Magnus Carlsen gives POTM trophy to Vidit Gujrathi (GCL Photo)

BENGALURU: Ganges Grandmasters and defending champions APL Pipers strengthened their chances of reaching the Global Chess League final after convincing victories in the penultimate round of Season 4 in Bengaluru on Friday. Both teams now need just a win in their final round-robin match on Saturday to secure a place in the title clash.Ganges Grandmasters produced the biggest victory of the tournament, thrashing Mumba Masters 16-1, while the Pipers edged American Gambits 9-7 in a crucial battle between the top two teams.The results left Ganges and Pipers level on 18 match points, but Ganges moved into first place with 88 game points, four more than Pipers.The Pipers’ victory was highlighted by world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen ending Candidates 2026 winner Javokhir Sindarov’s three-game winning streak.While Divya Deshmukh’s difficult GCL debut continued as she ran out of time against Bibisara Assaubayeva, Carlsen controlled the Icon board encounter and forced Sindarov to resign after 36 moves.He was named Player of the Match but then handed the trophy to teammate Vidit Gujrathi, who sealed the match by defeating Daniil Dubov.Vidit prevailed in a marathon 96-move battle on the Superstar Men board, keeping his composure in a time scramble to convert an extra knight and pawn against Dubov’s rook.“First of all, I think this was a great match with a very good team performance. We are thrilled to get the win. In my game, I was doing pretty well early on, but he (Sindarov) put up a big fight but I was able to wriggle out and find the win,” Carlsen said, before giving the MOTM trophy to Vidit."I do not deserve this 'player of the match' as much as the man who won us the match," the five-time classical World Champion said, acknowledging Vidit's contribution.Ganges’ commanding victory was powered by Ian Nepomniachtchi, Levon Aronian, Leinier Dominguez Perez, Stavroula Tsolakidou and Leon Luke Mendonca, who all won their games with White. Polina Shuvalova drew with Harika, while the Mumba Masters endured a heavy defeat.In the day’s other match, Triveni Continental Kings defeated Alaskan Knights 13-7. Triveni's Zhu Jiner registered her first win of the tournament against Kateryna Lagno, Alexandra Kosteniuk beat Nino Batsiashvili, and Pranav Venkatesh defeated Abhimanyu Mishra. Meanwhile, Knights' Arjun Erigaisi also beat Wei Yi, while 15-year-old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus defeated Aravindh Chithambaram. But those wins were not enough to take them home.Ganges and Pipers will qualify for the final with victories, while the Gambits need one of the top two teams to lose and must beat Mumba Masters by a convincing margin to keep their hopes alive.

GCL 2026 Points table after Day 7

GCL 2026 fixtures for Day 8 - Saturday, September 12