Sigeman & Co.: Harikrishna Can't Quite Keep up with the Jones

It has been a good year for Pentala Harikrishna, who has taken second place this year in at least two very strong tournaments, and maybe even three, if memory serves. He recently came up half a point short in Shenzhen, where Anish Giri pipped him at the post, and now it is Gawain Jones who has finished half a point ahead of him. This was in the Tepe Sigeman & Co. Chess Tournament, a strong annual event in Malmo, Sweden. The eight-player round-robin included six players at or near 2700, and Jones's undefeated +3 score was good for first place and an impressive 2816 TPR. It may be surprising to those of us who have been around for a while, but Jones is now the UK's #1 player, ahead of Michael Adams (for many years Great Britain's top player), David Howell, and Matthew Sadler.

Harikrishna finished half a point behind, his 2756 TPR adding a few points to his rating. Nils Grandelius finished with a +1 score to achieve the best result among the host country's participants. More here or here.