Grandelius, Jobava Win Revived Tepe Sigeman & Co Tournament

Thanks to sponsorship of Sweden's leading manufacturer of dental products, the Tepe Sigeman & Co Tournament was revived after two years. Nils Grandelius and Baadur Jobava shared first place in a single round robin with also Pavel Eljanov, Erik Blomqvist, Harika Dronavalli and Nigel Short.

"Joel Eklund [TePe's CEO - PD] and I trying to look like we are contributing to the post mortem today...." wrote Johan Sigeman on Facebook. 

It was a sad day for chess when it was announced that the 2014 edition of the Sigeman & Co tournament was going to be the last. It was a happy day when one of the most likeable round robins of the calendar was revived!

Johan Sigeman, a lawyer and chess enthusiast himself (he plays the Reykjavik Open almost every year), was always the main sponsor himself. Now, he managed to find an excellent partner in dental products manufacturer TePe, and after a two-year hiatus everything was back to normal again in Malmo, Sweden. Phew!

For the future the ambitions are even higher, but for this time the format was kept the same as three years ago: a single round robin with both international and Swedish stars.

The field consisted of Pavel Eljanov (2755, Ukraine), Nigel Short (2688, England), Baadur Jobava (2713, Georgia), Nils Grandelius (2665, Sweden), Erik Blomqvist (2546, Sweden) and Harika Dronavalli (2531, India).

"It's a sprint. You have to be on your toes right from the start," said Short in an interview at the tournament website. Well, the English GM was sharp from the start, but only at the start.

Short showing his game for the online and local audience together with Swedish GM Stellan Brynell. | Photo tournament website.

After this game, the talk of the town was whether Short would become the first player over 50 to break 2700. That talk was short-lived, as he would score only two more draws in the remainder of the tournament. He tied for last place with Harika, the only player who did not score a win in Malmo. She took it well.

Two players remained undefeated, and tied for first place: Nils Grandelius and Baadur Jobava. Both drew four games, and won one. First Grandelius:

Grandelius's only win was against his compatriot. | Photo tournament website.

However, it was a good edition for both local players because not only Grandelius but also Blomqvist, who played the smallest number of draws of anyone (only one), won rating points. Among his scalps was the top seed, who took some risk and was punished with healthy moves.

Here's the only win of Jobava, from the second round:

2017 Tepe Sigeman & Co Tournament | Final Standings

Games from TWIC.

The TePe Sigeman & Co Tournament was held 10-14 May in the Hipp Theater in central Malmo. It was short but sweet, as this final tweet of Harika suggests: