Hans Niemann triumphant at TePe Sigeman & Co

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
5/9/2022 – Less than two weeks after winning the Capablanca Memorial, Hans Niemann claimed outright victory at the TePe Sigeman & Co tournament in Malmö. Niemann scored 5/7 points to finish a full point ahead of a three-player chasing pack, which consisted of Michael Adams, Nils Grandelius and Arjun Erigaisi. | Photo: Lars OA Hedlund

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Closing on 2700

Only eleven days ago we published a final report from the Capablanca Memorial. In it, we praised the determination which allowed Hans Niemann to quickly climb up the rating ladder in merely two years. Now the US grandmaster, who is playing a marathon of back-to-back tournaments, added another remarkable victory to his record, as he became the clear winner of the TePe Sigeman & Co Tournament in Malmö.

Niemann’s demeanour on and off the board might prompt some to think he is older than he actually is. At 18, the grandmaster from San Francisco shows tremendous will to continue his rapid ascent. As Irina Bulmaga noted in her report from Havana:

I can’t help but admire [Niemann’s] resourcefulness and fantastic will to progress and win each game by all means — though never crossing the limit of fair-play boundaries.

In Malmö, the rising star was the seventh seed in an 8-player field which had Jorden van Foreest, Michael Adams and Alexei Shirov as the highest-rated participants. Niemann collected three wins and four draws to finish clear first on 5/7 points. On his way to outright victory, the youngster defeated Shirov, Saleh Salem and Arjun Erigaisi.

Arjun, who is also 18 and is also having a great year, was one of three players who shared second place with 4/7 points. Adams and local hero Nils Grandelius also finished with a +1 score. The tournament was particularly disappointing for Shirov, who arrived in Malmö shortly after beating Gawain Jones at the 4NCL tournament.

Thanks to his great performance, Niemann gained 17.8 rating points, which allowed him to climb to sixth place in the U20 live ratings list. Despite getting second place, Arjun grabbed 5.6 points and is now fourth in the same ranking.

Michael Adams, Saleh Salem

Michael Adams beat Saleh Salem in the final round | Photo: Lars OA Hedlund

Niemann beats Arjun

In what turned out to be a crucial game, Niemann defeated Arjun with the white pieces in round 3. Arjun incorrectly offered a queen exchange, which was initially declined by the eventual winner of the event. Niemann gained a tempo by developing his bishop and only then exchanging the queens at the next opportunity.

Niemann vs. Arjun - Round 3

What Black could have done instead is 19...b5 20.Qb3 Qb7, manoeuvring the knight to b6 and thus getting better counter-chances. There followed 19...Qc6 20.Qxc6 bxc6, which fragmented Black's pawn structure.

The position became far more unpleasant and difficult to play for Arjun.

The straw that broke the camel’s back came when Black played 43...g5. After 44.a4 it was a point of no return. There were no breakthroughs left for Black, which means that any chance to salvage the position was gone — 43...a4 was worth a try.

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1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Be4 7.f3 Bg6 8.Qb3 Qc7 9.Bd2 Be7 10.Nxg6 hxg6 11.0-0-0 dxc4 12.Qxc4 a6 13.Kb1 Nbd7 14.h4 c5 15.Qb3 cxd4 16.exd4 Qb6 17.Qa4 Qc6 18.Bb5 Qc8 19.Bd3 Qc6 19...b5 20.Qb3 Qb7 20.Qxc6 bxc6 21.Na4 Nd5 22.Rc1 Bb4 23.Bxb4 Nxb4 24.Be2 Nb8 25.g3 Ke7 26.Nc5 Ra7 27.f4 Rd8 28.Rhd1 a5 29.Bf3 Nd5 30.Re1 Nd7 31.Nd3 Kd6 32.Re2 Ra6 33.Rec2 Rc8 34.b3 Ne3 35.Rd2 Nd5 36.Nb2 Rc7 37.Rdc2 Ne3 38.Rd2 Nf5 39.g4 Ne3 40.Re1 Nd5 41.f5 Rc8 42.Nc4+ Ke7 43.h5 g5 43...a4 44.b4 gxf5 44...Nxb4? 45.hxg6+- 45.gxf5 N7b6 46.Ne5+- 44.a4 Nf4 45.Ka2 Rb8 46.Ka3 Rd8 47.fxe6 fxe6 48.Rc2 Rf8 49.Be4 Kd8 50.Nd2 Nf6 51.Bf3 g6 52.hxg6 Rg8 53.Nc4 Nd7 54.Rh2 Rxg6 55.Rh8+ Kc7 56.Rh7 Kd8 57.Reh1 Rf6 58.Rg7 Ng6 59.Be4 Ngf8 60.Ne5 Rf4 61.Rh8 Nxe5 62.dxe5 c5 63.Bf5 Ke8 64.Bg6+ Kd8 65.Bf7 Ke7 66.Bxe6+ Kxe6 67.Rh6+ Kxe5 68.Rxg5+ 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Niemann,H2637Erigaisi,A26751–02022D1227th Sigeman & Co 20223.2

Additional reporting by Shahid Ahmed


Video analysis by IM Sagar Shah


Final standings

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.

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