Bengaluru, Sep 15 — Ian Nepomniachtchi pounced on a positional error from world number one Magnus Carlsen and helped Ganges Grandmasters upset defending champions Alpine APL Pipers to clinch their maiden title in Global Chess League (GCL) in Bengaluru on Sunday.

The Grandmasters won the two-leg final 7-5, having drawn the opening leg 3-3 with white pieces to etch their name on the trophy, while FYERS American Gambits bagged third place by beating CheQ Mumba Masters 7.5-4.5 in a two-leg playoff.

Season 4 of the Global Chess League, a joint initiative of Tech Mahindra and FIDE, witnessed one of the closest league stages in the history of the competition, with all six teams staying in contention for the top four spots till the eighth round, and the finalists were decided only after the last match was played on Saturday evening.

The Pipers had managed to make it through to the final only after the Mumba Masters defeated the Gambits in the last league game but could not find a way past the Ganges Grandmasters, who had topped the league stage on better game points.

Unlike the group stages where a win with black fetched four points against three for white, a win in the knockout matches were worth just one point for black and white. This meant that winning more games than the opponent was the key.

With the first-leg ending 3-3, the Pipers would have fancied their chances with white pieces, and it looked like they would have a chance to retain the crown with Carlsen looking good for a win on the icon board.

But the Norwegian made a positional error while going for the kill on move 28, and Nepomniachtchi did not give his opponent any chance to recover. Stavroula Tsolakidou then defeated Koneru Humpy to put the result beyond doubt.

In the first match of the final, Ganges Grandmasters grabbed an early advantage as Levon Aronian controlled the match against Anish Giri from the start, and the Dutchman ran out of time after 49 moves; the Pipers’ dugout would have wondered if they were wrong in opting for black pieces after winning the toss.

With all other boards ending in a draw, Volodar Murzin had to win for the Pipers to draw the match, and the former world rapid chess champion delivered under pressure, forcing Luke Leon Mendonca to resign after 49 moves to tie the score at 3-3.

“I have to admit that I got insanely unlucky as I prepared for this game with black, and I had not thought of the line, and I was in trouble. But then I had just one idea left, and I was hoping that he would blunder, and he did, and I got lucky,” said Nepomniachtchi, who also got the Player of the Match award. “It’s also a special feeling to win the title given the support we got here and the team spirit we built,” he added.

Tsolakidou was named the Player of the tournament for scoring a total of 21.5 Points, which included a total of six wins and three draws in 12 games. She got a Java bike as a prize. D Harika of the Mumba Masters was the only player not to lose a game in the entire tournament. She scored a total of 18.5 points from 12 matches that included four wins and eight draws.

GCL Season 4 also witnessed a packed house throughout the nine days of competition, while the YouTube subscriber base has increased fivefold and social media following has more than doubled during the course of the tournament this month.

Speaking about the learnings from this edition, GCL Commissioner Gourav Rakshit said, “Seeing the incredible fan engagement and the support for GCL has been truly heartwarming. It reinforces the very reason we started the league — to bring fans closer to the game, create a strong community around it, and build something that belongs to the fans as much as it does to the players. The passion and energy they have shown has been immensely encouraging, and we’re grateful to everyone who has embraced GCL with such enthusiasm.”

The American Gambits bounced back from Saturday’s loss against the Mumba Masters to win both matches convincingly and clinched the third spot.

Nihal Sarin, who had lost a winning game on Saturday, came back stronger and beat M Pranesh in both games, while Marc’andria Maurizzi also completed a grand double.

The Gambits, opting to play black first after winning the toss, won the match 2.5-3.5 with only D Harika scoring a full point for the Mumba Masters.

In the second match, the American Gambits never looked in trouble after their icon player Javokhir Sindarov managed a draw against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Nihal and Maurizzi then wrapped up the match and avenged the loss against a team that denied them a spot in the final.

“I would have traded one of today’s wins for a win yesterday. But it happens under pressure. But today, I was happy that I could recover well after yesterday’s loss to win both the matches,” said Nihal, who was named the Player of the Match.

At the medal ceremony, GCL Commissioner Gourav Rakshit presented the bronze medals to FYERS American Gambits, while GCL Board Member Prag Shah presented the silver medals to Alpine SG Pipers. Piyush Dubey presented the gold medals to champions Ganges Grandmasters, before joining Rakshit, Viswanathan Anand and Shah to present the Global Chess League trophy to the winning team.

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