Tata Steel Chess Tournament
The Tata Steel Chess Tournament is an annual chess tournament held in January in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands. It was called the Hoogovens Tournament from its creation in 1938 until the sponsor Koninklijke Hoogovens merged with British Steel to form the Corus Group in 1999, after which the tournament was called the Corus Chess Tournament. Corus Group became Tata Steel Europe in 2007. Despite the name changes, the series is numbered sequentially from its Hoogovens beginnings; for example, the 2011 event was referred to as the 73rd Tata Steel Chess Tournament.[1][2]
Top grandmasters compete in the tournament, but regular club players are welcome to play as well. The Masters group pits fourteen of the world's best against each other in a round-robin tournament, and has sometimes been described as the "Wimbledon of Chess".[3][4] Since 1938, there has been a long list of famous winners, including Max Euwe, Bent Larsen, Tigran Petrosian, Paul Keres, Lajos Portisch, Boris Spassky, Mikhail Botvinnik, Mikhail Tal, Viktor Korchnoi, Jan Timman, Anatoly Karpov, Vasyl Ivanchuk, Vladimir Kramnik, Garry Kasparov, Viswanathan Anand, Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian, Sergey Karjakin, and Magnus Carlsen. Of the ten World Chess Champions since the first tournament in 1938, only four – Alexander Alekhine, Vasily Smyslov, Bobby Fischer, and Ding Liren – have not won it. In 2001, nine of the top ten players in the world participated.
Magnus Carlsen holds the record for most wins at the tournament, with eight titles to his name. Anand is the only other player to have won the event five or more times. Anand also holds the record of most consecutive games played at the tournament without a loss (70 – from 1998 to 2004).
Tournament history
Hoogovens Beverwijk
The early tournaments were very small, starting with groups of four in 1938, and entry restricted to Dutch players. The first five tournaments continued this way, with the contest held annually early in January. In 1943 and 1944 the tournament field was doubled in size to eight players. No tournament was held in 1945 due to World War II. The first international tournament was held in 1946. The main tournament field was expanded to ten, with invitations to Alberic O'Kelly de Galway (Belgium) and Gösta Stoltz (Sweden) along with a Dutch contingent of eight.
The tournament field remained at ten until 1953 when it was increased to twelve, and an international women's tournament was also held. In 1954 the tournament field was returned to ten players, but the strength of the competitions increased. The field was greatly enlarged to 18 in 1963, and although it reduced to 16 in 1964, the event had become the strongest international chess tournament in the world (Golombek 1977, p. 143).
As the tournament grew in stature, the ancillary women's tournament became a regular feature, as did a 'Masters' event and 'Masters Reserves' events. There also began a tradition to operate a year on year invitation policy that resembled the system used in football 'league tables'; the winner of a lesser category event would receive an invitation to the next higher event the following year.
The 1946 tournament was one of the first European international chess tournaments after World War II. Food shortages were still a problem in Europe, so the post-tournament banquet featured pea soup, inexpensive fare of the common people. In subsequent years pea soup has been served as the first course of the concluding banquet, a tradition continued when the tournament was moved from Beverwijk to Wijk aan Zee (Damsky & Sugden 2005, p. 164).
Winners of the top group:[5]
# Year Winner(s) 1 1938 
Jilling Van Dijk (Netherlands) Philip Bakker (Netherlands)
2 1939 Nicolaas Cortlever (Netherlands)
3 1940 Max Euwe (Netherlands)
4 1941 Arthur Wijnans (Netherlands)
5 1942 Max Euwe (Netherlands)
6 1943 Arnold van den Hoek (Netherlands)
7 1944 Theo van Scheltinga (Netherlands)
– 1945 No competition (due to World War II) 8 1946 
Alberic O'Kelly de Galway (Belgium)
9 1947 Theo van Scheltinga (Netherlands)
10 1948 Lodewijk Prins (Netherlands)
11 1949 
Savielly Tartakower (France)
12 1950 Jan Hein Donner (Netherlands)
13 1951 
Hermann Pilnik (Argentina)
14 1952 Max Euwe (Netherlands)
15 1953 Nicolas Rossolimo (France)
16 1954 Hans Bouwmeester (Netherlands)
Vasja Pirc (Yugoslavia)
17 1955 Borislav Milić (Yugoslavia)
18 1956 
Gideon Ståhlberg (Sweden)
19 1957 Aleksandar Matanović (Yugoslavia)
20 1958 Max Euwe (Netherlands) Jan Hein Donner (Netherlands)
21 1959 
Friðrik Ólafsson (Iceland)
22 1960 
Bent Larsen (Denmark)
Tigran Petrosian (Soviet Union)
23 1961 Bent Larsen (Denmark) Borislav Ivkov (Yugoslavia)
24 1962 Petar Trifunović (Yugoslavia)
25 1963 Jan Hein Donner (Netherlands)
26 1964 Paul Keres (Soviet Union) Iivo Nei (Soviet Union)
27 1965 
Lajos Portisch (Hungary) Efim Geller (Soviet Union)
28 1966 Lev Polugaevsky (Soviet Union)
29 1967 Boris Spassky (Soviet Union)
Hoogovens Wijk aan Zee
The tournament was moved to the Dutch seaside town Wijk aan Zee in 1968. In this period, the tournament was popularly called both "Hoogovens" and "Wijk aan Zee". Winners of the Grandmaster A group since 1968 have been:
# Year Winner(s) 30 1968 Viktor Korchnoi (Soviet Union)
31 1969 Mikhail Botvinnik (Soviet Union) Efim Geller (Soviet Union)
32 1970 Mark Taimanov (Soviet Union)
33 1971 Viktor Korchnoi (Soviet Union)
34 1972 Lajos Portisch (Hungary)
35 1973 Mikhail Tal (Soviet Union)
36 1974 
Walter Browne (United States)
37 1975 Lajos Portisch (Hungary)
38 1976 Ljubomir Ljubojević (Yugoslavia) Friðrik Ólafsson (Iceland)
39 1977 Gennadi Sosonko (Netherlands) Efim Geller (Soviet Union)
40 1978 Lajos Portisch (Hungary)
41 1979 Lev Polugaevsky (Soviet Union)
42 1980 Walter Browne (United States) Yasser Seirawan (United States)
43 1981 Gennadi Sosonko (Netherlands) Jan Timman (Netherlands)
44 1982 
John Nunn (United Kingdom) Yuri Balashov (Soviet Union)
45 1983 Ulf Andersson (Sweden)
46 1984 Alexander Beliavsky (Soviet Union)
Viktor Korchnoi (Switzerland)
47 1985 Jan Timman (Netherlands)
48 1986 Nigel Short (United Kingdom)
49 1987 Nigel Short (United Kingdom) Viktor Korchnoi (Switzerland)
50 1988 Anatoly Karpov (Soviet Union)
51 1989 
Viswanathan Anand (India) Predrag Nikolić (Yugoslavia) Zoltán Ribli (Hungary) Gyula Sax (Hungary)
52 1990 John Nunn (United Kingdom)
53 1991 John Nunn (United Kingdom)
54 1992 
Valery Salov (Russia)
Boris Gelfand (Belarus)
55 1993 Anatoly Karpov (Russia)
56 1994 
Predrag Nikolić (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
57 1995 
Alexey Dreev (Russia)
58 1996 
Vasyl Ivanchuk (Ukraine)
59 1997 Valery Salov (Russia)
60 1998 Viswanathan Anand (India) Vladimir Kramnik (Russia)
61 1999 Garry Kasparov (Russia)
Corus tournament
From 2000, the popular name for the tournament was more or less equally shared between "Wijk aan Zee" and "Corus".
# Year Winner(s) 62 2000 Garry Kasparov (Russia)
63 2001 Garry Kasparov (Russia)
64 2002 Evgeny Bareev (Russia)
65 2003 Viswanathan Anand (India)
66 2004 Viswanathan Anand (India)
67 2005 Peter Leko (Hungary)
68 2006 Viswanathan Anand (India)
Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria)
69 2007 
Levon Aronian (Armenia) Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria)
Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan)
70 2008 Levon Aronian (Armenia)
Magnus Carlsen (Norway)
71 2009 Sergey Karjakin (Russia)
72 2010 Magnus Carlsen (Norway)
Tata Steel tournament
From 2011, the popular name for the tournament was changed from 'Corus' to 'Tata Steel'.
# Year Winner(s) 73 2011 Hikaru Nakamura (United States)
74 2012 Levon Aronian (Armenia)
75 2013 Magnus Carlsen (Norway)
76 2014 Levon Aronian (Armenia)
77 2015 Magnus Carlsen (Norway)
78 2016 Magnus Carlsen (Norway)
79 2017 Wesley So (United States)
80 2018 Magnus Carlsen (Norway)
81 2019 Magnus Carlsen (Norway)
82 2020 Fabiano Caruana (United States)
83 2021 Jorden van Foreest (Netherlands)
84 2022 Magnus Carlsen (Norway)
85 2023 Anish Giri (Netherlands)
86 2024 
Wei Yi (China)
87 2025
Multiple winners
Until recently, players ending on the same score shared the title.
The first tie-break was held in 2018, with Magnus Carlsen defeating Anish Giri 1½–½. The two players sharing first place after the regular games play two Blitz games and then possibly also an Armageddon game to decide a sole winner.[6]
| Player | Wins | Tournaments Won |
|---|---|---|
| Magnus Carlsen
|
8 (1 shared) | 2008, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2022 |
| Viswanathan Anand
|
5 (3 shared) | 1989, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2006 |
| Max Euwe
|
4 (1 shared) | 1940, 1942, 1952, 1958 |
| Levon Aronian
|
4 (2 shared) | 2007, 2008, 2012, 2014 |
| Viktor Korchnoi
|
4 (2 shared) | 1968, 1971, 1984, 1987 |
| Lajos Portisch
|
4 (1 shared) | 1965, 1972, 1975, 1978 |
| Jan Hein Donner
|
3 (1 shared) | 1950, 1958, 1963 |
| Efim Geller
|
3 (3 shared) | 1965, 1969, 1977 |
| Garry Kasparov
|
3 | 1999, 2000, 2001 |
| John Nunn
|
3 (1 shared) | 1982, 1990, 1991 |
| Walter Browne
|
2 (1 shared) | 1974, 1980 |
| Anatoly Karpov
|
2 | 1988, 1993 |
| Bent Larsen
|
2 (2 shared) | 1960, 1961 |
| Predrag Nikolić
|
2 (1 shared) | 1989, 1994 |
| Friðrik Ólafsson
|
2 (1 shared) | 1959, 1976 |
| Lev Polugaevsky
|
2 | 1966, 1979 |
| Valery Salov
|
2 (1 shared) | 1992, 1997 |
| Gennadi Sosonko
|
2 (2 shared) | 1977, 1981 |
| Nigel Short
|
2 (1 shared) | 1986, 1987 |
| Jan Timman
|
2 (1 shared) | 1981, 1985 |
| Veselin Topalov
|
2 (2 shared) | 2006, 2007 |
| Theo van Scheltinga
|
2 | 1944, 1947 |
Summary by year
2010s
2010
Magnus Carlsen finished first with a score of 8½/13, winning his second title.
2011
Hikaru Nakamura finished first with a score of 9/13, winning his first title and his first super-tournament.
2012
Levon Aronian finished first with a score of 9/13, winning the title for a third time.
2013
Magnus Carlsen finished first with a score of 10/13, winning the title for a third time and matching Garry Kasparov's record score for the event, set in 1999.
2014
Levon Aronian finished first with a score of 8/13, winning the title for a fourth time.
2015
Magnus Carlsen finished first with a score of 9/13, winning the title for a fourth time.
2016
Magnus Carlsen finished first with a score of 9/13, winning the title for a record-equalling fifth time.
2017
Wesley So defeated defending champion Magnus Carlsen by one point, with a score of 9/13.
2018
Magnus Carlsen won for a record sixth time, defeating Anish Giri on tiebreak after both finished with a score of 9/13.
2019
Magnus Carlsen was the winner of this tournament, with a score of 9/13.
2020s
2020
Fabiano Caruana was the winner of this tournament, with a score of 10/13.
2021
Jorden van Foreest was the winner of this tournament, with a score of 8½/13. He defeated Anish Giri in an Armageddon playoff.
2022
Magnus Carlsen was the winner of this tournament, with a score of 9½/13.
2023
Anish Giri won the 85th edition Tata Steel Chess 2023 finishing the tournament with 8½ out of 13 points. He defeated the world's top two ranked players (Magnus Carlsen and Ding Liren) in the process.
2024
Wei Yi was the winner of this tournament, with a score of 8½/13. He was tied with Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Gukesh D, and Anish Giri, but won against Abdusattorov and then Gukesh (who had defeated Giri) in the blitz single-elimination tiebreak.
2025
The 87th edition is scheduled to be held from 17 January to 2 February 2025.
See also
References
Notes
- ^ "Anand leads at Tata Steel Chess". IndiaVoice. 25 January 2011. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
- ^ "Participants Tata Tournament announced". ChessVibes. 21 October 2010. Archived from the original on 24 October 2010.
- ^ Barden, Leonard (12 January 2018). "Magnus Carlsen aims for strong showing at 'Wimbledon of chess' event". The Guardian.
- ^ "Magnus Carlsen wins Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2018". FIDE. 29 January 2018. Archived from the original on 28 January 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
the Tata Steel Chess, often called as "Wimbledon of Chess", celebrated its 80th anniversary
- ^ "All-time Tournaments – Tata Steel Chess".
- ^ "Tournament – Tata Steel Chess Tournament".
Bibliography
- Damsky, Yakov; Sugden, John (2005), The Batsford Book of Chess Records, Batsford, p. 164, ISBN 0-7134-8946-4
- Golombek, Harry (1977), "Hoogoven Chess Tournament", Golombek's Encyclopedia of Chess, Batsford, p. 143, ISBN 0-517-53146-1
- Kings, Queens & Rookies. The Tata Steel Chess Tournament. A Celebration of 85 Years.. Ed.: Peter Boel & Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam. Alkmaar, New in Ches, 2023. ISBN 9789493257771
