The Tata Steel Chess Tournament, one of the most prestigious events in the international chess calendar, starts in two days with a very strong line-up in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands. The event called “Wimbledon of Chess” celebrates this year its 81st anniversary, and traditionally, takes place in the coastal village of Wijk aan Zee, North Holland. As the last year, the playing venue will be moved in Alkmar and Leiden in the 5th and 10th round, respectively.
The Tata Steel Chess Tournament is composed of two main events, Tata Steel Masters and Tata Steel Challengers, which gather the very best chess Grandmasters in the world, and amateur tournament with thousands of amateur players and a lot of visitors from all around the world.
The Tata Steel Master features 14 world known Grandmasters: reigning World Chess Champion #1 Carlsen Magnus (NOR, 2835), World #3 Mamedyarov Shakhriyar (AZE, 2817), #4 Ding Liren (CHN, 2813), #5 Giri Anish (NED, 2783), #7 Kramnik Vladimir (RUS, 2777), #8 Anand Viswanathan (IND, 2773), #13 Nepomniachtchi Ian (RUS, 2763), #14 Radjabov Teimour (AZE, 2757), #18 Duda Jan-Krzystof (POL, 2738), #24 Rapport Richard (HUN, 2732), #29 Shankland Samuel (USA, 2724), #31 Fedoseev Vladimir (RUS, 2719), #41 Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (IND, 2701) and #189 Van Foreest Jorden (NED, 2614).
With an average rating of players 2753, the event is declared as the tournament of 21st category.
At the same time with Tata Steel Master event, the Tata Steel Challenger event will take place in Wijk aan Zee, as a qualification tournament for the next edition of Tata Steel Chess Masters. This year, the Challenger event gathered 10 Grandmasters and 4 International masters: Korobov Anton (UKR, 2698), Maghsoodloo Parham (IRI, 2688), Kovalev Vladislav (BLR, 2683), Bareev Evgeny (CAN, 2650), L’Ami Erwin (NED, 2642), Gledura Benjamin (HUN, 2621), Chigaey Maksim (RUS, 2593), young Indian Grand master Praggnanandhaa (IND, 2530), Van Forest Lucas (NED, 2500), IM Keymer Vincent (GER, 2508), IM Kuipers Stefan (NED, 2467) and two women players: IM Paehtz Elisabeth (GER, 2487) and IM Saduakassova Dinara (KAZ, 2472).
Tata Steel Challenger- Players
Both events, Masters and Challengers, will be played in 13 rounds by Robin round system and will take place from 11th-28th January, with a start of the first rounds on 12th of January.
All the games of the main events will be broadcasted live and can be followed through the official website of the event together with a live commentary of the games.
Besides the main event, Tata Steel Amateur events will take place at the same place, which is a unique opportunity for amateurs and chess lovers to play chess in a same venue as their chess idols and world top players. Around 1800 players will be competing on the various tournaments of Tata Steel Amateur tour which gives youngsters the chance to develop and improve their skills in a fun environment.
Also, Tata Kids of Steel Chess events will be organized with idea to inspire children of all ages while coming face-to-face with their peers. This year, there are around 1000 children participating in simultaneous chess games throughout the event.
Photographs from the Official Website