Photo: Peter Doggers
Arjun Erigaisi has now joined the lead group containing five players who all have 2 points after round 3 in the TePe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament in Malmo (Abdusattorov, Carlsen, Erdogmus, Erigaisi and Woodward.) This came after an important win against Swedish grandmaster Nils Grandelius.
The game was an even battle with pawns racing down both the a-file and the h-file. Who would get there first? Finally, Erigaisi was victorious (see end of report for a deeper analysis of the game by Carl Cederstam.)
‘A Fighter’
Nils Grandelius is a fighter, and remains in good spirits after the games. The turnaround might come at any point, and on Monday, he will get another chance to get on the board. However, 14-year-old Turkish prodigy Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus will be a tough opponent. He is the youngest player ever to achieve a rating above 2700.
Erdogmus won against Jiner Zhu in a game where he defended well. Jiner played some less exact moves and her attack faded. 34.Ne3 allowed a fork at the c3 square and Zhu gave up before Erdogmus could play the decisive 34…Nc3+. With this win, Erdogmus also joined the lead group.
Even All the Way
Before the round, most people saw the game between top seeds Magnus Carlsen and Nodirbek Abdusattorov as the most exciting one. It proved to be a well played game that was even all the way. According to chess.com, they both a precision of close to 99%. It was chess at the highest level.
Magnus had probably hoped to get more out of this game, since he had the white pieces. He has now faced his two toughest opponent, Abdusattorov and Erigaisi as white, without defeating any of them. It seems like the Norwegian world number one will have to trust winning the black pieces in order win the tournament. This opens for a risky strategy in the upcoming rounds. Will there be another Benoni defense, like in the game against Grandelius?
On Monday, the Norwegian will face Jorden van Foreest, who played a rather unexciting draw against the surprise of the tournament, Andy Woodward, who also is part of the lead group with 2 points.
Analysis of the round 3 game Erigaisi-Grandelius: