TePe Sigeman: Two leaders, one round to go

by André Schulz
5/10/2023 – In the penultimate round of the TePe Sigeman & Co tournament in Malmö, points were split on all four boards, which means Peter Svidler and Abhimanyu Mishra remain at the top of the standings. Wednesday’s round kicks off three hours earlier than usual. Svidler will play black against Dommaraju Gukesh, while Abhimanyu will face Boris Gelfand with the white pieces. | Photo: David Llada

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Keeping it closed

In Malmö, the penultimate round of the traditional TePe Sigeman & Co tournament was played on Tuesday. Unlike rounds 1 to 6, the final round on Wednesday will kick off at 12 o’clock, three hours earlier than usual.

Round 6 was the first in the tournament to see draws on all four boards.

Facing Jorden van Foreest, Vincent Keymer got an interesting position with the black pieces out of a Nimzo-Indian Defence. The young German had attacking chances, since his Dutch opponent castled long. White, however, also had attacking possibilities, which prompted Keymer — who is not having a great tournament in Sweden — to settle the game with a piece sacrifice that led to a perpetual check.

The game between Arjun Erigaisi and Abhimanyu Mishra also ended without a winner. In the Jobava-London system, Arjun attacked on the kingside and kept his king in the centre. Abhimanyu, however, successfully kept the lines closed.

Co-leader Abhimanyu played 23...h6, 24...f5 and 25...b6 on the next three moves, creating a completely closed structure. Arjun, who came from suffering a painful loss against Van Foreest, soon agreed to repeat the position and call it a day.

Arjun Erigaisi, Abhimanyu Mishra

Arjun Erigaisi went for an unusual yet dangerous line with the white pieces against co-leader Abhimanyu Mishra | Photo: David Llada

Peter Svidler, the other co-leader in Malmö, was also unable to extend his score. Svidler played a sideline against Grandelius’ Najdorf, but did not get much out of it. The game eventually petered out into a draw in a heavy-piece endgame.

In the game between Boris Gelfand and Dommaraju Gukesh, the young Indian castled long with black out of a principled Slav Defence. He got a better endgame after the exchange of queens, but the experienced Gelfand was able to defend the position successfully.

Boris Gelfand, Dommaraju Gukesh

Battle of generations — Boris Gelfand played white against Dommaraju Gukesh in round 6 | Photo: David Llada

Standings after round 6

All games


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André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.