The world No 1, Magnus Carlsen, has had a rare sub-par tournament in the six-team $1m Global Chess League, in which Triveni Continental Kings, led by France’s Iran-born rising star, Alireza Firouzja, will meet PBG Alaskan Knights, whose No 1 is Anish Giri of the Netherlands, in the double-round final on Saturday (2.30pm BST start, live on kick.com). The Kings and the Pipers finished level on 18 match points, but the Kings were well ahead on the game points tie-break.
The Norwegian, who had radiated optimism in a pre-tournament interview, has been below form, scoring 5.5 points with just three wins in 10 games. Even in his final game on Friday against Firouzja, Carlsen failed to make the best of dominant pieces, but won on time in a drawn position.
