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Just coming off his victory at the Capablanca Memorial, GM Hans Niemann also emerged victoriously at the Tepe Sigeman & Co Tournament in Malmo, Sweden. The 18-year-old American grandmaster finished on 5/7, a point clear of the pack.
You can find all games of the Tepe Sigeman & Co Tournament tournament here.
American rising star Niemann is having a busy schedule this year, with flights from tournament to tournament and little time at home. Recently, his results have been excellent. With the winner’s trophy of the Capablanca Memorial’s elite group in his suitcase, Niemann traveled from Cuba to Sweden and also won there—despite suffering from the inevitable jetlag.
As in recent years, the tournament in Malmo in the south of Sweden saw a round-robin among eight players of different ages and backgrounds. Once again, this mixed field led to lots of interesting games.
2022 Tepe Sigeman & Co Tournament | Final Standings
| # | Fed | Name | Rtg | Perf | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Pts | SB |
| 1 | Niemann, Hans | 2656 | 2843 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 5.0/7 | |||
| 2 | Adams, Michael | 2698 | 2728 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 4.0/7 | 13.25 | ||
| 3 | Grandelius, Nils | 2635 | 2737 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 4.0/7 | 13.25 | ||
| 4 | Erigaisi, Arjun | 2675 | 2731 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 4.0/7 | 11.75 | ||
| 5 | Navara, David | 2682 | 2681 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 3.5/7 | |||
| 6 | Van Foreest, Jorden | 2715 | 2626 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 3.0/7 | |||
| 7 | Salem, Saleh | 2690 | 2578 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 2.5/7 | |||
| 8 | Shirov, Alexei | 2695 | 2520 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 2.0/7 |
The 2021 FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss was a stronger tournament in itself, but by looking at the average rating of the opponents, Niemann played—and won—his strongest ever tournament so far. After gaining 19 points for the May 2022 FIDE rating list, he won another 18 points in Malmo to get to a 2674 live rating.
It seems obvious that his first goal would be to cross 2700, but Niemann didn’t want to reveal anything concrete regarding his ambitions when interviewed by GM Erwin l’Ami: “Let’s just say I will be continuing to work very hard and try to improve.”
Niemann started and ended his tournament with two draws, and won three games in the middle. In a clash of up-and-coming players, he nicely and calmly outplayed GM Arjun Erigaisi in an endgame:
One player didn’t play a single draw in the tournament: GM Salem Saleh from the United Arab Emirates. His winning tactic against GM Jorden van Foreest was nice—can you find it?
Next for Niemann is the Bundesliga, the Sharjah Masters, the Prague Masters, after that a tournament in Armenia, and again the Bundesliga. He once had a year in which he played 259 classical games and this year he expects to play 150, less than he would like to.
GM Mikhail Botvinnik once said that a player shouldn’t play too much, but leave time to analyze his games as well. But these are modern times, and Niemann has a different attitude, as he made clear after winning in Malmo: “If you’re organizing any strong tournaments, please invite me. I would like to play non-stop!”
