TePe Sigeman: Ju stuns Keymer

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
5/1/2024 – Ju Wenjun took down Vincent Keymer with the black pieces in round 4 of the TePe Sigeman & Co. Tournament. Keymer, who was sharing the lead after three rounds, now stands a half point behind co-leaders Arjun Erigaisi and Anton Korobov. One more game ended decisively in Malmö, with Nodirbek Abdusattorov getting the better of Nils Grandelius. | Photo: Mikael Svensson, tepesigemanchess.com
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Abdusattorov and Ju notch up maiden wins

Two games ended decisively in round 4 of the TePe Sigeman & Co. Tournament. Both Ju Wenjun and Nodirbek Abdusattorov obtained victories for the first time in the event, with Ju defeating former co-leader Vincent Keymer and top seed Abdusattorov getting the better of Nils Grandelius. These results left Arjun Erigaisi and Anton Korobov — who drew their direct encounter on Tuesday — tied for first place with 3 points each.

Surely the most surprising result was Ju’s victory over Keymer. Ju is the lowest-rated player in the field and had started the event with back-to-back losses against Arjun and Peter Svidler. Not only was the result a surprise though, but also the way the game played out: Keymer blundered a piece on move 27, then miraculously re-established equality in the endgame, and finally failed to find the path to a draw in a tricky technical position.

Abdusattorov’s victory was more straightforward, as Grandelius spent too much time trying to work out how to proceed in a deeply strategic opening, which cost him dearly in a critical point of the game later on.

In round 5, Keymer will have a tough task in trying to bounce back from a painful loss, as he will play black against co-leader Arjun. The other co-leader, Korobov, will play black against Svidler in a duel between the two most experienced players in the field.

Results - Round 4

Anton Korobov, Arjun Erigaisi

Still sharing the lead — Anton Korobov and Arjun Erigaisi | Photo: Mikael Svensson, tepesigemanchess.com

Keymer 0 - 1 Ju

Keymer, Vincent27260–1Ju, Wenjun2559
TePe Sigeman Co 2024
Malmo30.04.2024[CC]
1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.e3 Bf5 7.Nge2 Be7 8.Ng3 Be6 9.Bd3 h6 10.Bf4 0-0 Castling short had never been played before in this exact position. 11.Nf5 Bxf5 12.Bxf5 Bd6 13.Bg3 Ne8 14.Qc2 Nd7 15.0-0-0 Nb6 16.Bh7+ Kh8 17.Bd3 White has emerged with a slight edge out of the opening. Black's position is solid enough, but it's difficult to find an active plan without making major concessions. a5 18.Kb1 a4 19.a3 Qe7 20.Rde1 Qf6 21.f3 Nc7 22.Qf2 Qd8 23.e4 dxe4 24.Nxe4 Be7 25.Be5 Ne6 White has improved his pieces, but breaking through is certainly difficult after Black patiently dealt with all the tactical threats. 26.Qe3 Threatening Qxh6, though after Black's reply this manoeuvre looks rather artificial. Better was the subtle 26.Rd1 Also playable was the logical 26.h4 26...f6 27.Nc5? After spending 7 of the 23 minutes he had left on the clock, Keymer blundered a piece with this move - he failed to calculate all ensuing forcing lines accurately.
27...Bxc5 27...Nxc5 28.dxc5 Bxc5 29.Qe4 is perhaps what Keymer focused on - the intermediate mating threat looks strong, but after f5 30.Qe2 the position is dynamically balanced. 28.dxc5 Nd5 29.Qe4 Ng5 White will lose a piece, simply. 30.Qc4 fxe5 31.Rxe5 Re8 32.Rhe1 Rxe5 33.Rxe5 b5 This pawn push is somewhat hasty, though Black is still clearly better. 33...Qf6 34.Re1 Nf4 was a strong alternative. 34.cxb6 Qxb6 35.Re2 Rb8 36.Ka1 Qb3 37.Qxb3 axb3 The queens have left the board, and Black still has a piece for a pawn. Keymer did not give up, though, as he continued to create problems for his opponent.
38.Bc4 Nf7 39.Re6 g5 40.g3 Kg7 41.Kb1 Rb7 42.Kc1 h5 43.Kd2 Rd7 44.Kc1 Rb7 45.Kd2 h4 An imprecision by Ju. Stronger is 45...Rd7 threatening a discovered attack, and after 46.Kc1 Nc7 White's rook will leave the sixth rank, since 47.Rxc6 Ne5 48.Rc5 Kf6 49.f4 gxf4 50.gxf4 Nxc4 51.Rxc4 Nd5 helps Black to make progress. 46.Rxc6 Ne5 47.Rc5 Nxc4+ 48.Rxc4 h3 49.Kd3 Rd7 50.Rd4 Kf6 51.a4 Ke5 52.Re4+ Kd6 53.Kc4 Rb7 54.a5 Rb4+ 55.Kd3 Kc5 56.Rxb4 Nxb4+ Keymer has shown incredible resourcefulness, and now has real drawing chances, as the black knight has to deal with passed pawns on both sides of the board.
57.Ke4 Kb5 58.f4 gxf4 59.gxf4 Kxa5 60.f5 Nc6 61.Kd5 Nd8 62.Kc4 Ka4 63.f6 Nf7 64.Kc5? The losing mistake after a long, difficult battle.
64.Kd4 Kb4 65.Kd5 Kb5 66.Kd4 and the king cannot infiltrate on the queenside, while the knight is stuck defending against a potential promotion of the f-pawn. Nonetheless, Black could have continued looking for chances by transferring her king to the kingside. 64...Nh6 65.Kd5 Kb5 66.Ke5 Kc4 67.Ke4 Nf7 68.Kf5 Kd3 69.Kg6 Nd6 A memorable win for the women's world champion! 0–1

Vincent Keymer, Ju Wenjun

Vincent Keymer and Ju Wenjun | Photo: Mikael Svensson, tepesigemanchess.com

Abdusattorov 1 - 0 Grandelius

Analysis by Klaus Besenthal

Abdusattorov, Nodirbek27651–0Grandelius, Nils2664
TePe Sigeman Co 2024
Malmo30.04.2024[Besenthal,Klaus-Guenther]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.g3 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bg2 d6 6.0-0 0-0 7.Nc3 a5 8.h3 h6 9.Kh2 Be6 10.Na4 Ba7 11.c4 Nd7 12.Nc3 f5 13.exf5 Bxf5 14.Nb5 Bb6 15.Be3 Bxe3 16.fxe3 Bh7 17.d4 Nb4 18.Qd2 Bd3 19.Rfc1 exd4 20.exd4 Be4 21.Nh4 Nf6 22.d5 Bxg2 23.Qxg2 c6 24.Nd4 Qb6 25.Nhf5!
This knight move is the prelude to an attack on the black king's position, which comes as a surprise in that the three white heavy pieces do not (yet) seem to be in the right position for it. 25...cxd5 Black initially ignores the matter and prefers to grab this pawn. The computer's solution is 25...g6! and after e.g. 26.Nxh6+ Kh7 27.Ne6 Kxh6 28.Qd2+ Kh7 29.Rf1 cxd5 30.Rae1 the engines evaluate the position as balanced. Black has an extra piece, but it is quite astonishing how the white pieces control all the dark squares through which the black queen would like to come to the aid of her king - but cannot. 26.Ne6 Rf7 27.Rf1 Now this rook is activated. It threatens to capture on g7. Nd3?! Better was 27...Rc8 The rook threatens - after Rxc4 - to infiltrate via c2. 28.Nexg7 dxc4? 28...Rxg7 29.Nxh6+ Kh7 30.Rxf6 Qxb2 31.Qxb2 Nxb2 32.Nf5+- was not an option. With 28...Kh7± resistance was still possible. 29.Nh5! Grandelius had perhaps overlooked this strong move. Kh7 29...Nxh5 30.Nxh6++- 30.Ne7 Qd4 31.Nd5!
The white knights are really doing a great job in this game. 31...Nxd5 32.Rxf7+ Kh8 33.Raf1 Ne5 34.Rxb7 Ne3 35.Rf4 Qd3
Black was totally losing, so his last move can no longer be seen as a mistake. However, it allows White a nice mating combination. 36.Rh7+! In sacrificial style, this rook vacates its place for the queen. Kxh7 36...Qxh7 37.Qxa8+ Qg8 38.Rf8 36...Kg8 37.Nf6+ Kf8 38.Qxa8# 37.Qb7+ The queen has been standing idle on g2 for a long time - not anymore! Kg6 38.Qg7+ Kxh5 39.Rh4# The strong youngsters seem to like to borrow stylistically from Mikhail Tal - if the opportunity presents itself! 1–0

Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Nils Grandelius

Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Nils Grandelius | Photo: Mikael Svensson, tepesigemanchess.com

Standings after round 4

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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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