The Sigeman Chess Tournament 2011 has certainly been entertaining this year, with prodigy Anish Giri leading the field with Hans Tikkanen going into the last round. Superstar Alexei Shirov is unfortunately continuing his slump with 2/4 points against lower-rated opposition. In yesterday’s round, Giri played 111 moves against Jonny Hector - attempting to grind down Giri. However, Hector was able to hold the draw in a pawn down rook ending. Shirov was unable to create sufficient tension in his game against Tikkanen, and a draw was agreed on move 68.
Fireworks exploded in the showdown between Wesley So and Nils Grandelius, with black responding to d4 with the extremely aggressive Noa Variation of the Nimzo-Indian. I think So went wrong with 13. Nd4?! - allowing black to strip white of castling rights. 17. Nh6?! was not the right time to grab a pawn, leaving white’s king stranded in the center under the coordinated attack of the black’s pieces. An excellent queen maneuver by Grandelius forced white’s king to talk a walk with 25. Kf3, which allowed black to force a mate in 6 beginning with 26. Rf6+. A fine attacking game by Grandelius, exposing a lack of preparation in So’s repertoire.
Participants
- GM Alexei Shirov ESP 2701
- GM Anish Giri NED 2690
- GM Wesley So PHI 2667
- GM Jonny Hector SWE 2588
- GM Nils Grandelius SWE 2547
- GM Hans Tikkanen SWE 2541
Please check out Will's original article on the 2011 Sigeman Chess Tournament at his site.
