With one round to go in the TePe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament, Javokhir Sindarov has the lead.
Right now, it looks like this:
Sindarov 4, Erdoğmuş 3½, Grandelius, Rapport, Robson and Tan 3, l’Ami 2½, Ivanchuk 2
Last round:
Ivanchuk-Sindarov, l’Ami-Erdoğmuş, Robson-Rapport, Grandelius-Tan
Photo by Lennart Ootes
Rapport-Sindarov
White the white pieces in the Anti-Moscow Gambit, Rapport sacrificed a pawn early on, and soon got a dangerous initiative. However, he did not manage to find any decisive continuation, and after move 40, it was Sindarov, if any, that had a slight advantage. Things just led to a number of exchanges, and when the board was almost cleared, the agreed on a draw.
Ivanchuk-Erdogmus
As white in the English Opening, Ivanchuk got some pressure, but initially, Erdogmus defended himself well. However, as they approached 40 moves, Ivanchuk got the upper hand, and he managed to march his a-pawn forward. Eventually, he ended things with the elegant 44.Rb7!
Robson-Tan
As white in the Italian opening against Tan, Robson played 5.Bg5. His surprise move did not give him much of an advantage and Tan equalized without much effort. The balance was never really disturbed, and after 47 moves, they agreed on a draw in a totally equal rook endgame.
L’Ami-Grandelius
Gradelius made a surprise choice, when he chose the Queen’s Indian Defense against l’Ami. L’Ami in turn played the surprising 5.Qb3, and a couple of moves later, he traded queens on d5. White got some slight pressure that grew a bit and finally, Grandelius was really under pressure. However, he got a chance in time-trouble, when he could have played 31…Nb5, but when he missed this, he ended up in a bad rook endgame that l’Ami did not have any problems winning.
Sindarov-l’Ami
Sindarov played an unusual variation with an early queen exchange against l’Ami’s Najdorf Sicilian. Black got a slightly worse pawn structure, but still seemed to have things under control. However, the attempt to get some active play with 26….Nc5 proved to be a mistake. White could free his pieces, and especially the rooks became very active, with pressure along the e-column. After that, Sindarov had no problems securing the full point.
Grandelius-Robson
With the white pieces in the Nimzo-Indian Defense, Grandelius chose a pretty timid variant. However, having a bishop against Robson’s knight gave him some pressure, but Robson once again defended himself well. Robson managed to reach a well-known rook end game where white has an extra f- and h-pawn, but still cannot win. Of course, Grandelius tried, but Robson knew how to defend and had no problem securing a draw.
Tan -Ivanchuk
In his game against Tan, Ivanchuk made a surprise choice, playing the Scandinavian Defense. The game heated up when Tan sacrificed a piece to attack the black king, something that should have secured at least a draw by repetition. Ivanchuk used up a lot of time, something that might have made Tan continue playing (22.Rh5+ Nxh5 23.Dxh5+ ends in perpetual check). This paid off in a surprising way. At move 28, when he was about to play Reg8, Ivanchuk ran out of time. The position was by then very unclear.
Erdogmus-Rapport
Erdogmus played 3.Bb5 against Rapport’s Sicilian Defense. As usual, Rapport played some original moves, and he finally ended up with an oddly placed rook on the a-column, which proved to be hard to activate. Erdogmus found some good moves and finally reached an advantageous endgame, which he converted into a win in a very impressive manner.
Erdogmus-Sindarov
Just like the first round, Erdogmus chose the Exchange Variation in the Ruy Lopez. Sindarov met this with the most solid move, 5….f6, and rapidly achieved a balanced position. The balance was never disturbed, and at move 40, all pieces had been exchanged and a draw was agreed.
Rapport-Tan
Rapport played 5.d3 against Tan‘s Ruy Lopex. The game seemed to be heading for a draw by repetition in an equal position, but Rapport decided to make a last try. Right after move 40, he decided to sacrifice the exchange, which to begin with looked promising. However, Tan found a real good defense where she sacrificed two pawns by 49….d5, followed by 50….e4+, to create counter-play with an advanced pawn. Rapport still had drawing chances, but he must have miscalculated at some point, and resigned just a few moves later.
Ivanchuk-Grandelius
Early on in the Slav Defense, Ivanchuk sacrificed a pawn to get a solid center. The game became very complicated and both players, but most of all Ivanchuk, used up a lot of time. Under time pressure, Ivanchuk missed that 29.c6 could be met with the strong 29…h6, winning a pawn. However, a couple of moves later, Grandelius made a mistake when he played 35….g5, which allowed Ivanchuk to complicate things with 36.f6. After move 40, Grandelius still had a clear advantage, and yet another mistake from Ivanchuk allowed Grandelius to finish things with the elegant 44….f5.
Robson-Lami
With the white pieces in the Sicilian Najdorf, Robson played the very unusual 12.a4. Lami came under pressure, but found a creative defense, where he got a strong black square bishop to compensate for his poor pawn structure. For a while, with both players in time trouble, it looked like black was going to get the upper hand. However, l‘Ami did not find the best continuation, and the game ended witn a draw by repetition.