The final score of the match was 7:8 in Game Points for SG Alpine Warriors, giving them another critical three match points.In the post-game interview, Carlsen noted that "wins with Black are so valuable" (as they bring four instead of three points which White gets for victory), which makes the whole thing more exciting. "People are still trying to find the optimal strategy here and we're seeing some interesting decisions that you don't see in team chess", he said. The match ended with Triveni Continental Kings 7- 8 SG Alpine Warriors.Ganges Grandmasters vs Balan Alaskan KnightsThis was an encounter between the two leaders on the scoreboard. The match began with an intriguing prelude as Henrik Carlsen, the father of Magnus Carlsen, conducted the coin toss to determine the colours. His flip favoured the Ganges Grandmasters and they picked to play with White. Right from the outset, it was clear that the Ganges Grandmasters were not ready to relinquish their hold on the tournament.Board one witnessed a swift draw between Viswanathan Anand and Ian Nepomniachtchi, where the leader of the Balan Alaskan Knights made 30 moves without even spending a minute! Simultaneously, things were firing up on board six between two prodigies: GG's Andrey Esipenko took the initiative early on against Raunak Sadhwani and won. Soon, team Balan Alaskan Knights found themselves in trouble as they were losing on more boards.The only string of hope for them was in the Chinese matchup on board four. In a game between two former women's World Champions, Ganges Grandmasters' Hou Yifan was losing badly to Tan Zhongyi playing as Black, making an important comeback for the Knights. However, at the same time, Ganges' Leinier Dominguez Perez and Richard Rapport had a significant advantage in their games. While Perez converted his into a victory, Rapport blundered his winning advantage in time trouble, allowing his opponent Abdusattorov to escape with a draw.Despite an impressive rook sacrifice, Balan Alaskan Knights' Bella Khotenashvili lost to her Georgian compatriot Nino Batsiashvili which was very disappointing. With a commanding score of 11 game points to 6, the Ganges Grandmasters secured yet another triumphant victory, solidifying their position at the top of the leaderboard and earning three valuable match points.The match ended with Ganges Grandmasters 11-6 Balan Alaskan Knights.
--IANSak/
(Disclaimer: This post has been auto published from IANS news agency without any modification to the text and has not been reviewed by editor)
