TePe Sigeman: Korobov rejoins the lead after beating Grandelius

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
5/3/2024 – Two decisive games in the penultimate round of the TePe Sigeman & Co. Tournament left three players tied for first place, as Anton Korobov rejoined Peter Svidler and Arjun Erigaisi in the lead by beating Nils Grandelius with the white pieces. Nodirbek Abdusattorov scored a win over Vincent Keymer to remain in the fight for first place, as he now stands a half point behind the leading trio. | Photo: Mikael Svensson / tepesigemanchess.com
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Three co-leaders going into the final round

After losing to Peter Svidler in Wednesday’s fifth round, Anton Korobov rejoined the lead by beating Nils Grandelius with the white pieces on the penultimate day of action. Korobov is now sharing first place with Svidler and Arjun Erigaisi, who faced each other and signed a 36-move draw on Thursday.

Korobov’s victory over Grandelius was not the only decisive result of the day, though, as Nodirbek Abdusattorov beat Vincent Keymer to remain with outside chances of winning the event. The Uzbek star stands a half point behind the leading trio, and might even win the tournament outright — though that is a very unlikely scenario.

In Friday’s final round, none of the co-leaders will face each other, as Arjun and Korobov will play with the black pieces while defending champion Svidler will be the only of the three to get the white pieces.

Pairings - Round 7 (co-leaders in bold)

  • Peter Svidler v. Vincent Keymer
  • Nils Grandelius v. Arjun Erigaisi
  • Ju Wenjun v. Anton Korobov
  • Nodirbek Abdusattorov v. Marc’Andria Maurizzi

In case of a tie for first place after the final round, a blitz playoff will decide the winner of the event, featuring 3’+2” blitz games and potential sudden-death encounters with 2½ minutes for Black and 3 minutes for White. Read the full tiebreak regulations here.

Results - Round 6

Arjun Erigaisi, Peter Svidler

Co-leaders Arjun Erigaisi and Peter Svidler | Photo: Mikael Svensson / tepesigemanchess.com

Korobov 1 - 0 Grandelius

Korobov, Anton26511–0Grandelius, Nils2664
TePe Sigeman Co 2024
Malmo02.05.2024[CC]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.h3 This is one of many theoretical continuations out of the very flexible Four Knights Opening. Pushing the pawn to h3 is not as popular d2-d4 or Bf1-b5, however. g6 5.Bc4 Bg7 6.d3 d6 7.a4 0-0 8.0-0 h6 9.a5 a6 10.Nd5 Nxd5 11.Bxd5 Kh7 12.c3 Grandelius spent a bit over 10 minutes before playing f5
The Swedish GM was surely considering 12...Nxa5 13.Rxa5 Or 13.Bxf7 Rxf7 14.Rxa5 which is what he is likely to have rejected, as it leads to a more passive struggle - Grandelius prefers positions with active possibilities for both sides. 13...c6 14.Ra3 cxd5 15.exd5 13.Re1 Qf6 14.b4 Ne7 15.Bb3 g5 16.exf5 Bxf5 17.d4 e4 18.Nh2 Ng6 19.Ra2 The most precise continuation according to the engines, which demonstrates that Korobov was much more comfortable in this strategic struggle. The Ukrainian also had a 16-minute advantage on the clock. Rae8 20.f3 exf3 21.Nxf3 Rxe1+ 22.Qxe1 Kh8 23.Rf2 The idea behind Ra1-a2 four moves earlier. White is slightly better. Qd8 24.Qd1 A critical position. White places the queen on d1 to create threats connected to Nxg5 hxg5 Qh5+ g4
Again Grandelius goes for the most active idea, though this only helped White to improve his position. Better was 24...d5 when White can go for the forcing 25.Nxg5 25.Qf1 Be4 26.Nd2 is also playable, and White continues to look for ways to up the pressure. 25...hxg5 26.Qh5+ Kg8 27.Rxf5 Rxf5 28.Qxg6 Qf8 29.Qe6+ Kh8 and the threat of ...Rf1+ forces White to reply by 30.Qe1 and White has a pawn for an exchange, but his bishop pair is strong and his king is safer. 25.hxg4 Bxg4 26.Qf1 Qe7 27.Bd2 Qe4 28.Ne1 Rxf2 29.Qxf2 Qf5 30.Qe3 After the trade of rooks, it is clear that White has the most coordinated army. d5? This move that would have been correct at various moments previously is a mistake here. The pawn on c7 is now weak, and many tactical ideas favour White, as demonstrated by Korobov in style.
Engines show that 30...Nf8 is the best defence, though it is surely a difficult manoeuvre to find over the board with less than 4 minutes on the clock. E.g.: 31.Qe7 Qd7 32.Qh4 Ng6 33.Qg3 White continues to make progress, but Black still has chances to escape with a draw. 31.Bc2 Qf7 32.Qg3 Bf5 This move gives up the pawn on c7. Better was 32...Bh5 33.Nf3 though Black is all but paralysed, and White will continue to create threats around the rather overloaded defensive scheme. 33.Bxf5 Qxf5 34.Qxc7
34...Qe4 35.Nf3 Kh7 36.Qxb7 The positional struggle did not fit Grandelius' style. The local hero probably considered that he needed to win this game, as his performance until round 5 (3 draws and 2 losses) was not up to par. 1–0

Nils Grandelius

Nils Grandelius | Photo: Mikael Svensson / tepesigemanchess.com

Keymer 0 - 1 Abdusattorov

Keymer, Vincent27260–1Abdusattorov, Nodirbek2765
TePe Sigeman Co 2024
Malmo02.05.2024[CC]
1.Nf3 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 a6 5.d4 b5 6.b3 Bg4 7.a4 bxc4 8.bxc4 Nbd7 9.Be2 e6 10.c5 a5 11.0-0 Be7 12.Ne1 A novelty by Keymer, one that does not create many problems for his opponent. Black happily trades the light-squared bishops. Bxe2 13.Qxe2 e5 14.Nd3 exd4 15.exd4 0-0 16.f3 Re8 17.Qc2 Nf8 18.Ne2 N6d7 19.f4 Ne6 Attacking the weakness on d4, with a potential ...Be7-f6 adding fuel to the fire. 20.Bb2 Qc8 21.Ng3 Rb8 Black has managed to safely equalise the position, but he does not have much of an advantage. However, Abdusattorov's 22.Rae1
was a strategic mistake, as it allows Black to grab the initiative. More logical was 22.Bc3 attacking Black's weakness on the queenside, e.g.: Qa6 23.Nf5 etcetera. 22...Bh4 23.f5 Ng5 24.Rxe8+ Qxe8 25.Bc1 Ne4 26.Bf4 Rb7 27.Nh5 A rather artificial move, though White was already struggling to find coordination or an active plan. g6 28.Ng3 Nxg3 29.hxg3 Bf6 30.Qc3 Qe4 Black has control over the b-file, and his queen and bishop are threatening to capture on d4 - Abdusattorov has masterfully outplayed his opponent strategically. 31.Be5 Qe3+ 32.Kh2 Bxe5 33.dxe5 d4 34.Qc4 Nxe5 35.Nxe5 Qxe5 36.Qa6
Black has emerged a pawn up - and a passed one at that. Keymer's Qa6 is the best way to create counterplay, though. 36...Qc7 37.f6
A very human move, which creates the potential of threatening a checkmate on g7. Engines, however, show that this was a mistake. Much better was 37.Rf4 Rb3 38.Qe2 Re3 39.Qd2 and e.g.: g5 40.Rf3 Qe5 and White has notched up a good defensive setup with some counter-attacking chances. 37...h5 38.Qe2 Qd8 39.Qe4 Rc7 40.Qf4 Kh7 This looks natural, but is not very strong. Abdusattorov had 7 minutes on his clock before playing this move (the last one before reaching the time control). Stronger is 40...d3 and after 41.Qh6 Qf8 Black keeps everything under control, and his central passer is extremely annoying for his opponent. 41.g4 Rd7 42.Re1 Qf8 43.Re5?
The deciding mistake, attempting to create attacking threats with the queen and the rook. 43.Re7 is an only move, and after Rxe7 44.fxe7 Qxe7 45.gxh5 d3 46.hxg6+ fxg6 47.Qd4 Black's d-pawn and White's c-pawn will fall, but Abdusattorov will have trouble trying to convert his extra pawn in the tricky queen endgame. 43...hxg4 44.Qxg4 Rd8
Black has consolidated his position. The rook defends the back rank, while the queen is ready to go to h6 if necessary (both for attacking and defensive purposes). And the d-pawn will be Black's hero at the end of the day. 45.Qe4 Qh6+ 46.Kg1 d3 47.Qc4 Kg8 48.Qe4 d2 49.Re8+ Rxe8 50.Qxe8+ Qf8 0–1

Vincent Keymer, Nodirbek Abdusattorov

Two of the most talented youngsters in the chess world — Vincent Keymer and Nodirbek Abdusattorov | Photo: Mikael Svensson / tepesigemanchess.com

Standings after round 6

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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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