GM Arjun Erigaisi ground out a 67-move win over GM Zhu Jiner to go into the final round of the 2026 TePe Sigeman Chess Tournament as the sole leader on 4.5/6. GM Magnus Carlsen is half a point back after using the King’s Indian Defense to take down GM Andy Woodward, where he’s joined by his last-round opponent GM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, who made an uneventful draw against GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov. GM Jorden van Foreest no longer has even a mathematical chance of winning the title after letting a big advantage slip against GM Nils Grandelius.
The final round starts three hours earlier on Thursday, May 7, starting at 6 a.m. ET / 12:00 CEST / 3:30 p.m. IST.
This is a flash report—come back later for full coverage of all the day’s action!
Carlsen grabbed a second win in a row, while Arjun needed to beat Zhu twice after letting an advantage slip mid-game. It could have been three decisive games, but Grandelius survived.
Round 6 Results
Arjun’s crucial late win puts him in pole position, but if he loses we could even get a four-way playoff, with Abdusattorov entering the picture.
Standings after Round 6
Our Game of the Day is another dramatic clash featuring Carlsen in “must-win” mode, which GM Rafael Leitao will analyze below.
If Arjun beats Woodward in the final round he’s the champion, while if he draws he’s guaranteed at least a playoff. If Arjun loses and Carlsen-Erdogmus is a draw, Abdusattorov could even force a four-way playoff by beating Van Foreest.
If we do need playoff games, they’ll be at a blitz time control with three minutes for all moves and a two-second increment from move one.
Round 7 Pairings
How to watch?
The Tepe Sigeman Chess Tournament takes place May 1-7, 2026, at the Elite Plaza Hotel in Malmo, Sweden. The players compete in an eight-player single round-robin. The time control is 90 minutes for 40 moves, with 30 more minutes for the rest of the game and a 30-second increment per move from move one.
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