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How to deal with the potential problem of elite GMs taking a safety-first approach and signing too many draws in a closed tournament? The organizers of the Tata Steel Festival and the TePe Sigeman & Co event have figured out that it is all about choosing the right lineup. Six out of eight games finished decisively in the first two rounds in this year’s edition of the tournament in Malmö.
ChessBase contributor Thorsten Cmiel tweeted after all four games had decisive results in the second round (the magical photo was taken by David Llada):
Understanding Middlegame Strategies Vol.1-6
In this Videocourse we deal with different aspects of the middlegame which are important to study and improve your general understanding of chess structures.
#Chess The players in the @tepesigeman Masters in Malmo produced today four decided games. It shows that the right mixture of players decides if a tournament is magic or boring. Btw the Malmo rule forbids draws before move 40.
— Thorsten Cmiel (@CmielThorsten) May 5, 2023
📸David Llada pic.twitter.com/wv8nWxH9Lk
After two rounds, Dommaraju Gukesh is leading the standings with a perfect score. The Indian prodigy defeated Jorden van Foreest and Vincent Keymer, and has now climbed to 15th place in the live ratings list.
Three players — from three different generations — stand a half point back with 1½/2. Peter Svidler (b. 1976), Nils Grandelius (1993) and Abhimanyu Mishra (2009) have all collected a win and a draw so far in Malmö.
Nils Grandelius | Photo: David Llada
Van Foreest won the event back in 2021, but did not have the best start this year. The Dutchman had only played two rated games against Gukesh before their first-round confrontation, and both had ended drawn. This time around, Gukesh first neutralized White’s attacking chances on the kingside and then converted a tough endgame with an extra pawn.
Avoiding mistakes in the opening and even learning from mistakes is a valuable tool to improve your chess. Ruslan Ponomariov, former FIDE World Champion, demonstrates basic patterns that will help you navigate through the game more easily.
