The Koner Humpa-led Pipers bounced back against the Alaskan Knights to reclaim first place in the GCL

Koneru Humpy wins Man of The Match award (GCL Photo) BENGALURU: Defending APL champions Pipers beat Alaskan Knights 11-6 in their second match of the day to move to the top of the table after Day 6 of the Global Chess League in Bengaluru on Thursday.The Pipers’ win came after they suffered a 4-12 defeat to Grandmasters Ganga earlier in the day. Ganges, playing with the black pieces, gave a dominant performance without losing a single game.Stavroula Tsolakidou handed Koner Humpy his second defeat of the season, while Levon Aronian turned around a difficult position to defeat Anish Giri in 61 moves.Aronian, named Player of the Match, admitted he was “very lucky” but said he always believed he could find the best moves despite a poor start.The Pipers responded emphatically in their second game. Magnus Carlsen, playing White, defeated Viswanathan Anand, ahead of Humpy against the formidable Nino Batsiashvili, who led with his fourth win of the season.After the match, Humpy, who won Man of The Match, revealed that the role of motivator inside the dressing room is played by the current world number one and her Pipers team-mate Magnus Carlsen.“He (Carlsen) motivates us a lot,” she told reporters. “Like, even if we lose a game, for example, he tells us how to approach the game and how we should keep our cool. So yeah, having him is a great inspiration.”Grandmaster Volodar Murzin then sealed the team’s victory by defeating Abhimanya Mishra in a time trial. For the Alaskan Knights, 15-year-old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus was the only winner, winning four points with black pieces.Earlier, Mumba Masters kept their playoff hopes alive with a convincing 14-5 win over Triveni Continental Kings. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave defeated Alireza Firouzja on the Icon board, while Shakhriyar Mamedyarov defeated Aravind Chithambaram on the Superstar men’s board. Bardiya Daneshvar also won on board Prodigy.APL Pipers and American Gambits are level at 15 match points. Ganges Grandmasters are third with 15 match points, just one game point behind them. With each team only having two games in the next few days, the battle for the top two spots could change again on Friday.GCL 2026 standings after day 6PosTeamMWLMPGP1APL Pipers85315732American Gambits85315733Ganges Grandmasters85315724Mumba Masters84412735Alaskan Knights8359646Triveni Continental Kings826657GCL 2026 Program for Day 7 – Friday 11 SeptemberTime 5:00 PM Triveni Continental Kings vs Alaskan Knights 6:30 PM PMAPL Pipers vs American Gambits 8:00 PM Ganges Grandmasters vs Mumba Masters