Global Chess League: Triveni Continental Kings begins title defence with win over Alpine SG Pipers
On the day Lionel Messi landed in Mumbai, thousands queued up in front of the Wankhede Stadium. Sharvari Patankar wasn’t one of them.
The young mechanical engineer was about 3 km away from the iconic cricket stadium, at the Royal Opera House, waiting for her own sporting hero Viswanathan Anand. She did better: she got him to sing on her chessboard. She got the autograph from R. Praggnanandhaa, too.
There were exciting shouts of “Pragg, Pragg,” as the 20-year-old from Chennai made his way out of the venue. Anish Giri, against whom the Indian star will play at the Candidates in Cyprus in March-April next year, also was obliging.
R. Praggnanandhaa signing autographs at the Global Chess League in Mumbai.
| Photo Credit:
P.K. Ajith Kumar
R. Praggnanandhaa signing autographs at the Global Chess League in Mumbai.
| Photo Credit:
P.K. Ajith Kumar
It was indeed a memorable homecoming for the Global Chess League. The league, organised by Tech Mahindra and approved by the world chess governing body FIDE, was played at Dubai and London in the first two editions.
Triveni Continental Kings was the winner on both the occasions. And the Kings opened their title-defence on the right note: they beat Alpine SG Pipers 9-7, riding on wins of their strongest players, Alireza Firouzja and Wei Yi, over Fabiano Caruana and Giri. The match also pitted the women’s World No. 1 against the No. 2, and that game between the two Chinese players, Hou Yifan and Zhu, was drawn.
The opening day saw upGrad Mumba Masters, scored a crushing 17-4 victory against Ganges Grandmasters. In the other match between Fyers American Gambits beat PBG Alaskan Knights 8-5.
Sharvari was thrilled to watch all those games live at the venue. She had spent more than Rs. 1,000 for her ticket. “And I will be back to watch the league,” she said.
The Results:
Triveni Continental Kings bt Alpine SG Pipers 9-7 (Alireza Firouzja bt Fabiano Caruana; Wei Yi bt Anish Giri; Vidit Gujrathi drew with R. Praggnanandhaa; Zhu Jiner drew with Hou Yifan; Alexandra Kosteniuk lost to Nino Batsiashvilli; MarcAndria Maurizzi drew with Leon Mendonca).
Ganges Grandmasters lost to upGrad Mumba Masters 4-17 (Viswanathan Anand lost to Maxime Vachier-Lagrave; Vincent Keymer drew with Wesley So; Javokhir Sindarov lost to Shakhriyar Mamedyarov; Polina Shuvalova bt Koneru Humpy; Stavroula Tsolakidou lost to D. Harika; Raunak Sadhwani lost to Baridya Daneshvar).
Fyers American Gambits bt PBG Alaskan Knights 8-5 (Hikaru Nakamura drew with D. Gukesh; Vladislav Artemiev drew with Arjun Erigiasi; Richard Rapport drew with Leinier Dominguez; Bibisara Assaubayeva drew with Kateryna Lagno; Teodora Injac bt Sarasadat Khademalsharieh; Volodar Murzin drew with Daniel Dardha).
(The writer is in Mumbai at the invitation of Tech Mahindra)
Published on Dec 14, 2025