TePe Sigeman & Co: Sindarov and Erdogmus share the lead, Tan scores two wins in a row

Ivanchuk loses on time

Rounds three and four of the TePe Sigeman & Co Tournament continued to deliver hard-fought games and decisive results. After four rounds, eight of the sixteen games played have ended with a winner, and many of the draws have required precise play deep into the endgame. With three rounds remaining in the eight-player single round-robin, the youngest participants -Javokhir Sindarov (19) and Yagiz Erdogmus (13) - lead the standings with 3 points each.

Sindarov and Erdogmus, who shared the lead with Richard Rapport after round two, faced each other on Thursday. Their game was balanced throughout and ended in a 40-move draw. On Friday, both returned to the board with the white pieces and claimed full points. Sindarov outplayed Erwin l'Ami, while Erdogmus defeated top seed Rapport. Both now face a slightly more demanding schedule in the final stretch, with two of their remaining three games to be played with the black pieces.

Improve your pieces - a winning system you need to know

In this course, we will learn how to identify passively placed pieces in any given situation and how to improve their health by bringing them into active squares.

Half a point behind the leaders stands Grandelius, who scored his first win of the tournament in round three, defeating Vasyl Ivanchuk. The Swedish grandmaster is on 2½ points, with three draws and one win.

Javokhir Sindarov defeated Erwin l'Ami on Friday | Photo: Mikael Svensson

Ray Robson and Tan Zhongyi are on 2 points. Robson has drawn all four of his games so far and is the only player in the field yet to record a win or loss. Tan, on the other hand, has played a completely decisive tournament. After starting with losses to Sindarov and Erdogmus, she bounced back convincingly. In round three, she defeated Rapport with black, making the most of her opponent's mistake in the endgame with precise technique.

Rapport here played the wrong move order, as his 56.e5 failed to 56...Rd4+ 57.Kh3 Rxf5 58.d7 Kf8 (diagram below), and the king defends - instead, 56.d7 first draws, since after 56...Kf8 57.e5 Rd4+ White can play 58.Kg5, activating his king

The Benko Gambit Explained

In this DVD, Erwin l'Ami guides you through the fascinating Benko Gambit. As early as move three Black starts a fight for the initiative, a strategy that has proved to be successful in countless amateur and master level games.

White resigned.

Tan Zhongyi | Photo: Mikael Svensson

Tan's round-four win over Ivanchuk came under different circumstances, as the Ukrainian veteran lost on time on move 28 in a position that was favourable for him.

Ivanchuk lost on time here - he did not get to play the intended 28...Reg8 (as recorded by the DGT board), which would have left him in a better position with his strong initiative on the kingside to counter White's threat of eventually promoting her d-pawn.

With no rest days on the schedule, the final three rounds will be played over the weekend and on Monday at the Elite Plaza Hotel in central Malmö.

The playing hall during round four | Photo: Mikael Svensson

Standings after round 4

All games

Links

• Official website
• Abdusattorov comes from behind, wins TePe Sigeman & Co (2024)
• Svidler wins TePe Sigeman & Co, as Gelfand beats Abhimanyu (2023)
• Hans Niemann triumphant at TePe Sigeman & Co (2022)
• Sigeman & Co: Van Foreest loses and wins, Keymer scores (2021)
• TePe Sigeman & Co: Jones secures the win (2019)