The Tech Mahindra Global Chess League (GCL) is a premier franchise league that brings together male and female players in a joint format.
Triveni Turbine Ltd. and Triveni Engineering & Industries Ltd. jointly acquired a franchise in the Global Chess League through Triveni Sports Private Limited and named it Triveni Continental Kings (TCK).
Format
6
Teams
Double round-robin
6
Boards
36
Players
(6 players in each team)
2
Female
Players in each team
RAPID
FORMAT
10
Matches
for each team
Teams
The entry into the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League was driven by the passion of Triveni Group's Chairman, Dhruv Sawhney.
With his deep appreciation for the intricacies of the game and his extensive experience as the former President of the All-India Chess Federation, Mr. Sawhney's vision and love for chess curated the vision of Triveni Continental Kings’ success.
Triveni Continental Kings came together as a team under the mentorship of Grandmaster Coach
Loek Van Wely
AND THE SIX RENOWNED GRANDMASTERS
Levon Aronian
Wei Yi
Kateryna Lagno
Sara Khadem
Yu Yangyi
Jonas Buhl Bjerre
TCK & UMumba
TCK played the opening game of the Global Chess League against upGrad Mumba Masters but it did not turn out in favour of TCK as UMumba beat TCK by a small margin.
The road ahead had more setbacks than victories for the Kings, as we won only 2 out of the 6 battles and slipped to the bottom of the scoreboard. Clouds of mid-tournament blue hovered over the Kings' camp.
Nana Dzagnidze
Sara Khadem
Nana's departure for critical reasons led to the arrival of Iranian Grandmaster Sarasadat Khademalsharieh.
Faced with challenges on and off the board, TCK needed a do-or-die effort. Levon and Loek led the team's recovery while maintaining team spirit. The simple plan of winning one game at a time paid off, with Levon's leadership, Wei Yi's reliability, and Sara's surprise victories. TCK's successive wins catapulted them to the finals, topping the table.
Do-or-Die
Grand Final
With the stage set for the Grand Final, the Kings once again took on the upGrad Mumba Masters to settle the scores from the tournament opener.
The final started with an intense struggle that the Kings won by a margin of two in the Final 1 out of 2 games. Wins by Levon over UMM's icon Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and team MVP Wei Yi over Vidit Gujrathi made up six of the nine points accrued by the Kings. Levon was in particularly electric form against Vachier-Lagrave and even staved off a brilliant move in the Sicilian Defense.
Final 1
Second Rapid Match
The second rapid match was a blowout as the Masters played aggressively on the boards and won by a small margin.
With each game won by either team, the Grand Final plugged in high-voltage Blitz Tiebreaks.
Blitz
First Tiebreak
During the first Tiebreak, the Kings asserted their dominance on the top boards, with Levon playing solidly to draw with Vachier-Lagrave, while on board two, Yu got his revenge against Grischuk in a near-perfect game.
The second blitz match was dominated once again by the team playing with black pieces, which was uMumba this time.
Second Blitz
Final Plunged
With the needle not shifting to either side, the final plunge was into Sudden Death.
Sara and Harika, Yu and Grischuk, Lagno and Humpy clashed their swords and fought it to the dead end of draws.
Dead End
Until it was time for the
4th game in the Sudden Death
For the 4th and decider game, Jonas Buhl Bjerre, who had faced Sindarov 4 times in the final and lost all 4 times, had to face him again. Displaying brilliant character, the prodigy controlled his nerves and exhibited his chess prowess, pushing Sindarov into a corner to clinch the title.
Jonas stepped up to the task and clinched the victory away from the jaws of upGrad Mumba Masters, making Triveni Continental Kings the champions of the inaugural edition of the Global Chess League.
Click here to Watch the Grand Finale Highlights