Highest number of Indians to take part at 85th Tata Steel Chess

Vishy Anand is attending the tournament as a guest of honor. Last year, in the 84th edition of Tata Steel Chess, three Indian took part - one in Masters and two in Challengers. The 85th edition will witness the highest number of Indians in the 'Wimbledon of Chess'. A total of five - three in Master and two in Challengers. All five of them delivered strong performances in 2022. Adhiban and Vaishali have a great opportunity to win the Challengers section and secure their place in the Masters section of the 86th edition.

85th Tata Steel 2023 Masters participants | Photo: Tata Steel Chess

Tata Steel Chess 2023 logo | Photo: Official site

Schedule

Starting from Saturday, 14th January, all round starts at 6:30 p.m. IST, only Sunday 29th January, the final round will start at 4:30 p.m. IST. Rest days are - 18th (Masters), 19th (Challengers), 23rd and 26th January.

Participants

Magnus Carlsen, Ding Liren, Fabiano Caruana, Anish Giri and Wesley So are the five players among the World top ten who will be seen in action. Romania no.1 Richard Rapport, the only two-time World Cup winner in history, Levon Aronian, 44th Olympiad Individual Gold medalist on Board #1 and Team Bronze medalist, GM D Gukesh, Tata Steel Challengers 2022 winner, Arjun Erigaisi, Iran no.1 and former World Junior champion,Parham Maghsoodloo, 44th Chess Olympiad Gold medalist and former World Rapid champion, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Germany no.1 and World Rapid 2022 Silver medalist, GM Vincent Keymer, 44th Chess Olympiad double Bronze medalist, R Praggnanandhaa and 83rd Tata Steel Masters winner, Jorden van Foreest. Parham Maghsoodloo replaced Jan-Krzysztof Duda who had to withdraw due to personal reasons.

Defending champion Magnus Carlsen will certainly aim for his ninth title at the Wijk aan Zee | Photo: Tata Steel Chess

Arjun Erigaisi has won three out of five Tata Steel Chess events he has appeared, including Challengers section last year | Photo: Tata Steel Chess

GM D Gukesh will be making his debut at the 'Wimbledon of Chess' | Photo: Tata Steel Chess

GM R Praggnanandhaa makes his second consecutive appearance at the presitigious Tata Steel Chess | Photo: Tata Steel Chess

Vishy Anand with the 'boys'

Challengers

The Tata Steel Challengers line-up is also stellar. It is full of promising players who has had a great 2022. Asian Continental 2022 Bronze medalist, GM B Adhiban and Tata Steel Chess India 2022 Women Blitz winner, IM Vaishali R will be the two Indians fighting for the top spot along with GM M Amin Tabatabaei (IRI), GM Javokhir Sindarov (UZB), GM Jergus Pechac (SVK), GM Alexander Donchenko (GER), GM Erwin l'Ami (NED), GM Max Warmerdam (NED), GM Mustafa Yilmaz (NED), GM Lui Paulo Supi (BRA), GM Velimir Ivic (SRB), GM Abhimanyu Mishra (USA), IM Thomas Beerdsen (NED) and IM Eline Roebers (NED). GM Velimir Ivic replaced GM Salem Saleh who had to withdraw due to personal reasons.

Asian Continental 2022 Bronze medalist, GM B Adhiban returns to the Challengers section | Photo: Tata Steel Chess

IM Vaishali R will be making her debut in the Challengers section | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Tata Steel Chess 2023 Masters and Challengers preview | Video: ChessBase India

Round 1 pairings

Tata Steel Chess 2023 Masters Round 1 pairings | Photo: Tata Steel Chess

Tata Steel Chess 2023 Challengers Round 1 pairings | Photo: Official site

Time Control

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.

Links

Official site

Tournament regulations