The packed venue at Friends House in London erupted in applause as players entered the playing hall, dressed in team jerseys in an atmosphere more akin to a football match than a chess tournament.
The opening match of the season was played between the American Gambits and the season one runner-up – upGrad Mumba Masters.
According to league regulations, each match starts with a coin toss to decide colours. For this round, the American Gambits played with the white pieces. As this is a round-robin tournament, they will switch to black when they meet the Mumba Masters again.
American Gambits secured a commanding 11:6 victory over the upGrad Mumba Masters, earning three match points.
On the Icon board, reserved for the league’s strongest players, world number two Hikaru Nakamura, playing as White, fought to a hard-earned draw against France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Nakamura described his performance as “shaky” but remained optimistic about his team’s chances: “I think as the event goes on, we’ll build more chemistry. Everyone’s in a pretty good mood, and today we played really well… My game was maybe a little shaky at times, but everybody seemed to play well, so I’m actually pretty optimistic. As the event goes on, we’ll continue to get better.”
While Nakamura settled for a draw, his teammate, 26-year-old Polish grandmaster Jan-Krzysztof Duda, delivered a decisive win. Duda defeated Vidit Santhosh Gujrathi with a brilliant checkmate combination, earning him the title of Player of the Match.
Elsewhere, Yu Yangyi played to a draw against Peter Svidler in a balanced encounter between seasoned grandmasters. However, it was on the lower boards that the American Gambits secured their victory. Kazakhstan’s Bibisara Assaubayeva upset one of India’s top female players, Humpy Koneru, while Harika Dronavalli provided a win for the Mumba Masters by defeating German GM Elisabeth Paehtz. Jonas Buhl Bjerre capped off the Gambits’ commanding win by defeating Mumba’s Raunak Sadhwani.
The second match of the day saw the Ganges Grandmasters, playing with White, face the Alpine SG Pipers. Despite the color disadvantage, the SG Pipers triumphed with an 11:6 victory, thanks to wins by Richard Rapport and Hou Yifan.
The top duel of the day featured a showdown between two titans of chess – both five-time World Champions – Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen. The game ended in a draw, with Carlsen managing to steady the ship after a tough middle game.
Richard Rapport’s victory came after a tense battle with Iranian grandmaster Parham Maghsoodloo, where he turned the tables despite White’s early initiative. For his performance, Rapport was named Player of the Match. Meanwhile, Ganges’ Vaishali Rameshbabu put up a fierce fight against former women’s World Champion Hou Yifan, but still lost.
International Master Nurgyul Salimova saved face for the Ganges Grandmasters by defeating the experienced blitz and rapid player Kateryna Lagno. On the junior board, the match between Volodar Murzin and Daniel Dardha ended in a draw.
With such a strong start, the American Gambits and Alpine SG Pipers have established themselves as one of the top teams to watch in this year’s Global Chess League.
