Mumbai, Dec 22 (NationPress) The draw achieved by Leon Luke Mendonca on the prodigy board proved to be more significant than a victory for Alpine SG Pipers, enabling them to secure a place in the final against the leading Triveni Continental Kings. This came despite their defeat in the final league match, where they lost 6-11 to PBG Alaskan Knights during Season 3 of the Global Chess League (GCL) at the Royal Opera House in Mumbai on Friday.

In their last league encounter, Alpine SG Pipers had their destiny in their own hands, sitting on 15 match points alongside the Ganges Grandmasters. They needed to either triumph over the Alaskan Knights or at least secure six game points to guarantee the second position on the leaderboard based on game points.

The Pipers concluded the event with a total of 84 game points, just ahead of the Grandmasters who finished with 83, in this initiative by Tech Mahindra and FIDE.

The Alaskan Knights, needing a win to qualify for the third-place playoff, achieved this impressively. World Champion Dommaraju Gukesh capitalized on an error from Fabiano Caruana, while Arjun Erigaisi overcame Anish Giri with black pieces, collectively scoring eight crucial points.

For the Pipers, Hou Yifan, a three-time Women’s World Champion, secured her third victory in as many matches by defeating Kateryna Lagno in a swift 20 moves. At that point, the Pipers appeared poised to move forward, but the two top Indian chess stars delivered an exemplary performance just when it was needed, placing the Pipers in a tense situation.

With Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa and Nino Batsiashvili drawing their games, the Pipers' hopes hinged on Mendonca drawing his match against Daniel Darda on the prodigy board. He successfully ensured that Darda could not make any significant advances, concluding the game in a draw after 42 moves, even though his opponent held a slight edge at that moment.

Earlier, the Ganges Grandmasters kept their finals aspirations alive by defeating the Fyers American Gambits 12-3 in their last league match.

On the final day, the Pipers, Grandmasters, and upGrad Mumba Masters were all vying for the second spot, with the Grandmasters being the first to compete against the American Gambits.

Viswanathan Anand, playing with the white pieces, shared the points with the American Gambits’ Hikaru Nakamura on the icon board. However, Vincent Keymer secured a win against Vladislav Artemiev in 39 moves, and Raunak Sadhwani, the Player of the Match, triumphed over World Rapid Champion Volodar Murzin in 42 moves, solidifying their lead.

Stavroula Tsolakidou then defeated Teodora Injac, completing the team’s tally and increasing the pressure on the other teams. However, this was insufficient, leading them to a match against the Alaskan Knights for third place.

In another match of the day, the Mumba Masters faced a challenging task against the table-topping Continental Kings. Although Shakhriyar Mamedyarov overcame Vidit Gujrathi and Bardiya Daneshvar bested Marc’Andria Maurizzi to earn eight much-needed points, losses from Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to Alireza Firouzja on the icon board, Wesley So to Wei Yi on the second board, and Koneru Humpy to Zhu Jiner saw the local favorites narrowly defeated 10-9.