Tepe Sigeman Chess: Arjun Erigaisi suffers rare loss

Arjun Erigaisi suffered a rare loss but stayed in the lead, jointly with Hans Moke Niemann, after three rounds of the Tepe Sigeman round-robin chess tournament.

REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE: Arjun has two points after three rounds.

Arjun Erigaisi suffered a rare loss but stayed in the lead, jointly with his conqueror Hans Moke Niemann (USA), at two points after three rounds of the Tepe Sigeman round-robin chess tournament at Malmo, Sweden, on Thursday.

For the second successive day, Arjun was involved in the only decisive battle of the day.

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The 68-move loss with black pieces came after Arjun mishandled the middle-game and allowed his rival space advantage. Niemann did not let Arjun regain any ground and slowly ended his resistance with a fine combination involving the rooks.

• Third round : Hans Moke Niemann (USA, 2) bt Arjun Erigaisi (2); Saleh Salem (USA, 1.5) drew with Alexei Shirov (Esp, 1); Nils Grandelius (Swe, 1.5) drew with David Navara (Cze, 1); Jorden van Foreest (Ned, 1.5) drew with Michael Adams (Eng, 1.5).

D. Gukesh survives

Meanwhile, in the Chessables Sunway International at Punta Prima, Spain, D. Gukesh overcame some anxious moments to hold Shant Sargsyan (Armenia) in the seventh round.

The 56-move draw raised Gukesh’s tally to 5.5 points, same as fellow overnight joint leaders and Spanish compatriots Latasa Jaime Santos and Jimenez Jose Fernando Cuenca.

K. Sasikiran defeated Dutch Liam Vrolijik to reach 5 points. Soham Das (4.5), the other Indian in the fray, also emerged victorious after facing Elliot Papadiamandis (France).