Arjun Catches Leaders, Eyes World No. 4 Spot
GM Arjun Erigaisi beat GM Marc'Andria Maurizzi in round three of the 2024 TePe Sigeman Chess Tournament to join the leaders after GM Anton Korobov was unable to grind down co-leader GM Vincent Keymer. Top seed GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov once again failed to impress, this time against GM Peter Svidler, while Women's World Champion Ju Wenjun finally got off the mark with a draw after great defense against local hero GM Nils Grandelius.
Round four starts Tuesday, April 30, at 9 a.m. ET / 15:00 CEST / 6:30 p.m. IST.
TePe Sigeman Round 3 Results
TePe Sigeman Standings After Round 3
The day's big showdown, if we're not talking events in Sardinia...
It’s happening. First time we have ever been paired against each other in classical. pic.twitter.com/fdOAccVI4a
— Alexandra Botez (@alexandrabotez) April 29, 2024
...was the top-of-the-table clash between the two Ks, Korobov and Keymer, who were both on a perfect 2/2. Something had to give, and in the end, it was that both players lost their 100 percent record.
Korobov's rare 5.Qb3 in the Nimzo-Indian may have lulled Keymer into a false sense of security. After seeming to come out of the opening with no problems at all and a draw in sight, he missed the moment and got into trouble again... and again. Time trouble compounded the danger, but Korobov couldn't quite squeeze out more, and Keymer survived.
Arjun missed out on the FIDE Candidates Tournament, but he's been flying in opens and lesser events recently, with GM Anish Giri predicting big things to come.
My prediction is that Arjun is going to qualify to the next Candidates through ALL of the available qualification routes. https://t.co/ZwTlzp1Hkj
— Anish Giri (@anishgiri) April 27, 2024
In Malmo he took advantage of the leaders' draw to catch them, by playing a fine game against 16-year-old Maurizzi. The reigning world junior champion went for a piece sacrifice that was crying out to be played.
22...Nhxf4!? was perhaps not 100 percent sound, but it was close. The main problem for Maurizzi, however, was that chaos is Arjun's element, and all he needed was a couple of inaccuracies from his opponent to take over and win in convincing style.
That's our Game of the Day, and has been analyzed by GM Rafael Leitao, who says of Arjun:
"Arjun, with his typical exotic, creative, and efficient play, is one of my favorite chess players today. I always check all his games. His style reminds me of the late Vugar Gashimov, also a brilliant mind and a daring soul who played to win every game and wasn't afraid of taking risks."
His style reminds me of the late Vugar Gashimov, also a brilliant mind and a daring soul who played to win every game and wasn't afraid of taking risks.
—Rafael Leitao
The remaining two games were drawn, but also after great fights.
Abdusattorov is world number four on the official FIDE rating list, but the 19-year-old has looked out of sorts in Malmo so far. That was the case again in round three when he looked to be in some danger until defending champion Svidler chose to liquidate into a drawn endgame with the temporary queen sac 18.Qxe5!?.
The remaining game was the longest of the day, with Grandelius slow-playing an already slow Queen's Gambit Declined. It seemed to work almost perfectly as he built up a big advantage by the time control, but Ju, who was staring down the barrel of a third loss in a row, defended well and also quickly. That made all the difference, as Grandelius missed a beautiful winning zugzwang and almost got into trouble as his time ran out.
You've got one minute on your clock—can you see the threat and find the only defensive move that works? White to play and draw!
Grandelius lived to fight another day.
In Thursday's round four, the clash of the leaders is Korobov-Arjun, with a win enough to take Arjun above GM Ian Nepomniachtchi into the number four spot on the live rating list. The other games are Keymer-Ju, Abdusattorov-Grandelius, and Maurizzi-Svidler.
The live broadcast was hosted by GMs Laurent Fressinet and Stellan Brynell.
The Tepe Sigeman Chess Tournament takes place April 27-May 3, 2024, at the Elite Plaza Hotel in Malmo, Sweden. The players compete in an eight-player single round-robin. The time control is 90 minutes for 40 moves, with 30 more minutes for the rest of the game and a 30-second increment per move.
Previous coverage:
Colin McGourty led news at Chess24 from its launch until it merged with Chess.com a decade later. An amateur player, he got into chess writing when he set up the website Chess in Translation after previously studying Slavic languages and literature in St. Andrews, Odesa, Oxford, and Krakow.
