Triveni Continental Kings win the Global Chess League 2023
Author: Maria Fragaki
Triveni Continental Kings came all the way up from the bottom of the standings table to win a hair-raising sudden-death blitz tiebreak against upGrad Mumba Masters at the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League 2023 Finals, with the 19-year-old Danish GM Jonas Buhl Bjerre triumphantly bringing the final win and ultimate victory to his team!
From zero to hero
The face of the final was definitely the recently turned 19-year-old Danish GM Jonas Buhl Bjerre! Jonas faced the 17-year-old Uzbek prodigy Javokhir Sindarov, from whom he had already lost four times in the finals due to his weakness to convert better positions.
“Just fight; if you win this game, you will win the event” GM Levon Aronian told the young GM right before his final match against the 44th Chess Olympiad Gold medalist Javokhir Sindarov!
“‘It does not matter how many games you have lost, what matters is what you have done in your last game. That is the eternal truth for any sportsperson in any discipline — you are only defined and remembered by your last match.’ the captain of the Triveni Continental Kings, GM Loek van Wely, said to Jonas.
After three draws in the sudden-death matches, Jonas eventually managed to checkmate Sindarov in the last game, and lead his team to the title and the $500,000 prize.
‘The last game was incredibly tense. It was really exciting. I’m still shivering’, said Jonas after his game!
The king of the Series
‘Well, we have this one guy who wins every single game. That kinda helps… Pragg has been the absolute star. Not only the fact that he wins games, but the way he wins them. It seems like he wins with class,’ said Magnus Carlsen about Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, and he couldn’t describe it in a better way!
The 17-year-old Indian prodigy finished the event undefeated, with 7 wins, and 29 total points in 10 matches to be crowned the king of the series!
The endgame we will never forget
In Day 7 of the GCL Magnus Carlsen and Vishy Anand faced each other in a highly anticipated game, and they didn’t disappoint! The two old rivals found themselves in an endgame that looked drawish, but time trouble led Anand to a human mistake to give Carlsen the advantage!
The players started smiling when Carlsen promoted his pawn to a knight instead of a queen to avoid the stalemate to eventually win a spectacular game!
“It feels great, especially since it’s exactly what the team needed. That makes it all the more special for sure.” Carlsen said, adding: “...to be able to actually help the team win, feels pretty good!”
