Dubai, July 1 (Always First) It was yet another day of huge upsets at the Global Chess League as all the pre-event favourites lost their final matches, leaving Triveni Continental Kings and upGrad Mumbai Masters set to clash in the final.

In a shocking outcome, two of the teams that dominated the Global Chess League from the beginning – Ganges Grandmasters and SG Alpine Warriors – were knocked out of the race for the top two places in the final.

Instead, it will be Triveni Continental Kings and Upgrad Mumba Masters who will fight for the coveted crown in the final of the first edition of Global Chess League.

Triveni’s journey to the top was the most unlikely. Despite setbacks and a rocky start, they made a triumphant comeback with four consecutive wins.

Meanwhile, upGrad Mumba Masters consistently hovered near the top but struggled in the latter part of the event. Nonetheless, they rallied in the final two rounds, eliminating the tournament leaders, Ganges Grandmasters and SG Alpine Warriors. They also had a stroke of luck on their side—had Chingari defeated Balan Alaskan Knights in their last match, they would have been the ones reaching the final.

Mumba Masters secured their place in the final with an 18-2 triumph over SG Alpine Warriors in their first league match.

Following a loss in the previous round earlier in the day, SG Alpine Warriors needed to win this match to secure first place. With the advantage of the first move, they needed to push hard.

However, things started to go more in the direction favouring Mumba Masters thanks to the top two Indian women players in the team.

On board five, Harika Dronavalli dominated Elisabeth Paehtz and then treated a mate in three. On board four, Koneru Humpy was significantly better against Irina Krush and was the first one to win, scoring important four points for upGrad Mumba Masters. The storm continued on the other boards too.

On the prodigy board, Mumba’s Javokhir Sindarov managed to stop Praggnanandhaa – the top-performing player in the league – and hold him to a draw, with black pieces.

In the meantime, Magnus Carlsen drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrove, despite having a slight advantage. Just as Carlsen was getting up, Harika converted her advantage against Paehtz which meant that upGrad Mumba Masters have won the match. The World No.1 player could not hide his disappointment once he realised what just happened.

Even worse for the Warriors, the upGrad Mumba Masters were not done. Once he saw that the match is effectively lost, D. Gukesh resigned to Alexander Grischuk having ended up in a significantly weaker position, thus handing over another four points to Mumba.

The last game to finish was on board five on which Vidit Gujrathi converted his advantage against Arjun Erigaisi, and secured the most convincing victory any team in the Global Chess League has achieved so far: 18:2, propelling upGrad Mumba Masters to the top of the scoreboard.

The SG Alpine Warriors had two chances and lost both of them, a shocking end to what was a great performance of the Warriors’ team.

The upGrad Mumba Masters were now on the brink of entering the final, but all depended on the outcome of the next match — if Chingari Gulf Titans won the next match with at least a seven-game points difference, they would reach the final. If they win with a smaller margin, draw or lose, Mumba Masters would be through.

The Chingari Gulf Titans had their destiny in their own hands as they were playing with white pieces. They were ahead of the Balan Alaskan Knights and needed to win. However, things did not go as per their plans.

The first game to finish was on the icon board, between Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Ian Nepomniachtchi. The game was largely calm and followed well-known theoretical waters, finishing in an even endgame. However, on board two Shakhriyar Mamedyarov had a huge advantage over the 2021 World Rapid Champion, Nodirbek Abdusattorov.

In the meantime, the second game finished — Daniil Dubov and Teimour Radjabov drew. In a Four Knights Game, the two quickly exchanged pieces on the board and headed for a drawn rook endgame where neither side had any chances. While things were even on board four, boards five and six were more in favour of Chingari. On board four, Alexandra Kosteniuk and Tan Zhongyi were locked in a queen’s endgame with four pawns each.

Then the tables started to turn on Chingari — in a completely dominating position, Mamedyarov made an error and ended up significantly weaker and he eventually lost the game.

As Nihal Sarin and Raunak Sadhwani drew their game, Chingari’s Polina Shuvalova lost to BAK’s Nino Batsiashvili. Approaching the endgame, Shuvalova made a mistake and gave an exchange up to black, finishing in a completely lost position. This was a second board victory for Balan Alaskan Knights which gave them a lead of 11:3.

The game between Kosteniuk and Tan dragged on and ended in a draw. Either way, the outcome would not have changed anything.

A heartbreaking end for Chingari as Balan Alaskan Knights sign out with a victory, ultimately making upGrad Mumba Masters the second finalist for the first edition of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League.