Sigeman: Four decisions in round 1

After a long period of inactivity due to the Corona Pandemic 2021, the tournament scene is currently buzzing. One event follows the next and some players are in constant action. No one would be seriously surprised should Carlsen happen to appear in two places at the same time. But the young German Grandmaster Vincent Keymer is also currently very active. The 16-year-old European Vice-Champion and winner of the online Hou Yifan Challenge is now in Malmö, Sweden, and is one of the participants in the traditional TePe Sigeman & Co tournament, which once again sees a very interesting field.

Nihal Sarin from India and Jonas Bjerre from Denmark, who like Keymer were both born in 2004, will be competing. Bjerre is a replacement for Anatoli Karpov, who was originally scheduled to play but had to cancel. A bit older and more experienced than the 2004s is Jorden van Foreest, who was born in the last century (1999).

With Nils Grandelius (born 1993), Gawain Jones (1987) and Etienne Bacrot (1983) three experienced Grandmasters start. And that brings us to the tournament senior, Nigel Short (born 1965). The 1993 World Championship challenger is now also FIDE Vice-President and his recently published "Winning", a book in which he looks back to a few of his many tournament wins. Short is a witty and funny narrator and if you want to see him "live", his DVDs "Nigel Short's greatest Hits" are recommended.

Greatest Hits Vol. 1

Nigel Short takes us on an electrifying journey through a very rich chess career, which saw him beat no less than twelve world champions. His experience in tournaments and matches all over the world – Short has visited a total of 89 countries – can be seen in the narratives that precede the games which he annotates with humour and instructive insights.

Greatest Hits Vol. 2

Nigel David Short is generally regarded as the strongest British grandmaster of the 20th century. Born on June 1st 1965 he started out as a chess prodigy, first attracting media attention by beating Viktor Korchnoi and Tigran Petrosian in simultaneous exhibitions at the age of ten and twelve years respectively. At the age of 14 he became the youngest IM in history, breaking Bobby Fischer’s previous record, and at 16 he came second (to Garry Kasparov) at the under 20 World Junior Championship in Dortmund.

In round 1 Short had White against Bacrot and had to solve unusual problems in an interesting endgame.

After the opening, Short was under pressure but he found a way to free his position and could win Black's queen. However, when liquidating into an endgame in which his queen had to fight the bishops and a couple of strong passed pawns, Short was too impatient. With correct defense, Black should have been able to save a draw but Bacrot became too ambitious.

Jorden van Foreest defeated Vincent Keymer. In the opening, the well-prepared Dutchman, managed to put Keymer under pressure, but then let the young German back into the game. However, after an inaccuracy by Keymer in the endgame, Van Foreest could cash in.

Nils Grandelius outplayed Nihal Sarin and came to a convincing win, but Gawain Jones needed a lot of luck to win against Jonas Bjerre.

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