Nielsen, Hansen win, fourth GM norm for Carlsen

by ChessBase
5/13/2004 – Top Nordic players and a few foreigners battled it out in the Sigeman Tournament in Malmo. The two top Danish grandmasters decided the outcome in the last round. Trailing half a point behind the two was a Norwegian chess prodigy. Here's a pictorial report.

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Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament 2004

The Sigeman Tournament 2004 was organised by the Limhamn Chess Club and the Copenhagen Chess Federation. It was staged in Malmo and Høje Taastrup (a suburb of Copenhagen) from April 30th to May 9th 2004. The winner was Peter Heine Nielsen, who beat Curt Hansen in the final round. In third place was the world's youngest GM, Magnus Carlsen, who of course stole the show from his older colleagues. According to our calculation the lad achieved a fourth GM norm at the Sigeman tournament! Here are the final standings:

Portraits of the leading players

Grandmaster Peter Heine Nielsen, Denmark, 30 years old, Elo 2628
The Danish grandmaster Peter Heine Nielsen is number three on the Nordic rating list and ranks 67 on the world rating list. He has been a grandmaster for ten years and has won several strong tournaments. He has also participated in the world championship tournament on several occasions. One of the main reasons for his success is hard work on his opening repertoire. He belongs to the growing crowd of grandmasters who use modern information technology, and in addition to training sessions with Viswanathan Anand and legendary trainer Mark Dvoretsky, he has also spent many hours at his computer, where analysis software and databases assist in his preparations. With white, he is feared, and he is very solid with the black pieces, something which the Danish national team has benefited greatly from.

Grandmaster Curt Hansen, Denmark, 39 years old, Elo 2635
In 1983, when 18-year-old Curt Hansen defeated the legendary Bent Larsen in a rapid chess match, he had already won the Nordic Championship. The following year, he won the Junior World Championship, but it was not until 1992 that he passed Larsen on the international rating list. During the nineties, he was indisputably Denmark’s strongest chess player, but in the last few years, Peter Heine Nielsen has caught up with him. Hansen is very solid and has been a key player to his club in the German Bundesliga, SG Porz. Last year, he was the top scorer of the Bundesliga with an impressive 12 out of 15.

Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, Norway, 13 years old, Elo 2552
For the past two years, the Norwegian chess society have been talking about this new chess prodigy. At thirteen, he has already had success on the international chess scene. US grandmaster and chess columnist Lubosh Kavalek even called him “the Mozart of Chess”. Carlsen secured the grandmaster title right before this tournament. He has an aggressive approach to the game and a strong opening repertoire, despite hardly being able to reach the other end of the board. He should be a big crowd favorite and we hope that he will become a regular participant.

Picture gallery


Slovenian GM Alexander Beliavsky (50, 2667) vs American GM Nick de Firmian (46, 2542)


A boy chess genius in typical playing positions


Battle of the giants: Peter Heine Nielsen beats Curt Hansen in the last round to overtake the leader (on tiebreak points)


The chess audience in the playing hall


And in the commentary section


Star Magnus Carlsen at the closing ceremony with his family


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