Sindarov Wins Star-Studded TePe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament

19-year-old GM Javokhir Sindarov was declared the winner of Sweden's prestigious TePe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament after drawing with the legendary GM Vasyl Ivanchuk in the seventh and final round on Monday.

Sindarov's score of 4.5/7 placed him half a point ahead of the world's youngest GM, Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, and Sweden's number-one player, GM Nils Grandelius, marking the second victory in a row for Uzbekistani representatives—his compatriot GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov won the 2024 edition after a memorable tiebreak.

Final Standings

The TePe Sigeman and Co Chess Tournament has run every year since 1993 (barring 2020) in Malmo, Sweden, and has previously been won by esteemed players such as the late GM Viktor Korchnoi, as well as GMs Judit Polgar, Nigel Short, and Jan Timman.

For this year's event, which was held at the Elite Plaza Hotel, an illustrious field comprised veterans, up-and-coming talents, and two Super-GMs vying to be listed alongside the former winners.

Hungary's GM Richard Rapport entered as the top seed, closely followed by Sindarov, who recently crossed 2700 for the second time after gaining more than 30 rating points in the last six months.

Both announced themselves as contenders by winning their round-one games, and Sindarov's conversion against Tan showed that he is still in tip-top shape.

Even though the highest-rated players started strongly, discounting the resilience of players like Tan, Ivanchuk, Grandelius, and Erdogmus would be rash. It wasn't long before the tournament opened up, and the 13-year-old Erdogmus was the chief instigator of this.

A win over Tan in round two on the black side of the Queen's Gambit Accepted: Gunsberg Defense laid the platform for a big performance by the Turkish prodigy.

Due to the rating range between the first and seventh seed being a mere 88 points (the eighth seed, Tan, was an outlier by almost 100 points), the lowest-rated player was capable of beating the highest, which is precisely what happened in round three. 

Tan's defense was pinpoint throughout the entire game, and when Rapport played the flawed 56.e5? in a rook and five pawn vs. rook and two pawn endgame, the former women's world champion struck while the iron was hot.

Rapport's tournament-winning aspirations were squashed in the next round by Erdogmus, who played a near-perfect game on the white side of the Sicilian Defense: Nyezhmetdinov-Rossolimo, Fianchetto Variation. Sindarov and Tan also managed to defeat GMs Erwin l'Ami and Ivanchuk, respectively, leaving Sindarov and Erdogmus in equal first on 3/4.

Given that Ivanchuk started the event with 1/3, Erdogmus may have felt that the Ukrainian legend was an important player to beat; however, the former world number-two commands respect at the board and can beat anyone on his day.

Unfortunately for Erdogmus, that "day" was round five, and Ivanchuk barely gave his opponent a chance in the English Opening. "Chucky" deftly converted a one-pawn advantage in the endgame and after he uncorked the beautiful 44.Rb7!!, Erdogmus promptly resigned.

An interesting statistic about this matchup is that Ivanchuk won the TePe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament 22 years ago in 2003, nine years before Erdogmus was born, and two years before Sindarov. Ivanchuk's longevity is certainly admirable.

For Sindarov, round five was a double-whammy as his next closest challenger, Grandelius, also lost to L'Ami, giving him some breathing room to close out the tournament. Draws against Grandelius and Ivanchuk were all Sindarov needed to confirm first place; however, this didn't stop him from playing three straight brilliancies against Grandelius. Note: all three moves stemmed from the same tactical idea.

Aside from GM Ray Robson, who drew all seven of his games, every participant won at least one game, but Sindarov was the only player who remained unbeaten after seven rounds.

Erdogmus' performance was also commendable, and the whizz-kid only has to gain 74 rating points to become the youngest player to cross 2700. Currently, this record is held by GM Wei Yi, who achieved the feat at the age of 15 years and nine months. GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, who attended the event to serve as a second for Erdogmus, lauded the talented junior, stating the following after his win over Rapport:

”I was 20 years old when I first beat a 2700. Yagiz achieved this at the age of 14 [13]. Yagiz is the most talented young player in the world and for me he is the biggest candidate to become a world champion.” 

Shakriyar Mamedyarov: "Ben ilk 2700'ü yendiğimde 20 yaşındaydım. Yağız, 14 yaşında bunu başardı. Yağız dünyanın en yetenekli genç oyuncusu ve benim için dünya şampiyonu olabilecek en büyük aday." pic.twitter.com/QJQbcJhKAk

— Kayıp Balık Nepo (@c5piyonu) May 27, 2025

Erdogmus has already received celebrity treatment in his home country after he became the youngest player to cross 2600, and his global fan base is growing by the day.

Milli sporcumuz GM Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş, Satranç Olimpiyatı'nın dönüşünde okulunda kahramanlar gibi karşılandı! pic.twitter.com/MuUJ9XF6ra

— Chess.com Türkçe (@chesscom_tr) September 26, 2024

Sindarov's efforts may have only earned him 3.5 FIDE rating points, but recent form suggests he will improve on his career-high ranking of 29th in the world. The result also bodes well for Uzbekistan's Olympiad team, as they continue to build on their victory at the 2022 FIDE Olympiad in Chennai.

Won Tepe Sigeman in Malmö, Sweden🇸🇪

Pretty happy of my result 🔥

Focusing on World Team Championship in June now

Thanks everyone for the support🐝@TeamVitality 💛 #VforVictory pic.twitter.com/YGz98v23W8

— Javokhir Sindarov (@GMJSindarov) May 26, 2025

The TePe Sigeman Chess & Co Chess Tournament took place May 20-26, 2025, at the Elite Plaza Hotel in Malmo, Sweden. The players competed in an eight-player single round-robin. The time control was 90 minutes for 40 moves, with 30 more minutes for the rest of the game and a 30-second increment per move.