Sigeman: Caruana leads, Grandelius in second place

by ChessBase
5/13/2012 – Fabiano Caruana is number eight in the world. With two wins and a draw, and a 2940 performance, he has taken the lead in the 20-year jubilee of the Sigeman Chess Tournament. In second place is Sweden's most interviewed chess player, dredlocked Nils Grandelius, who is known for Grandelius innovative playing style. The dredlocked GM is totally fearless, as his games in Malmö show.

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The Limhamn Chess Club is staging the 20-year jubilee of the annual Sigeman Chess Tournament. It is taking place in the classical Hipp Theater in central Malmo, Sweden, and is an eight-player round robin. The rate of play is 40 moves/2hours + 20 moves/1 hour + 30 minutes for the rest of the game. The games start at 14:00h CEST, except the final round, which begins at 12:00 noon.

Round 2 – May 10th
GM Fabiano Caruana
1-0
GM Hans Tikkanen
GM Jonny Hector
1/2
GM Peter Leko
GM Nils Grandelius
1-0
GM Emanuel Berg
GM Anish Giri
1/2
GM Chao Li

In round two Nils Grandelius played a scrappy game against GM Emanuel Berg, who is 30 points higher on the rating scale. It is interesting to replay the moves with a chess engine running – and a lot of fun exploring the alternatives.

[Event "20th Sigeman & Co"] [Site "Malmo SWE"] [Date "2012.05.10"] [Round "2"] [White "Grandelius, N."] [Black "Berg, E."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E62"] [WhiteElo "2556"] [BlackElo "2587"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2012.05.09"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. Nc3 d6 5. g3 O-O 6. Bg2 c6 7. O-O Qb6 8. Qc2 Na6 9. e4 Bg4 10. Be3 Qa5 11. h3 Bxf3 12. Bxf3 e5 13. d5 cxd5 14. cxd5 Nd7 15. Bg4 Nb6 16. Be2 Rfc8 17. a3 Nd7 $2 18. Qb1 {Unpinning the knight, which then can leap into action (which is what knights do).} Qd8 19. Nb5 Ndc5 $6 20. b4 Na4 21. Qb3 Nb6 22. a4 f5 23. a5 f4 24. Bd2 (24. axb6 fxe3 25. bxa7 (25. Nxa7 exf2+ 26. Kg2 Rcb8 27. Nc6 bxc6 28. dxc6+ Kh8 29. b7 {is deadly.}) 25... exf2+ 26. Rxf2 {is simply good for White.}) 24... Nd7 25. Nxd6 Ndc5 26. bxc5 Nxc5 27. Qa3 Qxd6 28. Bb4 Bf8 29. Bg4 fxg3 30. fxg3 Rc7 31. Rac1 Be7 32. Be6+ Kh8 33. Rf7 Rf8 {After all the horrendous tactical combinations Black is basically lost.} 34. Rxe7 Qxe7 35. Bxc5 Qg5 36. Qe3 Qxe3+ 37. Bxe3 Rxc1+ 38. Bxc1 {Two bishops for a rook and calling all the shots - White is going to take home the full point.} Kg7 39. Bg5 Rf3 40. Kg2 Rd3 41. Be7 {A lovely/terrifying sight - depending on which side you are on: the two bishops protect the pawn on every square to promotion.} 1-0

After some inaccurate play Hans Tikkanen got mauled and then mated by the top seed in this event.

[Event "20th Sigeman & Co"] [Site "Malmo SWE"] [Date "2012.05.10"] [Round "2"] [White "Caruana, F."] [Black "Tikkanen, H."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D71"] [WhiteElo "2770"] [BlackElo "2566"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2012.05.09"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Nf3 Nb6 7. Nc3 Nc6 8. e3 O-O 9. O-O Re8 10. Re1 a5 11. Qc2 a4 12. Rd1 Bf5 13. Qe2 Ra5 14. Bd2 Be6 15. Ne4 Bc4 16. Qe1 Rb5 17. Bc3 Nd5 18. Nc5 a3 19. Nd2 axb2 20. Bxb2 Na5 21. Ba3 c6 {Not caring about the bishop.} 22. Rdc1 Qa8 23. Rxc4 Nxc4 24. Nxc4 Nb6 25. Nxb6 Rxb6 26. Bb4 {White has come out of this with two minor pieces for a rook.} e5 27. dxe5 Bxe5 28. Bc3 Rb5 29. Nd7 Bxc3 30. Qxc3 Re6 31. Nf6+ Kf8 32. Nd5 Qa5 { [#]Oops, difficult to see?!} 33. Qh8# 1-0
Round 3 – May 11th
GM Peter Leko
1/2
GM Fabiano Caruana
GM Hans Tikkanen
0-1
GM Anish Giri
GM Emanuel Berg
1-0
GM Jonny Hector
GM Chao Li
1/2
GM Nils Grandelius

Another tactical battle was seen in the following round three game, which is pure fun to replay.

[Event "20th Sigeman & Co"] [Site "Malmo SWE"] [Date "2012.05.11"] [Round "3"] [White "Berg, E."] [Black "Hector, J."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D17"] [WhiteElo "2587"] [BlackElo "2560"] [PlyCount "93"] [EventDate "2012.05.09"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. Nxc4 Qc7 8. g3 e5 9. dxe5 Nxe5 10. Bf4 Nfd7 11. Bg2 Be7 12. Rc1 f6 13. O-O Qb8 14. a5 a6 15. Na4 Qc7 16. Nab6 Rd8 17. Nd5 cxd5 18. Ne3 Qxa5 19. Nxf5 g6 20. Nxe7 Kxe7 21. Qd4 Nc6 22. Qe3+ Kf7 23. Rfd1 Nde5 24. b4 Qb5 25. Rc5 Qxb4 26. Bxd5+ Rxd5 27. Rcxd5 Re8 28. Bxe5 Nxe5 29. Qh6 Kg8 30. Rxe5 fxe5 31. Rd7 Re7 32. Rd8+ Kf7 33. Qxh7+ Kf6 34. Qh8+ Kg5 35. h4+ Kf5 36. Qf8+ Ke6 37. Qg8+ Kf5 38. Qf8+ Ke6 39. Qg8+ Kf5 40. Rf8+ Ke4 41. Qxg6+ Kd5 42. Rd8+ Kc5 43. Rd1 a5 44. Qd6+ Kb5 45. Qd3+ Qc4 46. Rb1+ Kc5 47. Qa3+ 1-0

Dutch champion Anish Giri scored his first win by outplaying his opponent in the endgame.


Plays with left and writes with right, Aronian style: GM Anish Giri (picture from round two)

[Event "20th Sigeman & Co"] [Site "Malmo SWE"] [Date "2012.05.11"] [Round "3"] [White "Tikkanen, H."] [Black "Giri, A."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A15"] [WhiteElo "2566"] [BlackElo "2693"] [PlyCount "88"] [EventDate "2012.05.09"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. g3 Bg7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O Nxc3 8. bxc3 c5 9. Rb1 Nc6 10. Qa4 Qc7 11. d4 Bf5 12. Bf4 Qa5 13. Qxa5 Nxa5 14. Rb5 b6 15. dxc5 Bd7 16. Rxa5 bxa5 17. Ne5 Bxe5 18. Bxe5 Rac8 19. Bd4 Bc6 20. Bxc6 Rxc6 21. Rb1 f6 22. f4 Kf7 23. Rb7 Ra8 24. Kf2 Rcc8 25. Rb5 Ke6 26. Rxa5 a6 27. Ke3 Kd5 28. Kd3 Rcb8 29. Ra3 Kc6 30. Rb3 Rxb3 31. axb3 a5 32. c4 Rb8 33. Kc3 Re8 34. Kd3 Rb8 35. Kc3 h5 36. e4 Rd8 37. e5 fxe5 38. fxe5 e6 39. Be3 Rd1 40. h4 Rf1 41. Kb2 Rf3 42. Bf4 a4 43. bxa4 Kxc5 44. a5 Kxc4 0-1

Current standings


Simultaneous exhibition with chess legend Ulf Andersson


As a joke on the last board GM Emanuel Berg is waiting to play his colleague Ulf Andersson


Nils Grandelius

Sweden's most interviewed chess player has, for a long time, been Nils Grandelius, who makes his fourth start in the Sigeman Chess Tournament. Grandelius has an aggressive and innovative playing style and is totally fearless. He is a very active tournament player and has spent the last few years touring Europe playing chess. He won the grandmaster tournament in Olomouc in the Czech Republic in both 2008 and 2009, earning his first two grandmaster norms. In 2010 he secured the grandmaster title in a tournament in Bosnia, where he finished sixteenth with seven points in ten rounds against very tough opposition. At the Chess Olympics in Chanty-Mansiysk in 2010 he was Sweden's top scorer with 7½ points in ten games.

His best result in 2011 was his victory in the European Youth Chess Championship for players up to 18 years old, which was played in Albena in Bulgaria. It was the first time in many years that a Swedish junior achieved that kind of success in a championship tournament. He was also part of the Swedish team in the recent European Cup team event, which was played in Greece. Nils has gathered a lot of experience from playing against tough opponents and with a little bit of luck, he might very well win the tournament.

Anish Giri

Anish is part of a truly cosmopolitan family. Together with his two sisters, his Nepalese dad and Russian mother, he has lived in St Petersburg in Russia and Osaka in Japan, and the family now lives in Holland. An odd effect of moving is that Anish became a grandmaster without ever having been an International Master. He had five qualifying results when he needed only three, but by then he had left Russia. The results were never registered, and suddenly he had become a grandmaster instead. After moving to Holland he has also won the Dutch Championship.

Giri makes his third start in the Sigeman Chess Tournament. First time he participated, in 2010, he won the tournament with a score of 4½/5, a result which equaled a rating of 2900, and last year he shared first place with Hans Tikkanen and Wesley So. In the Chess Olympics in Khanty-Mansiysk in 2010, he scored eight points in eleven rounds at table four, playing for the strong Dutch team. His score was the third best of all players at this board. This year also started well with a victory in Reggio Emilia in Italy, but in the big tournament at Wijk aan Zee he had a hard time in the very strong Group A tournament and finished last. The means that he, despite having won the Sigeman Chess Tournament the last two years, is looking for revenge.

Photos by Calle Erlandsson

Schedule and results

Round 1 – May 9th
GM Fabiano Caruana
1-0
GM Anish Giri
GM Hans Tikkanen
0-1
GM Jonny Hector
GM Peter Leko
1/2
GM Nils Grandelius
GM Emanuel Berg
1/2
GM Chao Li
Round 2 – May 10th
GM Fabiano Caruana
1-0
GM Hans Tikkanen
GM Jonny Hector
1/2
GM Peter Leko
GM Nils Grandelius
1-0
GM Emanuel Berg
GM Anish Giri
1/2
GM Chao Li
Round 3 – May 11th
GM Peter Leko
1/2
GM Fabiano Caruana
GM Hans Tikkanen
0-1
GM Anish Giri
GM Emanuel Berg
1-0
GM Jonny Hector
GM Chao Li
1/2
GM Nils Grandelius

Rest day – May 12th
 
Round 4 – May 13th
GM Fabiano Caruana
-
GM Emanuel Berg
GM Hans Tikkanen
-
GM Peter Leko
GM Jonny Hector
-
GM Chao Li
GM Anish Giri
-
GM Nils Grandelius
Round 5 – May 14th
GM Chao Li
-
GM Fabiano Caruana
GM Emanuel Berg
-
GM Hans Tikkanen
GM Peter Leko
-
GM Anish Giri
GM Nils Grandelius
-
GM Jonny Hector
Round 6 – May 15th
GM Fabiano Caruana
-
GM Nils Grandelius
GM Hans Tikkanen
-
GM Chao Li
GM Peter Leko
-
GM Emanuel Berg
GM Anish Giri
-
GM Jonny Hector
Round 7 – May 16th
GM Jonny Hector
-
GM Fabiano Caruana
GM Nils Grandelius
-
GM Hans Tikkanen
GM Chao Li
-
GM Peter Leko
GM Emanuel Berg
-
GM Anish Giri

Links

The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

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