TePe Sigeman & Co 2026 — Arjun Erigaisi beats Nils Grandelius, becomes joint leader after three rounds

Arjun Erigaisi defeated Sweden’s Nil Grandelius in the third round of the TePe Sigeman & Co 2026 chess tournament in Malmo, Sweden, on Sunday, becoming one of the five joint leaders.

Grandelius, who also lost in the first two rounds, went for the Sicilian Dragon with black pieces. Arjun followed the approach that helped R. Vaishali take down Kateryna Lagno in the final round of the Women’s Candidates.

“I could only recall Vaishali’s last-round win from the Candidates, and I remember even though Black was trying to create some attack, her king was quite safe with this bishop on b3, so I thought I’ll put the bishop on b3 and try to take it from there,” said the Indian after his win.

Arjun, Magnus Carlsen, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Yagiz Erdogmus and Andy Woodward all have two points.

Erdogmus took down Zhu Jiner, the only female participant in the tournament.

Carlsen arrived seven minutes late for his clash against Abdusattorov which ended in a draw. The game between Jordevn van Foreest and Woodward also finished with the two sharing points.

In the fourth round on Monday, Arjun faces Abdusattorov while Erdogmus takes on Grandelius. Carlsen will be up against Van Foreest and Woodward will play Zhu.

Published on May 04, 2026