Reigning European champion Maxim Matlakov (Russia) and his countryman Dmitry Gordievsky will participate in the 80th edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in January.
Matlakov will participate in the Tata Steel Masters and Gordievsky in the Tata Steel Challengers. They have earned their invitations because of their ranking in the ACP competition. The field of participants of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament is now complete.
Both the reigning world champion (Magnus Carlsen) as well as the new junior world champion (his countryman Aryan Tari) will participate in Wijk aan Zee. The best female grandmaster, Hou Yifan, will also participate.
The 80th edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament will take place in Wijk aan Zee from 12 – 28 January 2018. As part of Tata Steel Chess On Tour the Tata Steel Masters will play a round in Beeld en Geluid in Hilversum on Wednesday 17 January and a round in the Academiegebouw of Groningen University on Wednesday 24 January. All matches, including the ones in Hilversum and Groningen, are open to the public free of charge.
Debut in Wijk aan Zee
Matlakov and Gordievsky will debut in Wijk aan Zee. Matlakov (26) ranks 23rd on the world list. The biggest success of his career so far was winning the European championship in Minsk earlier this year.
His countryman Gordievsky (21) is still relatively unknown in the West. He became grandmaster earlier this year and has won the Moscow Open, finishing ahead of strong grandmasters like Kamsky, Khismatullin en Grachev.
Tata Steel Masters (name/country/rating/world rank)
Magnus Carlsen Norway 2837 1
Shakhryar Mamedyarov Azerbaijan 2799 3
Fabiano Caruana USA 2799 4
Wesley So USA 2788 6
Vladimir Kramnik Russia 2787 7
Viswanathan Anand India 2782 8
Peter Svidler Russia 2765 12
Sergey Karjakin Russia 2760 13
Anish Giri Netherlands 2752 14
Wei Yi China 2743 19
Maxim Matlakov Russia 2735 23
Hou Yifan China 2680 64
Adhiban Baskaran India 2655 95
Gawain Jones England 2654 96
Average rating: 2753
Tata Steel Challengers
Vidit Gujrathi India 1994 2715
Bassem Amin Egypt 1988 2689
Michal Krasenkow Poland 1963 2671
Anton Korobov Ukraine 1985 2652
Matthias Blübaum Germany 1997 2642
Erwin l’Ami Netherlands 1985 2634
Jeffery Xiong USA 2000 2634
Jorden van Foreest Netherlands 1999 2629
Dmitry Gordievsky Russia 1996 2610
Benjamin Bok Netherlands 1995 2601
Aryan Tari Norway 1999 2593
Harika Dronavalli India 1991 2504
Olga Girya Russia 1991 2484
Lucas van Foreest Netherlands 2001 2481
Average rating: 2610
For information about the Tata Steel Chess Tournament, go to: www.tatasteelchess.com.
