The 25th edition of the TePe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament got off to a great start with the players showing an impressive fighting spirit. In the end only one game was decisive, but there was no holding back as three of the four games lasted well over six hours.
Gawain Jones won against Parham Maghsoodloo after getting the better of a complicated midddlegame (and despite missing the opportunity to end the game early with a beautiful combination at move 25!). Maghsoodloo fought on valiantly a piece down for a few hours, but could not prevent the inevitable.
TePe Sigeman veteran Tiger Hillarp Persson held his own as black against top rated Pentala Harikrishna. A hard fought battle ended with a queen endgame, a pawn on the 7th rank and perpetual check.
Young Nihal Sarin played very well and had the 2018 European champion Ivan Saric on the ropes, but allowed him an unbelievable escape in the seventh hour of play.
Sweden’s no 1 Nils Grandelius and Dieter Nisipeanu ended in a relatively quick draw, but only after both players managed to navigate a minefield of hidden tactics.
An entertaining start to the tournament that promises a great chess week in Malmö!