GCL | Humpy, Harika power Mumba Masters to big win

They have kept the flag of Indian women’s chess flying high for years. Koneru Humpy and D. Harika are now well into their 30s and have families to look after, too.

The two Telugu-speaking women on Wednesday delivered when their team needed at the Royal Opera House. The wins of Humpy and Harika were instrumental in upGrad Mumba Masters’ win 18-2 win against PBG Alaskan Knights, for which the nightmare continues, as it still is looking for a victory.

The comprehensive win has put Mumba on top of the table with 51 game points, eight ahead of the defending champion Triveni Continental Kings. Ganges Grandmasters is lying third with 35 points.

Humpy defeated Kateryna Lagno, while D. Harika beat Sarasadat Khademalsharieh to ensure that Mumba got the maximum points from their two Superstar Women boards. Wesley So and Baridya Daneshvar) also won their games too, against Arjun Erigaisi and Daniel Dardha, though on the top board Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was held to a draw by D. Gukesh.

Like Mumbai, Continental Kings too has been playing solidly and both have won three out of their four matches. In the day’s last match, the reigning champion defeated Ganges Grandmasters 11-6.

The Continental Kings were once again led from the front by Alireza Firouzja, who defeated Viswanathan Anand on the Icon board. On the second board, in a match between two men who have been in good form of late, Wei Yi prevailed over Vincent Keymer. There was also a significant win for Alexandra Kosteniuk, over Stavroula Tsolakidou.

In the day’s other match, Alpine SG Pipers beat Fyers American Gambits 10-4. All the four top boards were drawn, but Nino Batsiashvili and Leon Mendonca scored much-needed wins, over Teodora Injac; and Volodar Murzin, respectively.

The results (fourth round): Alpine SG Pipers bt Fyers American Gambits 10-4 (Fabiano Caruana drew with Hikaru Nakamura; Anish Giri drew with Vladislav Artemiev; R. Praggnanandhaa drew with Richard Rapport; Hou Yifan drew with Bibisara Assaubayeva; Nino Batsiashvili bt Teodora Injac; Leon Mendonca bt Volodar Murzin).

PBG Alaskan Knights lost to upGrad Mumba Masters 2-18 (D. Gukesh drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave; Arjun Erigaisi lost to Wesley So; Leinier Dominguez drew with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov; Kateryna Lagno lost to Koneru Humpy; Sarasadat Khademalsharieh lost to D. Harika; Daniel Dardha lost to Baridya Daneshvar).

Triveni Continental Kings bt Ganges Grandmasters 11-6 (Alireza Firouzja bt Viswanathan Anand; Wei Yi bt Vincent Keymer; Vidit Gujrathi lost to Javokhir Sindarov; Zhu Jiner drew with Polina Shuvalova; Alexandra Kosteniuk bt Stavroula Tsolakidou); MarcAndria Maurizzi drew with Raunak Sadhwani.

(The writer is in Mumbai at the invitation of Tech Mahindra).