Triveni Continental Kings secured a hard-fought 10-9 victory over Chingari Gulf Titans in a tense round eight match of the Global Chess League, with substitute player Sara Khadem registering a crucial win in Dubai on Thursday.
Ganges Grandmasters made an important comeback after two losses, defeating Balan Alaskan Knights 8-7 in a match decided by a game which lasted 114 moves.
Both the Titans and the Kings started round eight at the bottom of the scoreboard, struggling in the league. Both the teams had won two matches each, but the Titans had an additional tie draw, giving them a total of seven match points, one more than the Kings.
The previous match between these two teams ended in a draw. This was one of the last chances for the Kings to turn their fortune around and they had to do it with black pieces.
After about thirty minutes of play with mostly balanced positions, the tide started to turn.
First Titans' Shakhriyar Mamedyarov defeated Yu Yangyi as Black, after the Chinese Grandmaster made an error in the middle game and had to exchange his queen, entering a completely lost position.
Then, Nihal Sarin defeated Jonas Buhl Bjerre after White made a mistake in the endgame, bringing the Titans' advantage to eight points.
It seemed like the Kings were once again heading towards a difficult situation. However, fortune smiled upon them as Levon Aronian seized his advantage against Duda and confidently beat his opponent.
After a mistake in the early stages of the middle game by Kings' Dubov, Wei Yi got the initiative and eventually ended up with as many as four free pawns on the queenside, and won the game.
Alexandra Kosteniuk and Kateryna Lagno drew their game, bringing the score to 9-7 in favour of the Chingari Gulf Titans.
The fate of the match rested on the game between Sara Khadem and Polina Shuvalova. The Kings needed a win to secure the match, while a draw would be sufficient for the Titans.
Luckily for the Kings, Sara Khadem (who came in as a replacement for Nana Dzagnidze who left the event for personal reasons) earned a vital win.
"We just told ourselves that we haven't been playing well. We should win every single match but let's go match by match," said team leader Levon Aronian in the post-game interview.
