Ganges Grandmasters Viswanathan Anand Defeats Jan-Krzysztof Duda in Global Chess League

Viswanathan Anand from Ganges Grandmasters wins against Duda, while Yifan emerges victorious against Alexandra Kosteniuk in GCL. New games on Saturday and Sunday.

Written by: Arjita Gupta

Edited by: Krutarth Ghosalkar

Last Updated: 2023-06-23 08:17:52

Viswanathan Anand from Ganges Grandmasters will play against Magnus Carlsen, world champion and representing SG Alpine Warriors. Recently, Anand returned to chess competition after 8 months and defeated Jan-Krzysztof Duda in Global Chess League (GCL), resounding why he is a five-time men’s world champion. He was coupled with Hou Yifan from the team to see a 10-4 victory on Chingari Gulf Titans on the first edition of GCL, day one. Viswanathan said he noticed some of the inexact moves slip after committing those mistakes and then overcoming those.

The Indian champion said it was a nice game, and he was proud of some of the parts of it. The 35-year-old champion said it was extra nice to win against Duda, as the latter was playing incredibly well. Yifan on the other hand overwhelmed Alexandra Kosteniuk. She former is one of the greatest players in chess with four world titles and after an initial hard phase of defeats at a young age, she bounced back soon.

The special format game of GCL includes playing several boards, and after winning the toss on Thursday, the Ganges Grandmasters decided to play all their boards with white earning three points. If they had chosen black, it would have earned them four points. As for Anand, he feels that it does not matter if you proceed with the game with black or white, and says, it is not a game changer yet as to the color they pick. The same sentiments were reflected by Ganges Grandmasters team manager, Pravin Thipsay.

Four matches each will be played on Saturday and Sunday, and before Magnus takes on Viswanathan, he will play against Ian Nepomniachtchi, as SG Alpine Warriors battle with Balan Alaskan Knights. Steve Waugh, a legendary cricketer is among the guests of the Global Chess League organizers in Dubai. Waugh admitted that though he is an outdoor sports person, he is a casual chess player and on Thursday watched the first set of games.

The production set-up in place is something that caught Steve’s eye and he was quite nervous with 27 cameras on in the playing arena. The cricket master said that the arrangement will give a different perspective to the game altogether.