GM Alireza Firouzja‘s Triveni Continental Kings continued their comeback by beating the leaders, GM Magnus Carlsen‘s Alpine APL Pipers, because the 2026 Tech Mahindra Global Chess League crossed the midway mark with no groups breaking away from the pack.
It was a painful day for the PBG Alaskan Knights, with GM Viswanathan Anand dropping to GMs Ian Nepomniachtchi and Javokhir Sindarov on high board, whereas GM Abhimanyu Mishra misplaced items in a successful place in opposition to GM Leon Luke Mendonca. The world’s youngest ever grandmaster had two seconds faraway from his clock, and could not queen a pawn within the single second remaining.
Day 5 begins on Wednesday, September 9, at 6 a.m. ET / 12:00 CEST / 3:30 p.m. IST.
Standings After Day 4
We hit the midway mark of the group stage with three groups on 9 factors, earlier than FYERS American Gambits gained the primary match of the second half to hitch them. PBG Alaskan Knights is the opposite workforce to have performed an additional match, in order that successfully it is in final place regardless of having extra recreation factors than Triveni Continental Kings.
Let’s check out the day’s motion.
Ganges Grandmasters 12-8 PBG Alaskan Knights
If you happen to wanted an indication that this may not be PBG Alaskan Knights’ day it got here early on, as five-time World Champion Anand went astray with 22…g6?? and needed to resign after 23.Nc6!, successful lots of materials.
The match was wild, with decisive video games on each board, however it was finally determined within the cruelest potential method—from the PBG Alaskan Knights’ perspective.
On the prodigy board, a stage place all of the sudden swung in Mishra’s favor, and he even bought an opportunity to ship checkmate-in-four. The trick was to not queen a pawn.
When that was missed Leon bought an opportunity to flee however missed it in flip, and was useless misplaced when Mishra tried to seize the rook with the pawn, making a queen on the similar time. Mishra made the transfer with one second left on his clock, bought two seconds added, however that is the place Leon stopped the clock and appealed to the arbiter, since Mishra had put the queen on the incorrect sq. (e1) and nonetheless left the rook half on the board.
Mishra’s mistake, which value himself and his workforce a loss, was to position the brand new queen on e1 as an alternative of f1 (and drop the rook half on the board) earlier than hitting the clock! #TechMGCL #BeyondTheMove pic.twitter.com/2EfmRSEm7V
— chess24 (@chess24com) September 8, 2026
If Mishra had been in a position to repair that mess earlier than hitting the clock he might need gone on to win, however because it was, the arbiter eliminated the added two seconds, leaving a single second wherein Mishra needed to try to play his transfer.
It was one thing the good GM Vasyl Ivanchuk managed in an analogous scenario in Wijk aan Zee earlier this yr…
Ivanchuk had ONE SECOND to make the final transfer earlier than getting any additional half-hour, and he made it! 😆 the entire venue burst out in applause pic.twitter.com/FOUvHN53fS
— Chess.com (@chesscom) January 19, 2026
…however Ivanchuk might shuffle a rook one sq..
Mishra needed to juggle the pawn, rook, and queen once more, which was an nearly unattainable take a look at of handbook dexterity (at this level it could possibly be pointed on the market are some benefits to taking part in on a pc as they do e.g. within the Esports World Cup!). He did not handle in time, and in reality he nonetheless ended up with the queen on the incorrect sq..
A loopy end, as after an unlawful transfer Mishra is given 1 second wherein to try to queen a pawn (in a successful place) to win the match — he fails, and his workforce loses! https://t.co/6NiUEMnsRV#TechMGCL #BeyondTheMove pic.twitter.com/pvftBtT7d9
— chess24 (@chess24com) September 8, 2026
It is onerous to think about a crueler option to lose a recreation with the destiny of your workforce on the road (a win for Black would have given the Alaskan Knights victory), and it was no shock that Mishra later went on to lose his second recreation of the day as properly.
FYERS American Gambits 6-11 CheQ Mumba Masters
We bought a second of comparable drama within the second match of the day, when GM Pranesh M, in a very successful place, allowed GM Nihal Sarin to pounce with mate-in-one.
On this case, nevertheless, the person drama made no distinction to a convincing win for CheQ Mumba Masters, its third in a row after beginning with two defeats. GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and IM Carissa Yip have been the heroes.
Triveni Continental Kings 10-4 Alpine APL Pipers
Alpine APL Pipers had chosen a curious technique for the match of choosing the black items at any time when they gained the toss in a match. Their opponents have been additionally blissful to have White, in order that the workforce has begun with 5 Blacks and may have White in each match within the second half. It was a technique that was working, however it did not on day 4, as comeback youngsters Triveni Continental Kings gained a second match in a row after dropping their first three matches.
“Immediately it was like a last!” mentioned their captain GM Loek van Wely, and if something the workforce might have gained by an even bigger margin. Firouzja had moments when he was near successful in opposition to Carlsen, GM Wei Yi missed an opportunity vs. GM Anish Giri, and GM Alexandra Kosteniuk was additionally successful within the endgame after earlier surviving a fierce assault by GM Koneru Humpy. The wins have been convincing, with GM Pranav Venkatesh taking down GM Volodar Murzin, whereas GM Aravindh Chithambaram performed 1.Nc3 on the way in which to beating star-performer GM Vidit Gujrathi.
Aravindh revealed he’d chosen the transfer after a dialogue with Firouzja, who quipped: “I made a decision to decide on the opposite knight, however perhaps I ought to have saved the plan!” The opening was extremely difficult and double-edged, however finally Black’s place collapsed.
Triveni Continental Kings is properly inside putting distance of a 3rd last in three seasons, whereas Carlsen’s workforce, which began the day with a three-point lead, had been caught by each the Ganges Grandmasters and CheQ Mumba Masters. The day would finish with one other workforce becoming a member of that pack.
PBG Alaskan Knights 9-12 FYERS American Gambits
As soon as once more we bought a match with no attracts, and there was drama wherever you appeared. As an illustration, 15-year-old GM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus has had a tricky occasion, struggling three losses, however he bought to drag off one of many strikes of the day to dispatch GM Daniil Dubov.
We additionally bought a unbelievable battle between GM Arjun Erigaisi and Nihal, whose swindling talents and tactical consciousness have been seen in a wild rollercoaster of a recreation. Arjun gained the opening battle, however walked right into a tactical trick, appeared set to lose with no battle, however then had temporary successful possibilities in an endgame with a bishop for 4 pawns, earlier than Nihal’s pawns finally gained the day.
You’ll be able to argue that each one boards have been decisive, together with the top-board conflict between Anand and Sindarov. The five-time world champion might have been excused for taking part in for a draw after his earlier blunder, however Anand confirmed his combating spirit as at one level he even declined a draw supply from Sindarov—the challenger to the crown confessed “I used to be so nervous!” as after providing the draw he realized he wanted to play for a win for his workforce.
Ultimately a fantastic battle ended with Anand overlooking a trick and dropping a second recreation of the day. GM Rafael Leitao analyzes our Recreation of the Day under.
PBG Alaskan Knights is three factors off the lead having performed a match extra, however with 4 matches nonetheless to play the workforce nonetheless has its future in its personal fingers. That applies much more to all the opposite groups, with day 5 starting with CheQ Mumba Masters vs. Alpine APL Pipers—there aren’t any extra coin tosses, since colours are reversed from the primary spherical and we all know we’ll get Carlsen with White vs. GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave on high board.
The Tech Mahindra International Chess League 2026 consists of a six-team double round-robin group stage and a last contested by the highest two groups. In every match, all members of a workforce play with the identical coloration, with 4 factors for a win with Black and three for a win with White. All video games have a 20-minute time management, with a two-second increment from transfer 41.
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