Bengaluru: It was a mixed story, one of fluctuating fortunes and calm consistency even as the clock played villain on Day 2 of the Global Chess league being played at the Hotel Lalit Ashok today. It was also a day of bit…

Bengaluru: It was a mixed story, one of fluctuating fortunes and calm consistency even as the clock played villain on Day 2 of the Global Chess league being played at the Hotel Lalit Ashok today. It was also a day of bitter-sweet results for Ganges Grandmasters as they shocked overnight leaders FYERS American Gambits with a 9-7 score in a scintillating match in the last half of the day. Earlier, Defending Champions Alpine APL Pipers survived many anxious moments before prevailing with a score of 11-6 over Ganges Grandmasters in their second outing. Magnus Carlsen did a Houdini act, escaping from the clutches of defeat against Ian Nepomniachtchi.  PBG Alaskan Knights opened their account with a 11-6 victory over CheQ Mumba Masters who later defeated Triveni Continental Kings with a score of 10-9, the narrowest of margins. This incidentally was the third successive defeat for two-time GCL Champions Triveni Continental Kings.Global Chess league Day 1: Javokhir Sindarov scores over Viswanathan Anand, Magnus Carlsen held to a drawFYERS American Gambits, Alpine APL Pipers and Ganges Grandmasters lead the points tally with 6 match points each but Alpine Pipers have played just two games as against three by the others and are the only undefeated team so far. Mumba Masters and PBG Alaskan Knights have tallied 3 points apiece while Triveni Continental Kings have to yet open their account.Ian Nepomniachtchi was in fantastic form, first almost defeating Carlsen and later winning against Sindarov who tried to overstretch in a drawish- appearing position only to ultimately lose on time.For Alpine Pipers Koneru Humpy was the player of the Match as she notched her second consecutive victory while Vidit Gujrathi too scored his second successive victory after Dominguez blundered his queen. “I made some slight slips as I wanted to play fast and missed an easier road to victory” summed up Humpy. Carlsen with an disadvantageous position and a mere 2 minutes as against Nepo’s 8 minutes, put up a terrific defence, displaying why he is the undisputed King of the 64 squares. Divya Deshmukh lost her second consecutive game while Anish Giri also managed to salvage a draw from a difficult position againstFor the Alaskan Knights the game between Viswanathan Anand and Vachier Lagrave ended in a draw butArjun Erigaisi, Player of the match Nino Batsiashvili and Abhimanyu Mishra won their matches with white pieces to register a comfortable victory over CheQ Mumba Masters. 15-year-old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus was in his element before losing way against his coach Shakhriyar Mamedyarov failing to find the right combination under time pressure to eventually end on the losing side after 82 moves.For the FYER American Gambits Daniil Dubov could not convert his advantage against Leinier Dominguez Perez into a win despite stretching the game for101 moves. Nihal Sarin shocked two time World Cup winner Levon Aronian Later Nihal admitted “ I was getting outplayed. He had huge lead on the clock. I got a chance but conversion was not easy. The mood is not great with the team, we were winning this match”.Indian esports icon and S8UL co-founder Naman “Mortal” Mathur, who was also among the spectators and would have enjoyed the fact that his favourite player Nihal Sarin won the only game for FYERS American Gambits against the Ganges Grandmasters.Results:Alpine APL Pipers beat Ganges Grandmasters; 11-6CheQ Mumba Masters lost to PBG Alaskan Knights; 6-11Ganges Grandmasters beat FYERS American Gambits;9-7Triveni Continental Kings lost to CheQ Mumba Masters; 9-10Schedule for Monday, September 7:3.30 PM: PBG Alaskan Knights vs Alpine APL Pipers5.00 PM: CheQ Mumba Masters vs Ganges Grandmasters6.30 PM: Alpine APL Pipers vs FYERS American Gambits8.00 PM: PBG Alaskan Knights vs Triveni Continental Kings

Source: Deccan Herald