Tepe Sigeman & Co 2023 R3: Svidler and Mishra join Gukesh in the lead

by Shahid Ahmed - 07/05/2023

Sweden no.1 Nils Grandelius halted D Gukesh's winning streak at 28th TePe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament 2023. Gukesh opted for the Berlin in Ruy Lopez. The three-time winner of this event made a Greek-gift sacrifice. However, it was not as venomous as he wanted it to be. A draw via perpetual check became the obvious result of it. Arjun Erigaisi suffered his second consecutive loss of the event. Svidler was repeating the same line he played against Caruana in a Blitz game. Arjun's exchange sacrifice did not earn him any compensation and eventually he lost. Jorden van Foreest got the better of Gelfand in the endgame. Vincent Keymer blundered in a winning position and lost to Abhimanyu Mishra. It will be Arjun vs Gukesh in Round 4 starting today at 3 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Photo: David Llada/TePe Sigeman & Co Tournament 2023

Arjun loses two in-a-row

It would have been difficult to predict for anyone that Jorden van Foreest, Arjun Erigaisi, Vincent Keymer and Boris Gelfand would be at the bottom half of the table as the tournament nears the halfway mark. The last two Keymer and Gelfand are yet to score a win. It is a short tournament of only seven rounds. Thus, Arjun does not have a lot of time to recover. While he might be virtually out of the championship race, there are still enough games left for him to make a good finish.

Nils Grandelius denies Gukesh a hat-trick | Photo: David Llada/TePe Sigeman & Co Tournament 2023

Grandelius - Gukesh: 0.5-0.5

D Gukesh (2730) faced the Sweden no.1 and three-time winner of the event, Nils Grandelius (2664) for the first time in a rated game. Gukesh opted for the Berlin in Ruy Lopez. White decided to go for a Greek-gift sacrifice a move after Black castled 13...0-0.

Position after 16.Bxh7+

Does 16.Bxh7+ work? No. As scary as it may seem because the e-file is controlled by the rook at e1, White does not have enough pieces to make an impact immediately. 16...Kxh7 17.Ng5+ Kg6 typical reply to a Bxh7 sacrifice. It is safer than retreating Kg8. 18.Qg4 f5 19.Qg3 Kf6 20.Nh7+ Kf7 21.Ng5+ Kf6 22.Nh7+ Kf7 23.Ng5+ perpetual check is the best and only thing White could get out of that position.

Chess is a strenuous sport | Photo: David Llada/TePe Sigeman & Co Tournament 2023

Svidler - Arjun: 1-0

Arjun Erigaisi (2701) faced Peter Svidler (2683) for the first time in a rated game. Svidler has played the same line against Fabiano Caruana (USA) in Tal Memorial 2021 Blitz event.

Position after 12...Ne6

12...Ne6 might seem like a mistake and costs an exchange after 13.c5 d5 14.Nxe6 Bxe6 15.Bf4. Now if Black moves the rook, the b7-pawn drops. Caruana played 15...b5 which ended in a draw, although it was a Blitz game. Arjun opted for 15...b6 16.Bxb8 Qxb8 and he could not get enough compensation for the rest of the game.

Arjun Erigaisi suffered his second consecutive loss | Photo: David Llada/TePe Sigeman & Co Tournament 2023

Jorden van Foreest (NED) got the better of Boris Gelfand (ISR) in the endgame | Photo: David Llada/TePe Sigeman & Co Tournament 2023

Vincent Keymer (GER) blundered in time trouble in a winning position against Abhimanyu Mishra (USA) | Photo: David Llada/TePe Sigeman & Co Tournament 2023

Michael Duke aka Mr. Dodgy made the ceremonial first move of Round 3 | Photo: David Llada/TePe Sigeman & Co Tournament 2023

Time Control

90 minutes for 40 moves and then 30 minutes for the remaining moves with 30 seconds cumulative increment for each move starting from the first move (Malmö rules-no draws before move 40).

Replay Round 3 games

Round 3 results

Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.
1	2	2683	GM	Svidler, Peter	1 - 0	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2701	8
2	3	2689	GM	Van Foreest, Jorden	1 - 0	GM	Gelfand, Boris	2678	1
3	4	2700	GM	Keymer, Vincent	0 - 1	GM	Mishra, Abhimanyu	2550	7
4	5	2664	GM	Grandelius, Nils	½ - ½	GM	Gukesh, D	2732	6

Details

Standings after Round 3

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	TB1
1	2	GM	Svidler, Peter	FID	2683	2,5
	6	GM	Gukesh, D	IND	2732	2,5
	7	GM	Mishra, Abhimanyu	USA	2550	2,5
4	5	GM	Grandelius, Nils	SWE	2664	2
5	3	GM	Van Foreest, Jorden	NED	2689	1
	8	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	IND	2701	1
7	4	GM	Keymer, Vincent	GER	2700	0,5
8	1	GM	Gelfand, Boris	ISR	2678	0

Details

Round 4 pairings

Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.
1	8	2701	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun		GM	Gukesh, D	2732	6
2	7	2550	GM	Mishra, Abhimanyu		GM	Grandelius, Nils	2664	5
3	1	2678	GM	Gelfand, Boris		GM	Keymer, Vincent	2700	4
4	2	2683	GM	Svidler, Peter		GM	Van Foreest, Jorden	2689	3

Details

Schedule

4th - 9th May - 3 p.m. CET (6:30 p.m. IST), 10th May - 12 p.m. CET (3:30 p.m. IST).

Links

Official site

Tournament details

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