन आगे आ रहा है मेरा किंग बीच में आ रहा है टू स्टॉप दैट। but तानिया there are more things first of all I may not even push the pawn I'll simply bring my knight back and win the pawn. oh that is a killer सागर that is a killer move a pawn loss in this will be decisive and that a pawn जो बहुत आगे बढ़ चुका है has see ya later I'm out of here written all over it.

Yeah, well, bad things that are happening here for Alireza Firouzja. MVL is not going to let this position, uh, you know, remain because he has 7 minutes as well. So MVL better. Let's go to one game that is Harika Zuzhina because Harika is finishing off the game in style, man.

Harika is In such good shape. Fantastic chess wins the first round against Divya Deshmukh. You know, she's the one player who's been with the Mumbai Masters from the start, from season one of the Global Chess League alongside Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. These two players have always been retained in the team, and I think she's showing exactly why. Sagar, her style of play is so controlled. She's up a pawn right now. No danger of an attack. Nice move.

Nice. Nice move, setting up the pressure here. Tanya also looking at f7.

Sundar, too good. Hits the knight in no happy way. Sagar, there's also this feeling that the moment that c pawn pushes one step forward, deflecting that black rook.

Oh yes, oh yes, Tanya, look at this. If I go back, yes, there's c5, and if you take, queen takes, I will take, take, and then This pawn which was hanging, and not just that pawn, Sagar.

You have a deep passer B seven का pawn जाने वाला है। आपका knight क्या ही कर रहा है? It is landed on the starting square of the game right now. This would be a lost endgame, and Eugenia's clock goes red. She's under a minute. She's under a minute.

She's losing. But Tanya, one person who's made a comeback for the Triveni Continental Kings is Alexandra Costenio. Look at this position. It's equal now. Alexandra saying, "I'm the chess queen. I'm not so easy to you know beat just like that." She has now good chances.

Look at those pieces, and the queens are off the board. But like you said, for Costinui, it is the minor pieces complete central hold, and White Ka Jo E five pawn here is a weakness.

You can even take it right now. It might be possible to just capture it, but she could even let it be because you don't want to give open files to the rook.

But Sagar, one rook is missing. I just want to point that out. Actually, Kostinoyuk is down an exchange in this position. She has one knight and a pawn for a rook, right? But it is the fact that sari files block ho chuki hai white ke rook ke liye. Alexandra Kostinoyuk is trying to destroy the pawn structure further in this position. In control with strategic compensation.

I agree. I agree. This is getting very wild. Should we go to the game of Shakriyar and Arvind?

Let's do that before we circle back to our icon board, Sagar. As now it's not just trouble on the board, but trouble on the clock as well, bhai.

Oh! Why? ये क्या move कर दिया Arvind ने? He blocked with his bishop. He's saying that if you take here, I'm ready to go into this endgame and try to defend. And look at this, Tanya. It's actually a defensible endgame. Knight c2, you get the exchange back. Wow!

This would be the best position Arvind has had all game. I am not expecting Shakriya to trade queens here. सागर जब आपका opponent का king इस position में होता है, इस situation में होता है, you don't let it escape with a queen trade.

I agree. But Tanya, जिस तरह से Arvind is giving this defense, थोड़ा तो Shak को tension बढ़ रहा है. You know he's like Like why is my opponent not kind of yielding?

He's fighting on and on. Why is he not giving up? बस कर भाई, but Arvind is a fighter. He will play this out till the end. I think practically he's found some very creative defensive ideas. Rook को D four पे बैठा के blocking the check with the bishop, and we see a decision there. Oh my! This is Shakriyar is getting more firepower.

Shak is like you know ये एक boil बॉट है इसके अंदर थोड़े वेजिटेबल्स हैं मैं और डालता हूँ मैं और इंग्रेडिएंट्स डालता हूँ देखते क्या होता है एंड अरविंद गोज बिशप H five एंटानिया only two moves now are good either you take the bishop or you push the pawn nothing else is good enough so शाक्रियार has to make a pawn move he has to make a move with the g pawn he has to touch the g pawn and then he can do whatever otherwise अरविंद is right back in the game Yes, exactly. Big moment.

He does. He takes it. Sagar, that hand movement was pawn takes bishop. It arrives. Arvid instantly responds with the knight fork coming in. But I think the problem is not the two rooks but the black king.

Oh, and we have a huge result here on the icon board. MVL, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, has beaten Alireza Firouzja. The central pawns are rushing forward. Tanya, three nil. Victory for I mean three-nil lead, and we also have Harika Dronavali winning on the fourth board. It's six-nil for the Czech Mumbai Masters.

Unbelievable! That is a massive score, which means Trivani Continental Kings are in big pressure. And Shakriyar Mahamedyarov is he about to take that to nine-nil next? Is this going to be absolute destruction on the board? Harika gets it down. Maxime gets it down. Sagar, make a case for the Triveni Continental Kings. Where are they fighting back? I don't think it's going to be this board.

I think this board is lost. No, Arvind is losing here. He— but let's stick here because if he takes either of the rooks, Tanya, knight-queen check and you lose your rook as well.

And look at the way that white bishop is stopping any queen trade on the g-file. Queen g8, no trades. The attack will live on right now. But Shakriyar Mamedyarov has to make a move. The knight is under fire. वो central घोड़ा आपको हटाना होएगा। But कहाँ? Where should we go?

Knight d6 and take the pawn. Oh, and we have a huge result. Carissa Yip has lost her game, which means that Alexandra Kosteniuk has gotten four points for the Triveni Continental Kings. We were speaking about Nastanya that she's fighting back. Score is. Six four, six four now.

Match is very close. Suddenly six four striking back is Karissa Yip right there and Sagar. We've got Costinwe from a difficult position. Oh man! Oh man!

And by the way, now only move knight takes pawn for Shakriyar Mamedyarov and he takes it beautifully.

Completely winning for Shakriyar right now. What a conversion he's shown so far. Rook चला गया है पर ये रुक अंदर आने वाला है. Rook e six will be a devastating check. King or आगे जाते हैं और a checkmate board pawn takes bishop queen takes pawn would have been game over. Shakriya wrapping it up in style, Sagar.

Two words for this: it was a shark attack here. Shark attack! What a game! Which means nine four is the score. But Tanya, the match is far from over. Why? Because Wei on board number two is better again. प्रणेश एंड प्राणव ऑन बोर्ड सिक्स इज़ बेटर अगेंस्ट दानेश्वर बाडिया ट्रिवेनी कंटिनेंटल किंग्स कैन विन दिस एंड तू डू दैट दे नीड टू विन विथ ब्लैक ऑन बोथ बोर्ड्स बोथ बोर्ड्स दे नीड टू विन हियर एंड व्हाट ओह हियर एंड देर हार्ट अटैक आ गया मुझे सागर अभी नहीं टू अर्ली Yeah, let's stick here. Twenty six seconds. White king unsafe king.

King safety is everything in these positions. And there we have Wei Yi striking with that H pawn, trying to open up the lines.

He can take here, but then the queen will take it. Seventeen seconds for Pranesh here. Knight G three खेल चुके हैं वो। And and now it's Wei Yi on the think.

We can see it. It's his clock running. So he hasn't yet made a decision.

Oh my Wei Yi का time Can we? He takes, takes. Can we go to the other main view?

Attacks the queen right now, does Wei Yi. And we see the queen has just moved ahead, and an immediate capture. Bishop takes knight. Minor pieces are off the board. How do you find that attack? It's still the dangers are still there. Sagar White was threatening a check on F7. जो Wei Yi ने रोक लिया है. अगर ये draw होता है, the check Mumbai Masters will take the match win. They will win it.

And so Wei Yi looked up at the screen. He has only three seconds. He might lose on time.

Trivendranath.

He might lose the match.

Continental Kings has to find a way to fight in this match. Will he find a way, Sagar? Where does it exist? I'm not sure.

Not sure. I think Pranesh has played this really well. Check. Oh, Queen f4 only move. No, he blunders! I think not yet, not yet. Rook g5. Wait, taking insane risk, Tanya. King ko upar leke aaya hai woh.

Has to. It is the team talking the game right now. The rook attacks the queen. And it's all about the nerves. Sagar with seconds on the clock, expect lot of twists and turns right now. Gives another check, trying to get the king forward into the game.

Check, check, check.

चल रहा है यहाँ पर। Bye, check, check, check. देते रहो इस check. Mumbai Masters, a draw is enough. That's all you need to clutch the match victory if you're Pranesh. Yeah, and Pranesh is repeating.

He knows a draw is going to get his team the victory. And it's a draw! It's a draw! Wei goes for a draw. No way! Wei! Goes for a draw. Tanya, that's over.

Sagar, in that final position, it was either between a loss or a draw. The king could not hide anymore for the black pieces, had to go for repetition, no other option. And Pranesh puts the clincher in the bag for the Czech Mumba Masters.

Wow, so the Czech Mumba Masters score their first win of the Global Chess League 2026. The score now is 10-5, and even if Pranav wins this game, which is possible because he's better, it would only lead to 10-9 score.

And that has been the story for Triveni Continental Kings. While they've managed to get the game points, the conversion has been a problem. And right now they are about to deal with 3 losses. Yeah, in a row.

It's insane that that is happening to such a strong team, but that's the nature of the league. The league is such that all teams are so Anyone can keep losing, but that also means that the Triveni team can come back, Tanya. They are not completely out of the tournament. It's going to be very tough, but think about it. If they win 6 out of their 7 matches still left, they'll be there at the top 2 spots.

They can do it, but time is running out for them. But not long ago, previous season, Alpine Vipers did just that. From the bottom of the leaderboard, from struggling at the start, they went on to win the championship. Triveni Continental Kings will have to start on the leaderboard tomorrow. Very well could be a do or die, go big or go home day for them. This one, Dhaneshwar about to lose. Yeah, but it's not enough, Sagar. It's not enough.

It's not going to be enough. It's not at all going to be enough. He takes it here. Pawn takes. Kudos to Pranav for actually creating so many chances here. But Tanya, this does remind me a little bit of the season 1, Triveni Continental Kings were like down and out and then won the championship, right?

Right now it feels like a very faraway dream, but like you said, nothing is impossible here at the Global Chess League. By the way, Naneswar isn't making life too easy. He is putting pressure, but again, the black rook and the king will assist that b-pawn to move forward up the board, which will be enough to secure the win. You get the king to assist, you keep pushing that pawn, and white Too slow on the other side.

Exactly, and so Pranav is going to score this win for the Triveni Continental Kings. But the Czech Mumba Masters have got it, have got it in their control. If we can look at the crowd, maybe just to see the mood there, I think the the Czech Mumba Masters going to celebrate. And by the way, the king is just too far behind, Tanya. The pawn is too far behind. The black king is just coming into the game, and it's going to be winning.

Just in time, getting the black king all the way to the other side. The white pawn needs to be far up the board for this to end in a draw. And at the end, Buddy Pranav gets the win. But the Triveni Continental Kings go down for a third time in the row, and the first win for the Czech Mumba Masters. Ten nine. Time up.

Ten nine. What a close match, right, Tanya? But I. Kudos to Shakriyar Mamedyarov for playing an insanely good game, and also to MVL to beat Fiery Firouzja. That was incredible. And Harika Katarika continues. She wins her 2nd game out of 3.

The veterans of the Czech Mumba Masters show exactly why they are on the team with that win. You know, for MVL, he said to Alireza, not on my terms. Not in my territory, not in an Eid-off, not today.

Exactly, yeah. Well, you could see the Triveni Continental Kings, their team was kind of bit— I mean, they would be upset for sure, but at the same time, Tanya, I do see the fact that they gave a very tough fight. It could have gone either way. It was just a question of Wei converting that slightly better position he had But there wasn't any chance. And you can see Alireza Firouzja there talking to the coach Luke Van Veli. He was like, yeah, I should have played better. I shouldn't have lost my game. It's always a question. Look at Arvind there. Arvind is so upset. Zoujinar, you can't even kind of recognize them. It's brutal, Tanya. It's brutal, this format.

Sagar, last season it was a completely different picture, a movie for Triveni Continental Kings. It was always high fives, big big smiles at the end in the dugout. And right now, so far, it has been a struggle as we go over to the stage.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

Um, if I can, uh, uh, announce the winners for tonight's contest. By a score of 10 points to 9, the winners were Czech Mamba Masters. If I can ask please the captains of the 2 teams, Mamba Masters and Triveni— Czech Mamba Masters and Triveni Continental Kings to come to the stage.

If I can ask the captains to come to the stage. Yeah, the entire day a little bit. Just talk standing. Shake hands and then sign the forms.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

And we start again tomorrow with game 9.

And a smile there on Suryashaker Ganguly's face, and a smile on us here as well as Ketty joins us for our wrap-up show. Ketty, that was an absolute nail-biter of a match. It was. And you guys, I was just sitting right here and hearing your commentary, and I was like, whoo! It was so hyped and the games were just amazing. I, I loved Shakriyar's—

Yeah, beautiful game.

Start of the attack and the checkmate was incredible. And you guys, have you, have you noticed that today he has extra 3 minutes in both of his matches on the clock?

I, I think Shaq having extra time is not very surprising. Yeah, he's so quick, right, Ketty? He's so good. And today these 2 Sets him up in such good spirits because he lost to Vidit yesterday, and then these 2 wins means now he's back. And there you see the Czech Mumbai Masters team, like, Harika is like, I'll come back, I'll come back, don't worry, today I'm here for you guys. My team has won.

As she usually has done it for the Czech Mumbai Masters. And to your point, for Shakriyar getting 2 out of 2 in crazy battles, but it really felt like Arvind's game to lose. An early blunder and never got the chance to get out with that king at the end. Beautiful checkmate, like you pointed out there, Ketti. But talk to me about what magic Maxime created against Alireza. Yeah, you know what? Like he—I don't know. Can I say outplayed Alireza in that game? That's the game I want to study. I want to watch again what happened there because. What was the? What was the mistake by Ali Reza? I just don't know.

But playing the Nightdorf was the mistake, Katie.

Anish, if Anish is listening there, he'll question mark your statement.

No, I mean when you play Nightdorf with MBL, he's such a big expert.

You know, we had these two teams walk in and it almost felt like the day you need to get off on the leaderboard. Both of them struggling at. 5th and 6th, winless before the start of this match. We saw the handshakes happen, and Sagar, a fight on every single board, but it came down to this icon board. And as Ketty pointed out, you know, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave said, you can play the Najdorf against anyone but not me, buddy.

And by the way, we saw that the first move was made by, uh, the owner of Czech, and I think it's so fitting that his team won. Uh, so it's kind Nice feeling there.

Lots of turnarounds in this one, a roller coaster of a match. And on the Prodigy board, even though the Triveni Continental Kings got a win, not enough right there. And for the Czech Mumba Masters, you know, all it takes, Ketty, is one win to turn the storyline around. Exactly. And even though this, this is the match that they have already lost, this is GCL, and so far all this is Since we have seen turnaround in the last round, every point matters here, and I love that they are fighting us at the last. Like, they are fighting for each point. Yeah, I agree. You know what I love is seeing our fans in the arena right there as they're listening to us, enjoying the games. And what a turnaround that match was between— continuing, as we see the scramble there on the pieces, and eventually it was Shakriyar Mamedyarov who in the These last moments delivered a checkmate and a handshake and a win for him.

Beautiful, beautiful finish there. And look at the crowd; they were so happy, so elated to see such a close and amazing match. I think at the end of the day, that's what you want. You know, paisa wasul. What is that? Paisa wasul is getting your money's worth. Can you say that? पानीस्ता वसुल. Let's go. Close enough.

I think by the end of. We will get there. But the question is, when will the Triveni Continental Kings get there? Ketti, how do they reset this as we finally see the smiles on the Mumbai Masters? Yeah, these 2 teams, they basically had zero victories so far, right? And Triveni is the only team so now at this point that has not scored victory, but they have such a huge support here, right? You can see they're so well prepared. They have mascot as well walking around and jokes and like makes photos with the people. And, you know, some kind of support at these difficult moments are so important for the players. And I'm certain they will start to win. And when they will start to score, it will be—

They'll be unstoppable. Yeah. Once they begin.

We don't know yet.

One step at a time. I say you first need one win to get on the leaderboard. But the problem for the Triveni Continental Kings, I think, has to be Alireza Firouzja's form right now. Yeah. And Sagar, that was the defining storyline for them last season.

I think 2 players, Sujaner and Alireza Firouzja, both are actually not striking. And when you have 2 players who are not doing well, it's trouble time. Because last year they had Vidit in their team who wasn't doing so well, but the rest were playing so excellently. But when you have 2 players, it's actually going to be a problem.

Yes, they need to do some, some team activities, some, some—

What do you suggest?

Maybe they can, they can have a nice dinner together or play some game, some activity. That really helps too many teams, as I know.

I think that's a good idea. I think doing something in Bangalore, like maybe even a trip to Mysore, which is like 2 and a half hours away, go there and come back.

Maybe too much.

Yeah. Too much, maybe. Well, you gotta mix it up. You gotta change something if you're the Triveni Continental Kings. I'm expecting them to sit down, have a big meeting tonight, and come up with a new plan, a new strategy. They need to find a way to win tomorrow. Ketti, you know, you've been calling the action on our other stream as well. We saw you interacting with the fans. You've been in the arena. We had 4 blockbuster matches today. What has been the highlight of the day for you? Okay, the victory. Oh. Victory of Shakir is like I think will live in my brain for a long time. Bishop G6 checkmate in the end. It was a beautiful one. I have to point out the brilliant move of Nino Batsyashvili, 97 against Carissa that brought actually PBG Askan Knight very important first victory. That's something that I I recall now. On the spot, and honestly, it can never go wrong. Carlson versus Janne Povnishi—that was the really nice game. Oh, it's been so much action, and the last action that we just saw had Mumbai Masters take down the Triveni Continental Kings, and we've got Arohi to reveal the player of the match. Let's go!

Hello and welcome to the post-match presentation for the final game of day two at the Tech Mahindra Global. Chess League Season Four. Now this one was very important because both the teams were fighting for the first points that they could add to their tally on the leaderboard. And finally, we have the Czech Mumbai Masters who've added some points to the tally. Well, we have the player of the match, but to give away the award, please let us call upon our dignitary, Mr. Piyush Dubey, Tech Mahindra Global Chess League Chairperson. And the award goes to. Maxime Vasilagra from Czech, Mumbai Masters. EmRatThich, congratulations. First match that you all have won and first player of the match. How does it feel?

It feels great. We had 2 tough losses back to back and we needed to bounce back and every match was close and this one really was no exception.

Well, talk us through it because Alireza, did he play to your strengths? Did you think so?

Did I?

Did he play to your strengths?

It could be. But, you know, I mean, at this level we can play anything. And, you know, live with it. He won some very good fights against me also in the night off, so— but today, today I calculated a bit better.

So I was talking to Surya at the toss. He said a couple of players went back and took a nap. Were you one of those?

No, only 2 players stayed here. You know, I played— I stayed for the vibes and just to chill.

You know, the lounge is just as comfortable as मैं ओचर हूँ। Well, now you're gonna have to go back to the hotel and you're gonna have a nice long nap because finally you have some points in your kitty and you also are the player of the match. All the best to your upcoming game. Thank you so much. That is it from the player of the match tournament. This is the post-match presentation. We'll head back.

Thank you, Arohi, and a big congratulations to Maxime Vachier-Lagrave getting the win on the Icon board. Singh, he's I think the Mumbai Masters will be feeling a lot of vibes tonight after this positive result.

One thing that I have truly admired about Maxime is how easily he gets things done. You know, he beats Firouzja, he comes here, he's like, yeah, today I calculated better than him. Like, you beaten like the best player in the world. I mean, after Magnus. Magnus acknowledges Firouzja as one of the best speed players.

Yes.

And he does it every single time so easily. He's such a big asset to the Czech Mumba Masters team.

Yes, and guys, he also raised his cup like this is the first cup he ever got, right? So happy about it. It did feel like that for the Mumba Masters getting their first win in. And this is where we are at the end of day 2 of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League, and we see a lot of shakeups, uh, Sagar. We've got 3 players With six match points, three teams with six match points, two with three, and one yet to climb the leaderboard. What stands out to the two of you looking at these stats?

I mean, biggest is Triveni Continental Kings at the bottom of the table. That's the biggest storyline. But apart from that, I would say the fact that Ganji's Grandmasters have reached like in the lead—that's amazing.

And Katty. I want— you know, the one thing that I want to talk about is notice for the Trevini Continental Kings, they've got more game points, yes, than the Alaskan Knights, than the Alpine Tigers. They've played 2 matches. They have just played. That is exactly the point. It is so important to see the number of matches, to see the game points and the match points. Do you think tomorrow is a go big or go home day for the Continental Kings? Um, not yet, I would say. Not yet? Wow. But this is very important for the mood. I think you're really cutting a lot of slack here. I think 4 losses in a row, it will be the most dramatic end if they then make it to the finals. Yes, yeah, I agree, I agree. And you guys were talking also about that we have seen Triveni leading all these seasons, and this is really tough for them to handle.

Very tough, very tough moment for them, but I would love to see them come back. I mean, This is where I think the team management has to do something, shake up things, as Ketty said. But the Alpine team, you know, the Alpine APL Pipers, they are on 6 points and they have 1 more match left. They have only played 2.

Let's bring up— Sagar, let's bring up our standings one more time. I think that's really important to talk about what you're just mentioning in terms of the match, the number of games, and the match points. We'll have our standings up. Going into day three, and the the factor that you were talking about, Pipers at the top, but the number of matches they played because they've played two games and they're on six points.

Tomorrow will be their third one. If they win, they'll reach nine, and I think they are looking like this invincible team. But at the same time, guys, remember that the Fires American Gambits was also looking invincible. Yeah, and they got beaten today.

Exactly, Sagar.

And I feel like at GCL.

Well, we have every day is a separate tournament. You know, we have these mini tournaments of 4 matches, and in the end, like at the start of the day, one team is a leader, and then the next day it's totally mixed.

Yeah, well, I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, Tanya, but today was super exciting. I think every day I come like a fresh kid in a candy shop, and I'm like, oh, Cinderella, where's Cinderella? This, Isindaro versus Anand, and you know Anand versus Magnus. Is it seventh tomorrow, by the way? Seventh of September.

I've lost count of days. It is Magnus versus Vishy tomorrow.

Oh my God!

And this is where we are in our overall standings when that happens. If you haven't bought the tickets yet for the Global Chess League tomorrow, we'll have Magnus Carlsen taking on Vishy Anand. Of course, everyone's bringing on the news that. Unfortunately, you might be too late, but still go check it out. Ketty, one more time, we've got the Gambits, the Grandmasters, Pipers with 6 match points, Masters and Knights with 3 apiece, Triveni Continental Kings at 0. But again, it's the Pipers who've played one less match. Does that put them in that advantageous position right now? Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely, definitely. They have, they have still one more, uh, game to go, and if they win, as you mentioned, Sagar, They will take over.

But they will play the PBG Alaskan Knights. And imagine if the PBG Alaskan Knights win, they will move to 6. Then we'll have 4 teams on 6 points. Yes, that would be fun.

And what are we expecting from this matchup? You know, we've got Pipers versus the Knights, we've got Magnus versus Vishy. We'll bring up the fixtures, the matches that are coming up tomorrow. It's gonna be Magic Monday. We've already had a Super Sunday right now. But with the clashes lined up, Sagar, what a day we have ahead of us.

Let's look at the fixtures for tomorrow. We have tomorrow 4 games as well. There's PPG Alaskan Knights versus Alpine APL Pipers. It's the first game of the day. Vishy Anand versus Magnus Carlsen. Oh wow. Oh man, that's going to be amazing. Then we have the Czech Mumba Masters taking on Ganji's Grandmasters. The Czech Mumba Masters play again. That's the first time I see a team playing 2 back-to-back games. versus the Fires American Gambits. And then the PBG Alaskan Knights take on the Triveni Continental Kings. What's up with Triveni Continental Kings getting that last slot every day, like today and tomorrow, 8 PM slot?

Ah, maybe that's the best thing. Maybe it's too late for chess players to start to play.

It's like you get tired. Yeah, you're like, oh, I'm tired, I'm hungry for dinner, and they want me to play.

Well, it's prime time chess, and tomorrow is going to be prime time day For the Trevini Continental Kings, looking for a big win in that final matchup of the day. You know, we've got so much action coming up, and the way we saw the leaderboard, there's no team that's running away with it just yet.

No, no, not yet. But can I make a bold prediction for tomorrow?

Love a hot take.

I think Vishy Anand may just pull off the biggest upset of the tournament tomorrow by beating Magnus Carlsen.

Oh wow!

I mean, this is my hope. I, I'm looking forward to this game. What do you guys think? What do you feel?

Well, I don't hate that scenario. I would love to see it happen. I mean, that is going to be massive. And I will say that Magnus has been struggling a little bit, you know. He has— he held a very difficult position against Jan Nepomniachtchi today, even in his first match of GCL as well. While his team has delivered, we haven't seen Magnus be Magnus just yet.

Yes, but he has been resourceful to not lose a game yet, right? Two draws. And Vishy and Magnus have this kind of psychological thing where I think Magnus has this edge. He's able to beat Vishy more often than not. Yeah. Let's see if that changes tomorrow. Beautiful day. Thank you so much, Tanya. Thank you so much, Ketti.

By the way, that's a great shirt, Sagar, and I think everyone wants to know where did you get that?

Well, I think it's, uh, thanks to Amruta, my better half. She designed it and she's like, go and wear it, and if people like it, then we'll do something about it.

Subtle plug-in right there with Sagar. Excellent shirt, excellent action today, Ketty. We got to witness, and it continues. It's non-stop drama here at the Global Chess League. We will be back with all of that and more. Huge matchups coming on tomorrow, including Vishwanathan Anand, 5-time world champion, taking on world number 1 Magnus Carlsen, also 5-time world champion. What happens, we find out tomorrow. We'll see you 3:30 PM local time. Have a good rest. It's a good night from all of us.

Bye.

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