Additional information about Tepe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament 2023

Short draws

Draw agreements within 40 moves are not allowed without the permission of the Chief Arbiter.

FIDE Circuit (Qualification Path for FIDE Candidates Tournament 2024)

The tournament is eligible for the FIDE Circuit (Qualification Path of the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2024). In the situation that two or more players have the same score, qualification points will be shared equally, with an exception for a tied first place, in which case tiebreak games will determine the first place. Please note, tiebreak games will determine only the first place. If more than two players participate in the tiebreak games, all other players will share second place.

Tiebreak regulations

If the top two or more players score the same number of points in the tournament, a tiebreak to determine the tournament winner will be played. All players with this highest score will participate in the tiebreak games. Irrespective of the outcome, the prize money will be divided equally among all the players in the tiebreak. Read the full tiebreak rules here.

The tournament 2023 – Participants and information

The Limhamn Chess Club is proud to invite the players, the chess community, the media and the sponsors to the 28th annual Tepe Sigeman Chess Tournament. The tournament will take place May 4-10 this year, at the Elite Plaza Hotel in central Malmo. Eight players will play seven rounds, and as usual, the field is world class!

The home team is represented by Sweden’s number one, GM Nils Grandelius (winner in 2013, 2017 and 2018).

Among the challengers is an old acquaintance, Dutch GM Jorden van Foreest (winner of the Tepe Sigeman Chess Tournament in 2021), as well as former World Championship challenger GM Boris Gelfand, Israel, and 8-times Russian champion and multiple World Championship contender, GM Peter Svidler.

We also welcome four of the most promising young chess players of today (all born in this century): the top scorer on board one in the team chess Olympics last year, GM Dommaruju Gukesh, India, last year’s runner-up in the Tepe Sigeman Chess Tournament, GM Arjun Erigaisi, India, the runner-up in the 2022 World Rapid Chess Championship, GM Vincent Keymer, Germany, and the world’s youngest grandmaster, 14-year-old Abhimanyu Mishra, USA.

This makes the 2023 field one of the strongest ever, and we would like to congratulate chess fans around the globe on the opportunity to see world-class chess live. You will be able to follow all games live, guided by our commentators, Swedish GM Stellan Brynell and Dutch GM Erwin l’Ami. For those of you who are not able to visit Malmo and the Elite Plaza Hotel during the tournament, it will of course be possible to follow all games and the commentators live on the Internet (www.tepesigemanchess.com).

We would also like to thank all our sponsors, TePe, Sigeman & Co, the City of Malmö, PWC, Grenspecialisten, Elite Plaza Hotel in Malmö, Schackakademien, Max Matthiessen, Softhouse and AWA Sweden, and all others who once again have contributed to making this traditional chess event come true.

Welcome to the 28th annual Tepe Sigeman Chess Tournament!

Date of the tournament in 2023

In 2023, the tournament will be played from May 4 to May 10. This time too, eight players will be invited.

Round 7 – comments by GM Stellan Brynell

Stellan Brynell
GM Stellan Brynell Photo: Lars OA Hedlund

Grandelius-Shirov

Grandelius played his favorite move 6.d3 against the Ruy Lopez. His position looked promising but Shirov defended well and in the end the game fizzled out into a drawish rook ending.

Grandelius – Shirov. Photo: Lars OA Hedlund

Van Foreest-Niemann

In a sharp Italian variation, Van Foreest sacrificed a pawn, which seemed to give a promising initiative. The critical position of the game was when Van Foreest chose to win back the pawn with 22.Nd2 instead of playing the sharper 22.Nd4.
Van Foreest-Niemann. Position after 21…Rxa7

In the game continuation, it was rather Niemann who was a little better, but the draw was still logical.

Adams-Salem

As white in Caro-Kann, Adams managed to prevent black castling. Salem’s solution to sacrifice a pawn to get the king to safety did not work, the black king was exposed anyway. With accurate play, Adams could decide with an attack against black king.

Navara-Erigaisi

Via a different move order, the players entered a calm variant of the queen’s gambit accepted where the queens were exchanged early. The game became really interesting when they reached a pawn ending where the king of Navara was slightly more active than Erigaisis. Despite ingenious maneuvering Navara could not break down the black defense and the game ended in a draw.