London, Oct 12 (PTI) Triveni Continental Kings, led by the indomitable Iranian-born French Grandmaster Alireza Firouzja, defeated PBG Alaskan Knights at the iconic Friends House here to retain the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League title on Sunday.
Triveni fought two nerve-wracking matches to stun the Anish Giri-led Knights 9-7 with white pieces and followed it up with a 13-7 victory with black in the second. The winners were richer by USD 500,000.
Former women’s world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk came up with a superb performance in the decisive second game, defeating Tan Zhongyi, thus denying the Knights a chance at tiebreaks.
The Russian-Swiss player was adjudged the 'Player of the Match' for her remarkable performance.
“Amazing how chess can be so exciting," said Firouzja, Triveni’s Icon player.
"I am very happy and delighted to be part of this amazing event and show."
It was a dampener for the PBG Alaskan Knights, whose defence has looked virtually impregnable all season. But in the final, they had to settle for second place and a prize money of USD 250,000.
Coming into the final, the Knights had an amazing run, winning eight of the 10 matches.
For defending champions Triveni the path to the summit clash has been bumpy -- they lost four matches and in the final round, they eked out a last-minute victory against Magnus Carlsen’s Alpine SG Pipers.
The Knights won the first toss and opted to play with black.
Triveni’s Firouzja played aggressively against Giri, sacrificing an exchange but emerging a pawn up. Giri fought back, but Firouzja remained sharp despite being behind on the clock and ultimately secured a victory.
With a draw between Triveni’s Teimour Radjabov and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, the former led 4-1. Shortly after, two more draws followed -- one between Triveni’s Javokhir Sindarov and young Indian player Nihal Sarin and the other between Valentina Gunina and Alina Kashlinskaya.
Then came a crucial turning point. In the battle between two former women’s world champions, Alexandra Kosteniuk defeated Tan Zhongyi.
Refusing a draw earlier in the game, Kosteniuk's bold decision paid off, sealing the match for Triveni before the final board had even finished.
Although Nodirbek Abdusattorov won his game against Wei Yi on the 'prodigy' board, it wasn’t enough to save the Knights. Triveni claimed the first match 9-7.
In the rematch, the pressure weighed heavily on the Knights, who needed a win to stay in contention. Playing with white, they were compelled to take more aggressive approaches.
Initially, things looked promising for the Knights but Triveni soon seized the initiative, with Valentina gaining a dominant position with black against Alina.
Alina was the first to crack under pressure, losing a piece. She attempted to counter with checks, but Valentina confidently secured the win, earning Triveni four crucial points.
Knights’ Mamedyarov then secured an extra pawn and a winning position against Triveni's Teimour Radjabov. Though Radjabov resisted, refusing to resign, he ultimately ran out of time. At that time, the score stood 5-4 in favour of Triveni.
Under pressure and in severe time trouble, Triveni’s Firouzja then made a queen sacrifice to save his position against Giri. With Firouzja down to just seconds on the clock, Giri began to focus more on the clock. This strategy backfired, and Giri ended up in a lost position.
However, despite Firouzja being one of the fastest players on the planet, didn’t have enough time to convert the win and lost on time. With that, the Knights took the lead 7-5.
Then came a shocking turn on board two. Knights’ Nodirbek Abdusattorov, in a better position, blundered in time trouble, misplaying a drawn endgame and then went further -- losing a drawn endgame. This handed the lead back to Triveni.
Everything now hinged on board four, where Knights’ Tan Zhongyi needed to defeat Triveni’s Alexandra Kosteniuk to force a playoff.
Tan had a significant advantage on the clock and needed to keep up the pressure, hoping Kosteniuk would crack under the strain. But the opposite happened -- Tan made a blunder and ended up losing, sealing Triveni Continental Knights' 13-7 victory.