Tata Steel 2014: two groups with twelve players

Tata Steel Chess Tournament spreads its wings

Press release from 9th October 2013

The 76th edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament will take place from 10 to 26 January 2014. The top players will compete in two groups – previously there were three. The structure of the amateur tournaments remains unchanged.

Dook van den Boer, director of Tata Steel in IJmuiden, GM Anish Giri, tournament director Jeroen van den Berg, Bert-Jan Woertman, Marketing & Communications Director High Tech Campus Eindhoven.

After 75 years, the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee has been redesigned. "The tournament, one of the most prestigious chess events in the world, has a rich history and is deeply rooted in Wijk aan Zee," said Dook van den Boer, Director of Tata Steel in IJmuiden. "We stick to that tradition. To add even more allure and chess, and to give the tournament an even broader stage, the masters from the A group will play one round in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and one round in the High Tech Campus Eindhoven."

High Tech Campus Eindhoven

"The campus is a place where exceptional spirits feel at home," said Bert-Jan Woertman, Marketing & Communications Director at High Tech Campus Eindhoven. "Top chess players and the staff of the Campus companies speak the same language. They share a passion for solving complex problems through the logical use of knowledge and creativity. A perfect match for me." The grandmaster group A play the ninth round on Thursday, January 23, in Eindhoven.

Rijksmuseum – National Museum

"We look forward to hosting not just the largest collection of old masters at the museum, but also the greatest number of chess masters," said Wim Pijbes, General Director of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. "With its fascinating cultural history chess fits well in the National Museum."

The grandmasters will play the fourth round of the tournament in the National Museum on Wednesday, January 15.

A strong field for Group A

Average rating: 2744 – Category: 20

Eleven of the twelve participants are now known. The field of the A-Group is almost complete. With an average rating of 2744 it exceeds last year's event, which had an average of 2732. Among them are Levon Aronian, the current number three in the world and winner of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in 2007, 2008 and 2012. Other recent winners next are Hikaru Nakamura (2011) and Sergey Karjakin (2009). Veteran Boris Gelfand and young Fabiano Caruana, both in good form in recent months, are also part of the tournament, which has been reduced from 14 to 12 players this year.

Traditionally youth plays an important role in the Tata Steel Chess Tournament. With the participation of Anish Giri, Wesley So and Richard Report three players do in the Top Five juniors in the world are playing. The Dutch number two GM Loek van Wely, who has played in the Wijk tournament more than twenty times, is also in the 2014 event. The Cuban GM Leinier Dominguez and German GM Arkadij Naiditsch complete the line-up. Dominguez had an excellent year in 2013 and thus forced his invitation. Arkady Naiditsch promoted to the A-group by his first place in the B group in 2013. The tournament organization approached the World Championship finalists Anand and Carlsen, but the two indicated that they would prefer to rest after the Championship match in November this year.

Amateur tournaments

Registration for the amateur tournaments start on Wednesday, October 30th, 2013. Registration is open until the first week of January 2014, but the organization recommends not to wait too long. The web site for the amateur events, where you can find all information on the application procedure, will be launched on October 30. In the meantime contact the organisation at amateurevents@tatasteelchess.com.

Links Official tournament site All games in PGN The games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.