GM Hans Niemann, USA won this year’s tournament with 5 of 7 points. His good form continues, he came directly to Malmö from Cuba where he won a tournament convincingly.
Grandmaster Hans Niemann wins Tepe Sigeman 2022
Round 6 – comments by GM Stellan Brynell
The penultimate round gave us two more decisive games. Grandelius failed to close in on leader Niemann, who goes into round 7 a full point clear of Erigaisi and Grandelius.
Niemann-Grandelius
A solid Grünfeld indian with several early exchanges. Grandelius neutralised white’s small advantage and the draw was an obvious conclusion.
Erigaisi-Adams
Erigiasi unexpectedly chose Jobava’s London variation (d4, Nc3, Bf4). Adams developed in a sound and solid manner, equalising easily. Both players tried to make things happen through lengthy manoeuvring, but the position stayed evenly balanced.
Shirov-Navara
In a highly theoretical duel in the Ruy Lopez Navara proved to be the most well prepared. After Shirov’s 21.Ne2 black gained the upper hand and a few more inexact moves by white led to a won endgame Navara easily steered to a win.
Salem-Van Foreest
Salem gained a comfortable position as white in the Ruy Lopez. With the time control approaching Van Foreest almost got out of white’s grip, but eventually he succumbed to a beautiful piece sacrifice by Salem.
55. Nf6+!
Round 5 – comments by GM Stellan Brynell
Adams-Navara
In an unusual variation of the Sicilian Navara found 22…g5, an interesting way to create counter-play. The resulting rook endgame was slightly better for black, but never offered any realistic winning chances.
Grandelius-Salem
The game began as the Panov variation of the Caro-Kann, but after a while the Tarrasch variation of the QGD with colours reversed appeared. Grandelius held a slight advantage due to more active piece play and black’s c6-weakness. Salem chose the wrong square for his rook, and placing it on c7 allowed white to play Ba5 – winning a piece and the game.
Niemann-Shirov
Niemann’s opening as white in the Slav was below par and black managed to mount some serious pressure early on. Shirov used a lot of time to try and find a decisive blow, which led to time trouble and subsequently ending up in a lost endgame. Two light pieces versus black’s rook was won confidently by Niemann.
Van Foreest-Erigaisi
Erigiasi’s sharp 4…d5 led to a very interesting position where Van Foreest had sacrificed a pawn for a powerful initiative. Black defended well and it seemed wise for Van Foreest to enter a draw by repetition with 31.Be6+, as the endgame was a bit dangerous for white. The chance came for black in the 47th move, but Erigiasi missed the opportunity to play Kc7 and the game ended in a draw.
Pairings round 7
Pairings round 7, May 9, 12 p.m. CET
| GM Nils Grandelius | – | GM Alexei Shirov |
| GM Jorden Van Foreest | – | GM Hans Niemann |
| GM Michael Adams | – | GM Saleh Salem |
| GM David Navara | – | GM Arjun Erigaisi |