Tata Steel Chess Jan 9-25: Carlsen, Caruana, Aronian, Giri Lead the Field

Hello chess blog friends, reigning World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen will take on some of his biggest competitors at the 77th Tata Steel Chess Tournament from 9 - 25 January, 2015.

Current world number two and rising star of the chess world Fabiano Caruana, and winner of the 2014 Tata Steel Chess Tournament Levon Aronian will both play at the tournament. They will be joined by Women's World Chess Champion Hou Yifan and Dutch players Anish Giri and Loek van Wely.

The tournament will take place in its traditional location of Wijk aan Zee, but will also visit Rotterdam and The Hague.
 
Participants of Tata Steel Masters
NameCountryRatingPosition

GM Carlsen, Magnus NOR 2862 1
GM Caruana, Fabiano ITA 2829 2
GM Aronian, Levon ARM 2797 5
GM Giri, Anish NED 2768 10
GM So, Wesley USA 2762 12
GM Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime FRA 2758 13
GM Wojtaszek, Radoslaw POL 2744 15
GM Radjabov, Teimour AZE 2734 20
GM Jobava, Baadur GEO 2733 21
GM Ding, Liren CHN 2732 23
GM Ivanchuk, Vasil UKR 2715 34
GM Saric, Ivan CRO 2679 62
GM Hou, Yifan CHN 2673 71
GM Van Wely, Loek NED 2667 82
Average rating : 2747
Category : 20
FIDE-ratings of December 2014

Participants of Tata Steel Challengers
NameCountryRating
GM Navara, David CZE 2727
GM Wei, Yi CHN 2668
GM Shankland, Sam USA 2642
GM l' Ami, Erwin NED 2613
GM Potkin, Vladimir RUS 2608
GM Van Kampen, Robin NED 2606
GM Timman, Jan NED 2592
GM Saleh, Salem UAE 2586
GM Michiels, Bart BEL 2554
GM Gunina, Valentina RUS 2522
GM Klein, David NED 2514
IM Sevian, Samuel USA 2511
WIM Haast, Anne NED 2360
IM Dale, Ari AUS 2252

Average rating : 2554
Category : 13
FIDE-ratings of November 2014
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Tata Steel Chess 2015 Avg Rating 2748!

Hello chess blog friends, here is the update from Tata Steel Chess: World Champion Magnus Carlsen will be among the star line-up of chess grandmasters to compete in the next Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee in the Netherlands from 9-25 January 2015.

The 77th edition of the tournament, which is one of the most important events in the chess calendar, will again have a very strong field of competitors. Joining Norway's Magnus Carlsen will be Fabiano Caruana of Italy (currently the world's No 2 player), Armenia's Levon Aronian (4-time winner of the tournament, including the 2014 event, and world No 5), Anish Giri of the Netherlands (world No 7) and Women's World Champion Hou Yifan of China.

Participants of Tata Steel MastersNameCountryRatingPositionGM Carlsen, Magnus NOR 2863 1GM Caruana, Fabiano ITA 2844 2GM Aronian, Levon ARM 2793 5GM Giri, Anish NED 2768 7GM Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime FRA 2757 13GM So, Wesley USA 2755 14GM Ding, Liren CHN 2730 22GM Ivanchuk, Vasil UKR 2726 24GM Radjabov, Teimour AZE 2726 25GM Saric, Ivan CRO 2678 66GM Hou, Yifan CHN 2673 72GM Van Wely, Loek NED 2664 85

Average rating : 2748
Category : 20
FIDE-ratings of October 2014

As happened for the first time during the 76th edition, the Tata Steel Chess Tournament will visit other prestigious Dutch venues in 2015. On 15 January the 5th round of the Tata Steel Masters - the main competition featuring the world's leading grandmasters - will take place in De Rotterdam, the recently opened, eye-catching building on the river Meuse waterfront in Rotterdam, designed by renowned architect Rem Koolhaas. On 21 January the 10th round of the Tata Steel Masters will take place in the recently renovated press centre Nieuwspoort in The Hague.

Annemarie Manger, director Engineering & Site Services at Tata Steel in IJmuiden, said: "The new format of the tournament, featuring the Tata Steel Masters playing in the Rijksmuseum and on the High Tech Campus Eindhoven, was enthusiastically received this year by both players and public. That is why we have decided to play at two iconic satellite locations next year as well."

Alderman Adriaan Visser of Rotterdam (Sports, Culture, Finances and City Centre) welcomed hosting one of the rounds of the tournament in Rotterdam: "We are going to create a world-class event, linking one of the biggest and strongest tournaments in the world to the beautiful architecture of De Rotterdam. We will ensure maximum attention for the event by organising side-events in the city and at schools, thus giving the citizens of Rotterdam a taste of the sport of chess."

Alderman Karsten Klein of The Hague (City marketing): "The Hague is honoured to host a round of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2015, which will take place in the heart of Dutch parliamentary democracy. Our city has a long tradition of international chess matches, which will now be continued."

The 2015 tournament will feature another high average player rating, the figure of 2748 slightly exceeding the 2014 player average of 2743. Two more players than at the 2014 event mean there will also be two extra rounds in Wijk aan Zee in 2015.

As usual the tournament will feature the Tata Steel Challengers event, also competed for by ranking grandmasters. In addition, in cooperation with the Royal Dutch Chess Association, on 9 January the tournament will host the finals of the Dutch Championship for Students (secondary schools) in Wijk aan Zee. Twelve teams, each of four students, will battle for the title. The winners will have a place alongside the international grandmasters during the opening ceremony at the end of that day, when they will pick up their prize.

Apart from the Student Championship, Tata Steel will also host special events for young children at various locations preceding and during the tournament, as part of Tata Steel's "Future Generations" community programme.

The Tata Steel Chess Tournament has a long tradition. Starting as an employee competition, it has grown into an international tournament of global standing, for which grandmasters and amateurs alike clear their diaries. Chess entails strategic thinking and focuses on finding creative solutions for complex issues. The same goes for steelmaking, a high-tech process in which innovation plays a crucial role. Tata Steel employees are continuously improving processes and products in order to help customers be successful in their markets while contributing to creating a sustainable society.

Every January the best chess players in the world test their competitive strengths at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament. They do so in the same room as hundreds of other players participating in the amateur tournaments, giving the event a unique atmosphere. All over the village of Wijk aan Zee chess competitions are organised, transforming it for two weeks of the year into the 'Wimbledon of Chess'.

More Information about the Tata Steel Chess Tournament can be found on www.tatasteelchess.com - which was visited by 1.3 million people during the 2014 event.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal chess blog
at www.chessqueen.com
Don't miss Chess Queen™
YouTube Channel