The 85th edition of the Tata Steel Chess Masters will be held from 13-29 January in Wijk aan Zee. The event features 14 grandmasters competing in a 13-round round-robin tournament. With both the number one and number two in the world (Magnus Carlsen and Ding Liren), five top 10 players and a total of eight top 20 players, the Masters of the jubilee edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament has a very strong field of participants. The rate of play will be 100 Minutes for 40 moves, followed by 50 minutes for 20 moves, then 15 minutes for the remaining moves with 30 seconds cumulative increment for each move starting from the first move.
Tata Steel Chess 2023 – LIVE
Title holder Magnus Carlsen makes his nineteenth appearance in Tata Steel Chess Masters. The Dutch top players Anish Giri and Jorden van Foreest are also present. No fewer than five of the fourteen participants have won the Tata Steel Chess Tournament before. Carlsen even eight times and is therefore the record holder (2008, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2022). Levon Aronian won the tournament four times (2007, 2008, 2012 and 2014). Fabiano Caruana (2020), Wesley So (2017) and Jorden Van Foreest (2021) all won the tournament once.
The following grandmasters will compete for the title:
Name
Country
Birthyear
Rating
World ranking
Magnus Carlsen
Norway
1990
2859
1
Ding Liren
China
1992
2811
2
Fabiano Caruana
United States
1992
2766
6
Anish Giri
Netherlands
1994
2764
7
Wesley So
United States
1993
2760
8
Richard Rapport
Romania
1996
2740
15
Levon Aronian
United States
1982
2735
17
Jan-Krzysztof Duda
Poland
1998
2731
18
Dommaraju Gukesh
India
2006
2725
23
Arjun Erigaisi
India
2003
2718
28
Nodirbek Abdusattorov
Uzbekistan
2004
2713
32
Vincent Keymer
Germany
2004
2698
42
Jorden van Foreest
Netherlands
1999
2690
47
R Praggnanandhaa
India
2005
2678
62
Top talents vs. world top
Tournament director Jeroen van den Berg is extremely satisfied with the strong field of participants. “Almost all the top chess players in the world want to participate here in January. We are always looking for a perfect mix between the world’s best players and up-and-coming talent. In my opinion, we have succeeded in that. Great matches are coming! And I’m not just talking about the matches between the world’s best players. I am really looking forward to how the young top talents, such as sixteen-year-old Gukesh or eighteen-year-old Abdusattorov, will compete with the established order.”
Compete for the coveted title
“This is the strongest field I have ever seen in Wijk aan Zee. An extremely impressive line-up,” said Anish Giri, the current world number 7 and ambassador of the tournament. “I hear the same enthusiasm from other participants. Great to compete together for the coveted title in January. Everyone wants to win this tournament at least once and I think that all participants will be able to do that in the upcoming edition.”
Amateur chess players and spectators are welcome again
Hans van den Berg, CEO of Tata Steel Netherlands: “It’s great that we can once again organise a full tournament for this jubilee edition. That means including the popular amateur tournaments and with all associated events and meetings. Fortunately, spectators are also welcome again. That completes the tournament. We are proud to welcome all chess fans again in Wijk aan Zee in January.”