Tepe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament

The two Indian players faced each other and Nihal Sarin, the young underdog, defended well as black against the tournament leader Pentala Harikrishna. A seemingly drawish endgame was reached, but Pentala managed to squeeze out every drop of play – winning through a beautiful bishop sacrifice in an opposite-coloured bishop position.

“The luckiest day of my life!” stated Parham Maghsoodloo after his game with Nils Grandelius. The Swede missed several opportunities to gain a big advantage in the middlegame and had to settle for a draw in the end.

Dieter Nisipeanu equalized quickly as black against Tiger Hillarp Persson. As it looked like Dieter would get the definite upper hand Tiger whipped up some kingside activity mixed with time trouble. A bunch of exchanges followed and a draw was agreed after an easy rook endgame was reached.

Gawain Jones and Ivan Saric played a very sharp game despite an early queen exchange. The Croatian struggled to maintain equality and lost a piece (and the game) as the time control approached.

As it stands Pentala Harikrishna and Gawain Jones has opened up a small lead at the top. Can anybody catch them?

The third round was preceded by the news that Nihal Sarin had reached the magical 2600-level, as the second youngest player ever to do so. A very impressive accomplishment and we expect big things from Nihal in the future!

Parham Maghsoodloo took on Tiger Hillarp Persson in a very complicated Sicilian. As the time control approached Tiger’s defence crumbled under pressure from both the Iranian and the clock.

In Nils Grandelius vs. Pentala Harikrishna it was a battle between activity and the superior pawn structure. Nils couldn’t find the best way forward and the Indian grandmaster steered the game to a win with a steady hand.

Nihal Sarin and Gawain Jones got deep into a Ruy Lopez theory exchange. Gawain sacrificed on h3 and the computer said No, but the audience said Yes! However, Nihal avoided the complications and chose a safer route to a shared point through multiple exchanges.

Inventive opening play by Ivan Saric made Dieter Nisipeanu sacrifice a pawn for activity. The compensation evaporated and it looked like the Croatian would win. But after a few inaccuracies it was Ivan who had to go for the draw by perpetual check.

The funniest part of the day was when Parham admitted in the post-mortem to have prepared against the wrong swede – he had spent the morning getting ready to take on Nils Grandelius!?

No signs of yesterday’s three very long games showed, as the players immediately got stuck in during round 2. Some creative play was on display and commentators Yasser Seirwan and Stellan Brynell were surprised more than once.

Nils Grandelius against Gawain Jones contained a lot of interesting twists and turns from the start and fireworks was expected. But in the end a simple rook endgame appeared – and a draw was the outcome.

Tiger Hillarp Persson is in fine form and dismantled Ivan Saric with methodical play. Textbook use of the opposite coloured bishop attack made sure of the full point.

Pentala Harikrishna and Parham Maghsoodloo had another long game today. A well known Ruy Lopez endgame was stretched to 60 moves with both players trying hard to make things go in their favour. In the end multiple exchanges made sure only a draw was the possible outcome.

Nihal Sarin quickly got on the back foot as black against Dieter Nisipeanu. The German managed to win a pawn as the game entered a heavy pieces endgame. Sarin exchanged queens and defended the rook endgame well enough to hang on to the draw.

Despite another three draws it is clear that these eight players are in Malmö to fight. No-one gives an inch!