Tepe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament

Sindarov-l’Ami

Sindarov played an unusual variation with an early queen exchange against l’Ami’s Najdorf Sicilian. Black got a slightly worse pawn structure, but still seemed to have things under control. However, the attempt to get some active play with 26….Nc5 proved to be a mistake. White could free his pieces, and especially the rooks became very active, with pressure along the e-column. After that, Sindarov had no problems securing the full point.

Grandelius-Robson

With the white pieces in the Nimzo-Indian Defense, Grandelius chose a pretty timid variant. However, having a bishop against Robson’s knight gave him some pressure, but Robson once again defended himself well. Robson managed to reach a well-known rook end game where white has an extra f- and h-pawn, but still cannot win. Of course, Grandelius tried, but Robson knew how to defend and had no problem securing a draw.

Tan -Ivanchuk

In his game against Tan, Ivanchuk made a surprise choice, playing the Scandinavian Defense. The game heated up when Tan sacrificed a piece to attack the black king, something that should have secured at least a draw by repetition. Ivanchuk used up a lot of time, something that might have made Tan continue playing (22.Rh5+ Nxh5 23.Dxh5+ ends in perpetual check). This paid off in a surprising way. At move 28, when he was about to play Reg8, Ivanchuk ran out of time. The position was by then very unclear.

Erdogmus-Rapport

Erdogmus played 3.Bb5 against Rapport’s Sicilian Defense. As usual, Rapport played some original moves, and he finally ended up with an oddly placed rook on the a-column, which proved to be hard to activate. Erdogmus found some good moves and finally reached an advantageous endgame, which he converted into a win in a very impressive manner.

Erdogmus-Sindarov

Just like the first round, Erdogmus chose the Exchange Variation in the Ruy Lopez. Sindarov met this with the most solid move, 5….f6, and rapidly achieved a balanced position. The balance was never disturbed, and at move 40, all pieces had been exchanged and a draw was agreed.

Rapport-Tan

Rapport played 5.d3 against Tan‘s Ruy Lopex. The game seemed to be heading for a draw by repetition in an equal position, but Rapport decided to make a last try. Right after move 40, he decided to sacrifice the exchange, which to begin with looked promising. However, Tan found a real good defense where she sacrificed two pawns by 49….d5, followed by 50….e4+, to create counter-play with an advanced pawn. Rapport still had drawing chances, but he must have miscalculated at some point, and resigned just a few moves later.

Ivanchuk-Grandelius

Early on in the Slav Defense, Ivanchuk sacrificed a pawn to get a solid center. The game became very complicated and both players, but most of all Ivanchuk, used up a lot of time. Under time pressure, Ivanchuk missed that 29.c6 could be met with the strong 29…h6, winning a pawn. However, a couple of moves later, Grandelius made a mistake when he played 35….g5, which allowed Ivanchuk to complicate things with 36.f6. After move 40, Grandelius still had a clear advantage, and yet another mistake from Ivanchuk allowed Grandelius to finish things with the elegant 44….f5.

Robson-Lami

With the white pieces in the Sicilian Najdorf, Robson played the very unusual 12.a4. Lami came under pressure, but found a creative defense, where he got a strong black square bishop to compensate for his poor pawn structure. For a while, with both players in time trouble, it looked like black was going to get the upper hand. However, l‘Ami did not find the best continuation, and the game ended witn a draw by repetition.

Sindarov-Robson

Robson chose a well-known variation in the Semi-Tarrasch that often leads to an endgame where white is better off, but where black still can hold on to a draw with solid play. This is exactly what happened in this game. Sindarov got the better position, but Robson defended well, and after a little more than 30 moves, the game ended in a draw by repetition.

l’Ami-Ivanchuk

As black in the Modern Benoni, Ivanchuk sacrificed a pawn for activity. However, after some clever maneuvering, l’Ami found a spectacular move, 40.Bd6, that gave him a clearly advantageous endgame. Despite pressing hard, l’Ami did not manage to break down Ivanchuk’s defensive setup, and after a 100 moves, the players agreed on a draw. Maybe it was wrong to play 51.f4+, since this put the f-pawn on a black square, where it could always be attacked by the black bishop.

Grandelius-Rapport

With the white pieces, Grandelius chose an unusual plan against Rapport’s Sicilian Sveshnikov. Advancing the h-pawn completely misplaced the black knight, which ended up at h8, and later at f7. The position was very complicated and it looked like Grandelius might have good chances. However, he could not find any clear continuation and offered a repetition of moves that Rapport saw no reason to decline.

Tan-Erdogmus

Erdogmus played a less well-know variation in the Queen’s Gambit Declined, which Tan answered with a promising pawn sacrifice. Tan got a big development advantage, but Erdogmus defended well. An interesting possibility was 21.Sxe6 fxe6 22.Sf5 which would have led to huge complications, instead Tan sacrificed the exchange a couple of moves later. She got some compensation, but when Erdogmus managed to exchange some pieces, he had no problems winning the endgame.

Photo by Mikael Svensson

Tan-Sindarov

With the black pieces, Sindarov chose an ambitious, but also slightly risky variation of the King’s Indian Defense. Tan played well and Sindarov had to opt for an exchange sacrifice, with dubious compensation. However, Tan lost control, but still kept trying to win when it might have wise to secure the draw that was still there. Finally, Sindarov managed to win the game with a pair of nice tactical tricks (49….e4 and 52….c4).

Erdogmus-Grandelius

In his game against Grandelius, Erdogmus opted for the Exchange Variation in the Ruy Lopez. He kept the typical structural advantage, but Grandelius got an active game as compensation. After 24….a5, things rapidly became forced, and they ended up in a double rook endgame where nobody could play for a win. The game ended in a draw through repetition.

Rapport-l’Ami

Early on in the English Opening, Rapport got a small advantage. He methodically improved his position and after a while, l’Ami could hardly move a piece. The question was whether Rapport would be able to break through, but after the clever sequence 45.f5 g5 46.g4 hxg4 47.h5, the black defenses collapsed. After that, Rapport had no problem winning the game.

Ivanchuk-Robson

In his game against Ivanchuk, Robson chose the Berlin Variation in the Ruy Lopez. The position rapidly became complete even, and despite the fact that Ivanchuk managed to win a pawn, he did not really have any real winning chances, since all pawns were on the same side of the board. Of course, he still tried to put pressure on Robson, but the American defended himself well, and after 110 moves, Ivanchuk canceled his winning attempts.