Tepe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament

Photo by Mikael Svensson

Erigaisi-Keymer

With the black pieces in the Anti-Marshall, Keymer once again showed how good his opening preparations are. Moves like 16.- Ne3! and 18.- c5 were played without any hesitation. Erigaisi played almost as as fast, so he was probably not that surprised. The sharp opening turned into a calmer position, and once they reached a rook endgame, the game ended in a draw by repetition.

Svidler-Korobov

As white in the Sicilian Defense, Svidler opted for a setup that has become popular in the last years. White takes back with the queen on d4, and follows up with b3, Bb2 and 0-0-0. The position turned very complicated, and perhaps white was slightly more comfortable. However, it was not until 23.- Nb5 24.Bxb5 axb5 25. Qe2! that Svidler clearly got the upper hand. Korobov was in time trouble, and 32.- Rd1+ that allowed the white queen to penetrate, was the final mistake.

Grandelius-Maurizzi

Like he has all through the entire tournament, Maurizzi chose a very ambitious variation, this time as black against Grandelius in the Ruy Lopez. Grandelius was up for the challenge, and sacrificed a piece on move 24. It looked like Maurizzi was in trouble, but he defended well, and finally, they reached a drawn queen ending.

Ju-Abdusattorov

Ju played the Alapin variation against Abdusattorov’s Sicilian Defense. After white had forced the weakening of the black position with f7-f6, it looked like she was better. However, black managed to exchange the light square bishops, and the tables were turned. Black had the advantage coming into the endgame, but at move 48, when Abdusattorov had the chance get a decisive attack by combining moves like Rb2+ and Ne4, he instead chose an endgame where he was a pawn up, but where white had realistic drawing chances. Despite not having much time left, Ju defended perfectly, and Abdusattorov was in the end not ever close to winning.

Photo by Mikael Svensson

Abdusattorov-Grandelius

Abdusattorov played an unusual opening variation, which caused Grandelius to use up a lot of time. By playing very fast, Abdusattorov managed to put a lot of pressure on his opponent, which was probably exactly what he had planned. At the critical moments around move 20, Nils failed to find the correct moves, and at move 30, Abdusattorov had built a strong attacking position. He broke through with a series of forceful moves, and right before move 40, black was mated.

Keymer-Ju

With the white pieces in the exchange version in the Queen’s Gambit, Keymer seemed to have a promising position. However, he made a serious mistake at move 27, costing him a piece, with only a pawn as compensation. Perhaps he had missed 29.- Ng5, which prevented mate on h7, while threatening the queen at the same time. Keymer kept fighting, and after a while, it was obvious that it was not going to be easy for Ju to win the game. At last, Keymer had managed to reach a drawn position, but with very little time left, it was hard for him to find the right moves. His final mistake was 64.Kc5, which let the black king out, since he could not play 65.Kc4, due to the the strong 65.- Ng4, and white’s f-pawn falls.

Korobov-Erigaisi

In an initially calm version of the Semi-Slav Defense, things heated up when Erigaisi played the dangerous looking 14.- Dd6, followed by 15.- Bxh2. However, the situation was under control, and when Korobov regained his pawn on d4, this lead to a number of exchanges, and an endgame that nobody could win.

Maurizzi-Svidler

In a long variation in the Anti-Marshall, white had the easier game, but Svidler defended well and safely made it through all problems. After 29 moves, the game ended in a draw by repetition. This game was very interesting from an opening theory point of view.

Some people have asked about tie-break rules, that is, what happens if two or more players end up in first place?

You can read the Tiebreak Regulations here!

Photo by Lars OA Hedlund.

Svidler-Abdusattorov

With the black pieces in the English opening, Abdusattorov played an ambitious variation. However, the balance was kept, and there was no decisive move do be found. When they reached an end game with opposite colored bishops, a draw was agreed upon.

Grandelius-Ju

Grandelius opted for the exchange version in the Queen’s Gambit. Very soon, they reached a symmetrical position, where Grandelius had the better light piece. A knight against black’s light squares bishop is a big advantage in practice, but theoretically, it should not be enough to win the game. Grandelius kept maneuvering, but Ju defended herself patiently. After a while, her pieces became somewhat uncoordinated, but by then, Grandelius had used up too much time to be able to take advantage. Instead of keeping up the pressure, he simplified at move 60, reaching a rook endgame that Ju held easily.

Korobov-Keymer

Korobov chose a safe and calm version against Keymer’s Nimzo-Indian Defense. This allowed black to equalize easily. Surprisingly, Keymer did not play 15.- a4. Instead, he allowed Korobov to carry out b2-b4, after which his bishop pair gave him a slight advantage. On move 27, Korobov offered a queen exchange with Qc5. It might have been better to play e.g. 27.Rc1 Nc4 28.Qf4, with the idea of placing the bishop on d4 next move. Even after exchanging queens, white was slightly better, but Keymer defended well and managed to hold on to half a point.

Erigaisi-Maurizzi

It looked like Maurizzi had equalized as black in the Slav Defense, but at move 22, he could not resist sacrificing a piece on f4, something that was absolutely not necessary. It looked promising to begin with, but once Erigaisi managed to get rid of the knight on f4, he had solved his worst problems. Slowly but surely, white moved ahead, and finally, they reached an endgame that white won easily with his extra piece.