The 2023 Tata Steel Chess Challengers kicked off today in Wijk aan Zee, simultaneously with the Tata Steel Chess Masters. 14 players compete in the event which is played in 13 round-robin rounds and the Winner of the tournament will earn a starting ticket for the Masters of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in 2024.
Max Warmerdam and Abhimanyu Mishra emerged as the early leaders of the Challengers tournament as the only two players who scored victory in the first round. Warmerdam defeated Jergus Pechac in a miniature game which finished with mate in the 31st move, while Mishra scored against the lowest-rated player in the field IM Eline Roebers.
The rest of the games finished in a draw. Replay all games here / Replay Day 1 video coverage
Round 1 results:
Featured photo by © Jurriaan Hoefsmit – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2023
