Tepe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament

A somewhat calmer day, with three draws.

Gelfand-Keymer

Keymer chose the Karpov variation in the Nimzo (9…b6). With 12…exd5, he avoided the sharp 12…Bxc3 13.dxe6 Bxf3 14.gxf3 fxe6, where it seems that black equalises with exact play. Instead, Gelfand got a slight initiative, but Keymer defended well, and the game faded into a drawn endgame.

Svidler-Van Foreest
As white in the Ruy Lopez, Svidler sacrificed a pawn, and after 18.Qc3, it seemed like black was in trouble.

Svidler – Van Foreest. Position after 18.Qc3
After thinking for almost 40 minutes, van Foreest found the best defence in 18…b4 19.Qf3 Rb8. White got his pawn back, but black managed to castle, and after that, the game was headed for a draw.

Mishra-Grandelius

Grandelius once again chose the Slav Defenece, and seemed to be ok, but after the risky 17…e5 (instead of 17…Bd6), Mishra had the initiative. MaybeContinue reading”Round 4 summary by GM Stellan Brynell”

Pairings round 5, Monday May 8

GM Jorden Van Foreest	–	GM Arjun Erigaisi
GM Vincent Keymer	–	GM Peter Svidler
GM Nils Grandelius	–	GM Boris Gelfand
GM Gukesh D	–	GM Mishra Abhimanyu

Pairings round 4, Sunday May 7th

GM Arjun Erigaisi	–	GM Gukesh D
GM Mishra Abhimanyu	–	GM Nils Grandelius
GM Boris Gelfand	–	GM Vincent Keymer
GM Peter Svidler	–	GM Jorden Van Foreest

Grandelius-Gukesh

Gukesh chose the Berlin Defence in the Ruy Lopez. Grandelius found a surprise bishop sacrifice on h7 that forced the black king to g6. Both players could have tried for a win at some stage, but it would have been very risky. Instead, it ended in a draw by repetition. A short but very interesting game, with many variations to analyse.

Keymer-Mishra

Keymer made an ambitious choice when he castled queen side in the Slav Defence. With a strong pair of bishops, Keymer had a very promising position, but when he was close to winning the game (28.Rf1 with the idea 28…Bg2 29.Rf2!, winning a piece) he lost control, and Mishra managed to turn the game around and eventually win it.

Van Foreest-Gelfand

A long variation in the Accelerated Sicilian Dragon quickly led to an interesting endgame, where white had a strong knight against a bad bishop. It still looked like Gelfand might be able to hold on, but he failed to find the correct setup, and at the end, van Foreest did not have any problems securing a full point.

Svidler-Erigaisi

Some original ideas in the English opening gave Svidler a comfortable game. Somewhat surprisingly, Erigiasi chose to give up the exchange. This did not look very convincing, and Svidler got to show his technical skills with moves like 22.Qa3 and 28.Rb4, with the idea Ra4. Black’s defence crumbled slowly and in the end, Svidler won easily.