With one spherical to go, GM Anton Korobov is again within the shared lead of the 2024 TePe Sigeman Chess Event because of a win towards GM Nils Grandelius, whereas leaders GM Arjun Erigaisi and GM Peter Svidler drew their recreation. GM Vincent Keymer would have joined the group on the high with a win however misplaced to GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov. GM Marc’Andria Maurizzi and Ju Wenjun drew comparatively shortly.
The ultimate spherical begins Friday, Could 3, at 6 a.m. ET / 12:00 CEST / 3:30 p.m. IST.
TePe Sigeman Standings After Spherical 6
One of many attainable eventualities that I described yesterday occurred: while leaders Arjun and Svidler performed one another and battled it out to a draw, Korobov grabbed his probability, gained his recreation, and rejoined the highest group. Keymer may have completed the identical, however misplaced.
Of the three leaders, Svidler is the one participant with the white items tomorrow—he performs Keymer. Arjun has Black towards Grandelius, whereas Korobov performs Ju, additionally with Black. We’ll even have Abdusattorov-Maurizzi in a ultimate spherical that begins three hours sooner than the opposite rounds. That manner, there might be time for a tiebreak in case of a tie for first.
Korobov gained a great recreation, however on the similar time, it appeared like Grandelius performed his worst recreation to date this week. Maybe it was as a result of he bought right into a place that did not actually go well with his type, as his opponent steered. Korobov made a primary look within the dwell broadcast, and it made you want he had proven up extra usually: his explanations have been each instructive and entertaining (I imply, evaluating his king chasing a knight to Paolo Maldini is simply marvelous.)
Korobov: “I’ve glorious method as soon as my opponent resigns on the correct second. As soon as he does not, that’s going to be a tragedy for me!” 😀 #TePeSigeman pic.twitter.com/WQlHVhIvgM
— chess24 (@chess24com) Could 2, 2024
The opening was offbeat however attention-grabbing: 4.h3 within the 4 Knights. Korobov talked about that virtually any authorized transfer is feasible right here and that the “Dutch College,” consisting of the brothers Lucas and Jorden van Foreest, performs “with their left hand,” choosing 4.a3 and 4.a4.
As one of many native spectators steered, Grandelius ought to most likely have pushed f5-f4 in some unspecified time in the future and tried to assault in King’s Indian type. Because it went, White bought a greater place with comparatively easy strikes.
Korobov mentioned about his place on transfer 19: “I’ve a greater construction, higher items, so I’m enjoying a sort of risk-free place with some sort of benefit, possibly not a severe one, however okay. And that’s not the kind of Nils place, to seek out defensive strikes, he needed to undergo… He’s an lively participant.”
To make issues worse, Grandelius additionally bought into time bother, which made it even tougher to defend. In some unspecified time in the future, it was not possible to forestall materials loss, and there was zero counterplay.
Arjun bought to play the white items for the second day in a row and performed the identical Anti-Marshall as he had towards Keymer the opposite day. Nevertheless, it was Svidler who deviated first with 11…Qd7, although Keymer’s method was fairly profitable.
Solely after 20.Nf3 Svidler was on his personal, however discovered the engine’s most popular transfer anyway. Then, on transfer 21, Arjun spent virtually 40 minutes on his rook transfer, whereas Svidler was intrigued by a knight transfer as a substitute and spent the entire time calculating it with out, as he mentioned, coming to any conclusion.
Their joint evaluation within the broadcast revealed each the depth of their calculations and the generally completely different opinions that they had in some positions. Nonetheless, the analysis was at all times roughly equal. A superb “grandmaster draw.”
The wildest recreation of the spherical, between two 19-year-olds who’re possible members of a future Candidates Event, was the apparent selection for Recreation of the Day.
From a reasonably snug middlegame place (coming from a Chebanenko Slav), Keymer most likely underestimated the annoying 22…Bh4! pin, after which he slowly bought outplayed. Abdusattorov finally gained a pawn, however with solely heavy items left on the board, White may nonetheless maintain it.
In time bother, Keymer erred, however Abdusattorov didn’t revenue, after which, after the time management, Keymer missed a key concept to go for a queen endgame, which additionally appeared completely misplaced—however would possibly simply be holdable, even when by a miracle. GM Rafael Leitao takes a glance:
Maurizzi vs. Ju was a recreation with little content material (or spice, as Arjun would put it). The Ladies’s World Champion performed what commentator GM Laurent Fressinet known as the “Chinese language Petroff,” a particular manner of enjoying this opening usually utilized by Chinese language grandmasters. It is extremely stable, and Maurizzi could not actually create something—as a result of there wasn’t a factor he may create.
The Tepe Sigeman Chess Event takes place April 27-Could 3, 2024, on the Elite Plaza Resort in Malmo, Sweden. The gamers compete in an eight-player single round-robin. The time management is 90 minutes for 40 strikes, with 30 extra minutes for the remainder of the sport and a 30-second increment per transfer.
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