GCL: Carlsen And Vidit Shine As Defending Champions Pipers Beat American Gambits

World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen ended Javokhir Sindarov’s three-game winning streak while Vidit Gujrathi produced a marathon endgame victory as defending champions Alpine APL Pipers defeated FYERS American Gambits 9-7 in a crucial Global Chess League clash on Friday.

With both teams level on match points and game points before the penultimate round, the contest carried major significance in the battle for a place in the final.

Carlsen delivered on the icon board, maintaining control against Sindarov before forcing the Uzbek star to resign after 36 moves. The victory also earned the Norwegian the Player of the Match award.

Carlsen, however, felt Vidit was more deserving of the honour and handed the trophy to the Indian Grandmaster after the match.

Vidit then produced the decisive performance on the Superstar men board, defeating Daniil Dubov in a gruelling 96-move battle. The game went into a time scramble, but Vidit kept his composure and converted an extra knight and pawn against Dubov’s rook to secure the win.

"It was a very close match," Vidit said, adding that he did not initially see a clear winning position but was pleased to contribute to the team's victory.

The result completed a double over American Gambits for the Pipers and significantly strengthened their hopes of reaching the final.

For Pipers, the only setback came on the women's board, where Divya Deshmukh ran out of time on move 34 against Bibisara Assaubayeva. The Women's World Cup winner has continued to struggle in her debut GCL campaign.

Elsewhere, two-time champions Triveni Continental Kings defeated bottom-placed PBG Alaskan Knights. Zhu Jiner registered her first win of the tournament, while Alexandra Kosteniuk and Pranav Venkatesh also contributed victories.