Picture Credit: @ChessbaseIndia
The inaugural edition of Chess Super League finally came to an end on Sunday, producing 7 days of thrilling Chess for fans across the globe. The event, which was organized by ChessBase India, Nodwin Gaming and Samay Raina, was streamed live on latter's YouTube channel with around 15-20k people watching the final clash between The Kingslayers (owned by Tanmay Bhat) and Pivotal Pawns (owned by Zakir Khan) throughout the evening.
As per the format of the finals, both the sides were slated to face each other in two games. The Kingslayers, who had defeated Pivotal Pawns twice earlier in the tournament, came into this contest with a better head-to-head record and continued their dominance. Anish Giri led side won the Game 1 by a narrow margin of 3.5-2.5 but Pivotal Pawns produced a remarkable fightback in Game 2 to win the match 3.5-2.5.
The match went to Armageddon with International GM Female - Nana Dzagnidze (The Kingslayers) and Zhansaya Abdumalik (Pivotal Pawns) - locking horns with each other in the ultimate decider. As it happened, Zhansaya Abdumalik won the match to guide her side to an epic win as Pivotal Pawns were crowned champions of first season of Chess Super League on Sunday.
Game 1 - The Kingslayers beat Pivotal Pawns 3.5-2.5
Match 1: S.P. Sethuraman (The Kingslayers) drew with Ding Liren (Pivotal Pawns)
Match 2: Anish Giri (The Kingslayers) drew with Abhijeet Gupta (Pivotal Pawns)
Match 3: Soumya Swaminathan (The Kingslayers) lost to Zhansaya Abdumalik (Pivotal Pawns)
Match 4: Nana Dzagnidze (The Kingslayers) beat Bhakti Kulkarni (Pivotal Pawns)
Match 5: D. Gukesh (The Kingslayers) beat Arjun Kalyan (Pivotal Pawns)
Match 6: Arpita Mukherjee (The Kingslayers) drew with Savitha Shri (Pivotal Pawns)
Game 2 - Pivotal Pawns beat The Kingslayers 3.5-2.5
Match 1: S.P. Sethuraman (The Kingslayers) drew with Abhijeet Gupta (Pivotal Pawns)
Match 2: Anish Giri (The Kingslayers) lost to Ding Liren (Pivotal Pawns)
Match 3: Soumya Swaminathan (The Kingslayers) lost to Zhansaya Abdumalik (Pivotal Pawns)
Match 4: Nana Dzagnidze (The Kingslayers) beat Bhakti Kulkarni (Pivotal Pawns)
Match 5: D. Gukesh (The Kingslayers) beat Arjun Kalyan (Pivotal Pawns)
Match 6: Arpita Mukherjee (The Kingslayers) lost to Savitha Shri (Pivotal Pawns)
Game 3 - Armageddon
Zhansaya Abdumalik (Pivotal Pawns) beat Nana Dzagnidze (The Kingslayers)
Yuzvendra Chahal made guest appearance in CSL finale
After returning from Dubai to Mumbai only on Saturday, former national Chess champion Yuzvendra Chahal made guest appearance during the live streaming of the CSL finale on Sunday. The 31-year-old locked horns with presenter Samay Raina in an exhibition 3-match series.
While playing with white pieces, Chahal won the first contest before Samay Raina bounced back in the next match to level the series. The leg-spinner made a slight blunder in the deciding contest as Samay went on to seal the match to clinch the closely-fought series 2-1.