Chess News

Strongest field ever at the 85th edition of the Tata Steel Chess Masters

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:

NameCountryBirthyearRatingWorld ranking
Magnus CarlsenNorway199028591
Ding LirenChina199228112
Fabiano CaruanaUnited States199227666
Anish GiriNetherlands199427647
Wesley SoUnited States199327608
Richard RapportRomania1996274015
Levon AronianUnited States1982273517
Jan-Krzysztof DudaPoland1998273118
Dommaraju GukeshIndia2006272523
Arjun ErigaisiIndia2003271828
Nodirbek AbdusattorovUzbekistan2004271332
Vincent KeymerGermany2004269842
Jorden van ForeestNetherlands1999269047
R PraggnanandhaaIndia2005267862

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.

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