The Tata Steel Chess festival in Wijk aan Zee traditionally opens the season for elite players, and the 84th edition is no different. As usual, the 14-player round-robin Masters tournament running from January 14-30 (with three rest days on January 19, 24 and 27), is a nearly perfect mix of top GMs and talented and aspiring youngsters:
|
# |
Name |
Rating |
Fed |
World rank |
|
1 |
Magnus Carlsen |
2865 |
NOR |
1 |
|
2 |
Fabiano Caruana |
2792 |
USA |
4 |
|
3 |
Anish Giri |
2772 |
NED |
7 |
|
5 |
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov |
2767 |
AZE |
9 |
|
4 |
Richard Rapport |
2763 |
HUN |
11 |
|
6 |
Jan-Krzysztof Duda |
2760 |
POL |
13 |
|
7 |
Sergey Karjakin |
2743 |
RUS |
18 |
|
8 |
Vidit Gujrathi |
2720 |
IND |
24 |
|
9 |
Daniil Dubov |
2714 |
RUS |
27 |
|
10 |
Andrey Esipenko |
2714 |
RUS |
26 |
|
11 |
Sam Shankland |
2708 |
USA |
29 |
|
12 |
Jorden van Foreest |
2702 |
NED |
35 |
|
13 |
Nils Grandelius |
2672 |
SWE |
67 |
|
14 |
Praggnanandhaa R. |
2612 |
IND |
195 |
The action starts on January 15, after the opening ceremony and drawing of lots taking place the day before. All eyes are on Magnus Carlsen, who will embark on the quest for his 8th title in Wijk aan Zee.
Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit – Tata Steel Chess Tournament
The World Champion is facing a challenging task: 2020 winner Fabiano Caruana, the local heroes Anish Giri and Jorden van Foreest (who tied for first place last year), seasoned and always dangerous grandmasters Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Sergey Karjakin, ambitious GMs on an ascending trajectory such as Richard Rapport, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Daniil Dubov and Andrey Esipenko are eager to put up some serious fight. 16-year-old Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, who is making his debut in Tata Steel, also can throw a curveball.
Photo: Niki Riga
The Tata Steel Tournament organizers introduced a new tiebreak format this year. If the top two or more players score the same number of points, a tiebreak to determine the tournament winner will be played. All players with this highest score will participate in the tiebreak blitz games. Irrespective of the outcome, the prize money will be divided equally among all the players in the tiebreak.
The organizers provided for every possible playoff scenario (i.e. for two, three, four and 5+ players). Check out complete tiebreak regulations for Tata Steel 2022 here.
After a one-year hiatus, the Challengers tournament returns to Tata Steel Chess. The event will take place concurrently with the Masters and also bring together rising stars and established grandmasters:
|
# |
Name |
Fed |
Rating |
|
1 |
Rinat Jumabayev |
KAZ |
2631 |
|
2 |
Arjun Erigaisi |
IND |
2629 |
|
3 |
Surya Ganguly |
IND |
2627 |
|
5 |
Erwin l’Ami |
NED |
2622 |
|
4 |
Thai Dai Van Nguyen |
CZE |
2609 |
|
6 |
Max Warmerdam |
NED |
2599 |
|
7 |
Jonas Buhl Bjerre |
DEN |
2586 |
|
8 |
Daniel Dardha |
BEL |
2533 |
|
9 |
Lucas van Foreest |
NED |
2530 |
|
10 |
Volodar Murzin |
RUS |
2519 |
|
11 |
Polina Schuvalova |
RUS |
2516 |
|
12 |
Marc Andria Maurizzi |
FRA |
2496 |
|
13 |
Zhu Jiner |
CHN |
2478 |
|
14 |
Roven Vogel |
GER |
2452 |
The main question is who will qualify for the next-year Tata Steel Masters. It looks like at least 4-5 players have a fair chance to accomplish this task. It will also be very interesting to see two female players, Polina Shuvalova and Zhu Jiner, perform in such a strong tournament.
Official website: tatasteelchess.com/
