NAGPUR: Anish Giri, Hikaru Nakamura, and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave spearheaded the PBG Alaskan Knights, American Gambits and Mumba Masters to resounding victories as the black pieces prevailed in the seventh round of the Global Chess League in London on Tuesday.
In a rare coincidence, the Knights, Gambits and Masters registered identical 14-5 victories over Ganges Grandmasters, Triveni Kings and Alpine Pipers, respectively.
The Knights' convincing victory over Vishy Anand's Ganges propelled the Giri-led outfit to extend their lead on top with a six-point cushion. While the Knights took their tally of match points to 18, they took a bold step towards winning the league as the seventh round defeats for both the Kings and Pipers kept them in the joint second position with 12 points each.
Nihal Sarin's phenomenal performance was the cornerstone of the Knights' success in the league. The 20-year-old prodigy in the Giri-led outfit remained unbeaten with five wins and two draws in seven rounds to steer the Knights to their sixth victory. On Tuesday, Nihal humbled Murzin Volodar on time as Giri defeated Anand in 55 moves for his maiden victory, and Alina Kashlinskaya outclassed Nurgyul Salimova with their black pieces.
The Gambits relied on the heroics of Nakamura, who ended the unbeaten run of Alireza Firouzja on the icon board in an English Opening game played for 68 moves. While Nakamura rose to the occasion, the Gambits' women players, Bibisara Assaubayeva and Elisabeth Paehtz, also emerged victorious with their black pieces.
In the day's opening match, Maxime stunned World No.1 Magnus Carlsen on time in 54 moves, while Peter Svidler and Raunak Sadhwani won their respective games with the black pieces as Mumba Masters posted their second victory in the league.
RESULTS (Round 7) (white named first; 3 points for white's win; 4 points for black win; one point each for a draw):
Alpine Pipers lost to Mumba Masters 5-14: Carlsen vs Maxime 0-4; Pragg vs Vidit 3-0; Rapport vs Svidler 0-4; Yifan vs Humpy 1-1; Kateryna vs Harika 1-1; Dardha vs Raunak 0-4.
Triveni Kings lost to American Gambits 5-14: Firouzja vs Hikaru 0-4; Wei vs Duda 1-1; Teimour vs Yangyi 1-1; Kosteniuk vs Bibisara 0-4; Valentina vs Elisabeth 0-4; Sindarov vs Jonas 3-0.
Ganges vs Alaskan Knights 5-14: Anand vs Giri 0-4; Arjun vs Abdusattorov 1-1; Parham vs Mamedyarov 3-0; Vaishali vs Zhongyi 1-1; Salimova vs Kashlinskaya 0-4; Volodar vs Nihal 0-4.
