Global Chess: Nakamura surprises Anand in key contest

The American Gambits scored a crucial victory against the Ganges Grandmasters in the opening round of day four of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League on Sunday. Hikaru Nakamura and Elisabeth Paehtz lead the winning charge for the American Gambits. With four defeats in five matches, Vishy Anand’s team is in serious trouble.

With only one victory in three matches, the Gambits entered the day at the bottom of the standings. Just ahead of them, in fifth place, were the Ganges Grandmasters, who had played four matches but also secured only one win.

After the coin toss, it was decided that the Gambits would play with the white pieces. John Hinshaw, Chief Operating Officer of global banking giant HSBC, made the ceremonial first move.

On the Icon board, world number two and popular chess streamer Hikaru Nakamura surprised former World Champion and Ganges leader Vishy Anand with an unexpected opening.

Despite the early surprise, Anand, playing Black, equalized quickly, and the game remained balanced for most of its duration.

However, as time became a factor, Anand made a bold decision—sacrificing his queen for a rook and a bishop in hopes of building a "fortress," a defensive setup where one side has a material disadvantage but can avoid being checkmated.

Nakamura maintained the pressure, forcing Anand to spend more time on the clock. In the final seconds, Anand’s hand was visibly trembling, and Nakamura ultimately claimed victory, leveraging the time pressure.

After the match Nakamura said: “My focus was just on this match, because whoever lost would be out of contention to win the event”.

A wild game unfolded on the women’s board, where Ganges’ Nurgyul Salimova launched an aggressive attack against Elisabeth Paehtz’s king.

However, the German defended brilliantly, emerging a piece up and winning, giving the Gambits a crucial edge in the match.

On the second Icon board, Parham Maghsoodloo managed to secure a draw against Wei Yi by pulling off several moves in rapid succession, resulting in a threefold repetition.

On the other boards, Bibisara Assaubayeva and Vaishali R drew their game, while superstars Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Arjun Erigaisi also settled for a draw. Likewise, the two juniors—Jonas Bjerre and Volodar Murzin—ended their game in a stalemate.

The final score of the match was 10-4 in favor of the American Gambits, marking an important win for Hikaru Nakamura’s team, which now had two victories out of four matches.

Meanwhile, with four losses in five matches, the Ganges Grandmasters find themselves in serious trouble and need to find a way to, at least, stop the bleeding.