2020 Tata Steel Chess (Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands)

2020 Tata Steel Chess – Participants (Masters)
Photo by Alina L’Ami

Coming off of a blistering 2019, Magnus Carlsen winning the Grand Chess Tour, he starts off the 2020 campaign seeking his 8th Tata Steel title. He won the event last year 1/2-point ahead of Anish Giri who is also returning. One of the criticisms of chess is that top-level events feature the same 10-12 players.

The effect of playing the same players is (1) players get familiar with each other and (2) their preparation becomes more precise. Thus, the games mostly end in 80% draws approaching the rate of draughts. GM Jonathan Tisdall made an interesting observation via Tweet…

Every year, the format of #TataSteelChess with its extra rounds and cadre of young talents, is a breath of fresh air. Why don't more major events do this?

— Jonathan Tisdall (@GMjtis) January 11, 2020

Nevertheless, the good thing about the Tata Steel Chess event (besides the pea soup) is the diversity of the field. In general, the organizers are able to pull together a mixture of world-class talent, cagey veterans and rising stars. Both Alireza Firouzja and Jeffery Xiong will be making their first appearances in the Masters section. Firouzja won a silver medal at the recent World Rapid & Blitz Championships. Xiong played in the Challengers section back in 2017 and 2018.

? | Alireza Firouzja came to #WijkaanZee to play with the top players and get some experience. #TataSteelChess pic.twitter.com/IKzxUU6hLe

— Tata Steel Chess (@tatasteelchess) January 12, 2020

The previous winner of the Challengers section gets an automatic berth to the Masters section. That honor goes to Belorussian player Vladislav Kovalev who won the group last year by 1.5 points. This field is even younger with several of the participants being less than 20 years old. Last year was saw India’s Rameshabu Praganandhaa, but this year 15-year old Nihal Sarin will carry the flag.

Other young talents here are Nodirbek Abdusattorov (15), Anton Smirnov (18), Lucas van Foreest (18) and Vincent Keymer (15). Both van Foreest and Keymer played last year finishing in the bottom half. Dinara Saduakassova also played last year and is the only woman in either section. The veterans of the field are Pavel Eljanov, Surya Shekhar Ganguly, Rauf Mamedov and Erwin l’Ami… all in their 30s.

2020 Tata Steel Tournament January 11th-26th, 2020 (Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands)
Masters
#	Name	Title	Federation	Flag	Rating
1	Carlsen, Magnus	GM	Norway		2872
2	Caruana, Fabiano	GM	USA		2822
3	Giri, Anish	GM	Netherlands		2768
4	So, Wesley	GM	USA		2765
5	Anand, Viswanathan	GM	India		2758
6	Duda, Jan-Krzysztof	GM	Poland		2758
7	Vitiugov, Nikita	GM	Russia		2747
8	Artemiev, Vladislav	GM	Russia		2731
9	Yu, Yangyi	GM	China		2726
10	Firouzja, Alireza	GM	FIDE		2731
11	Xiong, Jeffery	GM	USA		2723
12	Dubov, Daniil	GM	Russia		2683
13	Kovalev, Vladislav	GM	Belarus		2660
14	Van Foreest, Jorden	GM	Netherlands		2644
Challengers
#	Name	Title	Federation	Flag	Rating
1	Anton Guijarro, David	GM	Spain		2694
2	Grandelius, Nils	GM	Sweden		2673
3	Mamedov, Rauf	GM	Azerbaijan		2659
4	Eljanov, Pavel	GM	Ukraine		2650
5	Ganguly, Surya Shekhar	GM	India		2636
6	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	GM	Uzbekistan		2615
7	Nihal Sarin	GM	India		2618
8	L’Ami, Erwin	GM	Netherlands		2606
9	Smirnov, Anton	GM	Australia		2604
10	Smeets, Jan	GM	Netherlands		2585
11	Keymer, Vincent	IM	Germany		2527
12	Van Foreest, Lucas	GM	Netherlands		2523
13	Saduakassova, Dinara	IM	Kazakhstan		2519
14	Warmerdam, Max	IM	Netherlands		2498
Official Site

Official Site: https://www.tatasteelchess.com/
Schedule: Masters, Challengers
Videos: (YouTube)