Tata Steel Chess Super-GM starts on Saturday

by ChessBase
1/14/2011 – The tournament used to be called "Corus", but In 2006 the steel company sponsoring the event was taken over (for $7.6 billion) by the Indian company Tata Steel, hence the name change. To chess fans the name is linked to the Dutch seaside town Wijk aan Zee, where the event takes place from January 15 to 30. This year it is stronger than ever, and we are providing full coverage.

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Information and schedule

This event starts with an opening ceremony on Friday January 14th. The first round is played on Saturday 15th, the last on January 30th, 2011. The venue is as usual the traditional De Moriaan Center in Wijk aan Zee. The tournament has taken place since 1938 and was known as the Corus Chess Tournament. The Indian company Tata Steel bought Corus (for US $7.6 billion) in 2006 and this year the chess event has been renamed.

Wijk aan Zee (pronounced vyke ahn zeh – to rhyme with "bike on day") is a small wind-swept town on the coast of the North Sea in the municipality of Beverwijk in the province of North Holland of the Netherlands.


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The tournament takes place in three Grandmaster Groups, with a number of amateur events being held at the same time. The three Grandmaster tournaments have 14 players each and are round robins (each competitor plays against every other).

Participants of Grandmaster Group A

Title
Player Nat.
Rating
rank
info
GM
Magnus Carlsen NOR
2814
1
GM
Viswanathan Anand IND
2810
2
GM
Levon Aronian ARM
2805
3
GM
Vladimir Kramnik RUS
2784
4
GM
Alexander Grischuk RUS
2773
7
GM
Hikaru Nakamura USA
2751
10
GM
Ruslan Ponomariov UKR
2744
11
GM
Ian Nepomniachtchi RUS
2733
15
GM
Wang Hao CHN
2731
17
GM
Alexei Shirov SPA
2722
24
GM
Max. Vachier-Lagrave FRA
2715
31
GM
Anish Giri NED
2686
52
GM
Jan Smeets NED
2662
82
GM
Erwin l'Ami NED
2628
138
Average rating: 2740 – Category: 20

The average rating in Group A is almost 21 points higher that in the previous year, and the category has climbed from 19 to 20. The world's top four players are present: world number one Magnus Carlsen (who is last year's winner), World Champion Viswanathan Anand, Armenian GM Levon Aronian and Anand's predecessor Vladimir Kramnik. The next two on the FIDE list are missing (Karjakin and Topalov), but the list continues with number seven Alexander Grischuk. Anish Giri debuts after getting a place in this group by winning the 2010 B tournament.

Participants of Grandmaster Group B

Title
Player
Nat.
Rating
info
GM
Radek Wojtaszek
POL
2726
GM
David Navara
CZE
2708
GM
Laurant Fressinet
FRA
2707
GM
Zahar Efimenko
UKR
2701
GM
Wesley So
PHL
2673
GM
Gabriel Sargissian
ARM
2667
GM
Le Quang Liem
VNM
2664
GM
Luke McShane
ENG
2664
GM
Surya Ganguly
IND
2651
GM
Li Chao
CHN
2649
GM
Jon Ludvig Hammer
NOR
2647
GM
Vlad Tkachiev
FRA
2636
GM
Friso Nijboer
NLD
2584
GM
Wouter Spoelman
NLD
2547
Average rating: 2659 – Category: 17

This group is also stronger than last year, the average rating climbing by thirty points. All players are full GMs. Top seed Radek Wojtaszek is Anand's second in his World Championship matches, as is Surya Ganguly from India.

Participants of Grandmaster Group C

Title
Player
Nat.
Rating
info
GM
Murtas Kazhgaleyev
KAZ
2637
GM
Ivan Ivanisevic
SRB
2630
GM
Mark Bluvshtein
CAN
2590
GM
Daniele Vocaturo
ITA
2570
GM
Dariusz Swiercz
POL
2540
IM
Ilya Nyzhnyk
UKR
2530
GM
Katherina Lahno
UKR
2518
IM
Roeland Pruijssers
NED
2484
IM
Benjamin Bok
NLD
2453
IM
Robin van Kampen
NLD
2443
GM
Sebastian Siebrecht
GER
2439
IM
Mark van der Werf
NLD
2439
IM
Jan Willem de Jong
NLD
2437
IM
Tania Sachdev
IND
2382
Average rating: 2507 – Category: 11

Last year this group had an average rating of 2455, which this year has climbed to over 2500, making the C Group a category 11. There are two female players – making two out of 42 participants in all three groups: Kateryna Lahno from Ukraine and Tania Sachdev from India.

Rate of play
For all three groups the rate of play is 100 minutes for 40 moves, then 50 minutes for 20 moves and finally 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30 seconds/move increment starting with the first move of the game.

Location: The tournament takes place in the De Moriaan Community Centre (Dorpsduinen 4, 1949 EG Wijk aan Zee). There is running commentary on the games of the Grandmaster Groups in a special Chess Pavilion, on the Village Green in Wijk aan Zee (one minute walk from De Moriaan).

Schedule (playing days)

January 2011
M T W T F S S
          1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Games begin at 13:30h local time (CET), except for the last round on January 30th, which begins at 12:30h. There are three rest days, on January 19th, 24th, and 27th.

Commentary

There will be full broadcast of all games on the official site and on the Playchess server. Playchess will provide live audio commentary of the most interesting games (free for Premium members) starting at 15:00h for each round, 14:00h for the final round. Here's the schedule:

Day
Round
Commentator  
Day
Round
Commentator
Jan. 15
1
GM Daniel King  
Jan. 23
8
GM Daniel King
Jan. 16
2
GM Daniel King  
Jan. 25
9
Benjamin Bok
Jan. 17
3
IMs Reeh/van Delft  
Jan. 26
10
GM Daniel King
Jan. 18
4
GM Daniel King  
Jan. 28
11
GM R. Kasimdzhanov
Jan. 20
5
GM Lubomir Ftacnik  
Jan. 29
12
GM Daniel King
Jan. 21
6
IMs Reeh/van Delft  
Jan. 30
13
GM Daniel King
Jan. 22
7
GM Daniel King        

Schedule of Grandmaster Group A

Group A: Round 1 - Sat. Jan. 15th
Ruslan Ponomariov - Viswanathan Anand  
Erwin l'Ami - Anish Giri  
Jan Smeets - Alexei Shirov  
Magnus Carlsen - Levon Aronian  
Hikaru Nakamura - Alexander Grischuk  
Max. Vachier-Lagrave - Wang Hao  
Ian Nepomniachtchi - Vladimir Kramnik  
Group A: Round 2 - Sun. Jan. 16th
Viswanathan Anand - Vladimir Kramnik  
Wang Hao - Ian Nepomniachtchi  
Alexander Grischuk - Max. Vachier-Lagrave  
Levon Aronian - Hikaru Nakamura  
Alexei Shirov - Magnus Carlsen  
Anish Giri - Jan Smeets  
Ruslan Ponomariov - Erwin l'Ami  
Group A: Round 3 - Mon. Jan. 17th
Erwin l'Ami - Viswanathan Anand  
Jan Smeets - Ruslan Ponomariov  
Magnus Carlsen - Anish Giri  
Hikaru Nakamura - Alexei Shirov  
Max. Vachier-Lagrave - Levon Aronian  
Ian Nepomniachtchi - Alexander Grischuk  
Vladimir Kramnik - Wang Hao  
Group A: Round 4 - Tues. Jan. 18th
Viswanathan Anand - Wang Hao  
Alexander Grischuk - Vladimir Kramnik  
Levon Aronian - Ian Nepomniachtchi  
Alexei Shirov - Max. Vachier-Lagrave  
Anish Giri - Hikaru Nakamura  
Ruslan Ponomariov - Magnus Carlsen  
Erwin l'Ami - Jan Smeets  
Wednesday, January 19th – Free day
Group A: Round 5 - Thurs. Jan. 20th
Jan Smeets - Viswanathan Anand  
Magnus Carlsen - Erwin l'Ami  
Hikaru Nakamura - Ruslan Ponomariov  
Max. Vachier-Lagrave - Anish Giri  
Ian Nepomniachtchi - Alexei Shirov  
Vladimir Kramnik - Levon Aronian  
Wang Hao - Alexander Grischuk  
Group A: Round 6 - Fri. Jan. 21st
Viswanathan Anand - Alexander Grischuk  
Levon Aronian - Wang Hao  
Alexei Shirov - Vladimir Kramnik  
Anish Giri - Ian Nepomniachtchi  
Ruslan Ponomariov - Max. Vachier-Lagrave  
Erwin l'Ami - Hikaru Nakamura  
Jan Smeets - Magnus Carlsen  
Group A: Round 7 - Sat. Jan. 22nd
Magnus Carlsen - Viswanathan Anand  
Hikaru Nakamura - Jan Smeets  
Max. Vachier-Lagrave - Erwin l'Ami  
Ian Nepomniachtchi - Ruslan Ponomariov  
Vladimir Kramnik - Anish Giri  
Wang Hao - Alexei Shirov  
Alexander Grischuk - Levon Aronian  
Group A: Round 8 - Sun. Jan. 23rd
Viswanathan Anand - Levon Aronian  
Alexei Shirov - Alexander Grischuk  
Anish Giri - Wang Hao  
Ruslan Ponomariov - Vladimir Kramnik  
Erwin l'Ami - Ian Nepomniachtchi  
Jan Smeets - Max. Vachier-Lagrave  
Magnus Carlsen - Hikaru Nakamura  
Monday, January 24th – Free day
Group A: Round 9 - Tues. Jan. 25th
Hikaru Nakamura - Viswanathan Anand  
Max. Vachier-Lagrave - Magnus Carlsen  
Ian Nepomniachtchi - Jan Smeets  
Vladimir Kramnik - Erwin l'Ami  
Wang Hao - Ruslan Ponomariov  
Alexander Grischuk - Anish Giri  
Levon Aronian - Alexei Shirov  
Group A: Round 10 - Wed. Jan. 26th
Viswanathan Anand - Alexei Shirov  
Anish Giri - Levon Aronian  
Ruslan Ponomariov - Alexander Grischuk  
Erwin l'Ami - Wang Hao  
Jan Smeets - Vladimir Kramnik  
Magnus Carlsen - Ian Nepomniachtchi  
Hikaru Nakamura - Max. Vachier-Lagrave  
Thursday, January 27th – Free day
Group A: Round 11 - Fri. Jan. 28th
Max. Vachier-Lagrave - Viswanathan Anand  
Ian Nepomniachtchi - Hikaru Nakamura  
Vladimir Kramnik - Magnus Carlsen  
Wang Hao - Jan Smeets  
Alexander Grischuk - Erwin l'Ami  
Levon Aronian - Ruslan Ponomariov  
Alexei Shirov - Anish Giri  
Group A: Round 12 - Sat. Jan. 29th
Viswanathan Anand - Anish Giri  
Ruslan Ponomariov - Alexei Shirov  
Erwin l'Ami - Levon Aronian  
Jan Smeets - Alexander Grischuk  
Magnus Carlsen - Wang Hao  
Hikaru Nakamura - Vladimir Kramnik  
Max. Vachier-Lagrave - Ian Nepomniachtchi  
Group A: Round 13 - Sun. Jan. 30st
Ian Nepomniachtchi - Viswanathan Anand  
Vladimir Kramnik - Max. Vachier-Lagrave  
Wang Hao - Hikaru Nakamura  
Alexander Grischuk - Magnus Carlsen  
Levon Aronian - Jan Smeets  
Alexei Shirov - Erwin l'Ami  
Anish Giri - Ruslan Ponomariov  

Schedule of Grandmaster Group B

Group B: Round 1 - Sat. Jan. 15th
Vlad Tkachiev - Laurant Fressinet  
Friso Nijboer - Li Chao  
Luke McShane - Wouter Spoelman  
Radek Wojtaszek - David Navara  
Le Quang Liem - Wesley So  
Gabriel Sargissian - Surya Ganguly  
Jon Ludvig Hammer - Zahar Efimenko  
Group B: Round 2 - Sun. Jan. 16th
Laurant Fressinet - Zahar Efimenko  
Surya Ganguly - Jon Ludvig Hammer  
Wesley So - Gabriel Sargissian  
David Navara - Le Quang Liem  
Wouter Spoelman - Radek Wojtaszek  
Li Chao - Luke McShane  
Vlad Tkachiev - Friso Nijboer  
Group B: Round 3 - Mon. Jan. 17th
Friso Nijboer - Laurant Fressinet  
Luke McShane - Vlad Tkachiev  
Radek Wojtaszek - Li Chao  
Le Quang Liem - Wouter Spoelman  
Gabriel Sargissian - David Navara  
Jon Ludvig Hammer - Wesley So  
Zahar Efimenko - Surya Ganguly  
Group B: Round 4 - Tues. Jan. 18th
Laurant Fressinet - Surya Ganguly  
Wesley So - Zahar Efimenko  
David Navara - Jon Ludvig Hammer  
Wouter Spoelman - Gabriel Sargissian  
Li Chao - Le Quang Liem  
Vlad Tkachiev - Radek Wojtaszek  
Friso Nijboer - Luke McShane  
Wednesday, January 19th – Free day
Group B: Round 5 - Thurs. Jan. 20th
Luke McShane - Laurant Fressinet  
Radek Wojtaszek - Friso Nijboer  
Le Quang Liem - Vlad Tkachiev  
Gabriel Sargissian - Li Chao  
Jon Ludvig Hammer - Wouter Spoelman  
Zahar Efimenko - David Navara  
Surya Ganguly - Wesley So  
Group B: Round 6 - Fri. Jan. 21st
Laurant Fressinet - Wesley So  
David Navara - Surya Ganguly  
Wouter Spoelman - Zahar Efimenko  
Li Chao - Jon Ludvig Hammer  
Vlad Tkachiev - Gabriel Sargissian  
Friso Nijboer - Le Quang Liem  
Luke McShane - Radek Wojtaszek  
Group B: Round 7 - Sat. Jan. 22nd
Radek Wojtaszek - Laurant Fressinet  
Le Quang Liem - Luke McShane  
Gabriel Sargissian - Friso Nijboer  
Jon Ludvig Hammer - Vlad Tkachiev  
Zahar Efimenko - Li Chao  
Surya Ganguly - Wouter Spoelman  
Wesley So - David Navara  
Group B: Round 8 - Sun. Jan. 23rd
Laurant Fressinet - David Navara  
Wouter Spoelman - Wesley So  
Li Chao - Surya Ganguly  
Vlad Tkachiev - Zahar Efimenko  
Friso Nijboer - Jon Ludvig Hammer  
Luke McShane - Gabriel Sargissian  
Radek Wojtaszek - Le Quang Liem  
Monday, January 24th – Free day
Group B: Round 9 - Tues. Jan. 25th
Le Quang Liem - Laurant Fressinet  
Gabriel Sargissian - Radek Wojtaszek  
Jon Ludvig Hammer - Luke McShane  
Zahar Efimenko - Friso Nijboer  
Surya Ganguly - Vlad Tkachiev  
Wesley So - Li Chao  
David Navara - Wouter Spoelman  
Group B: Round 10 - Wed. Jan. 26th
Laurant Fressinet - Wouter Spoelman  
Li Chao - David Navara  
Vlad Tkachiev - Wesley So  
Friso Nijboer - Surya Ganguly  
Luke McShane - Zahar Efimenko  
Radek Wojtaszek - Jon Ludvig Hammer  
Le Quang Liem - Gabriel Sargissian  
Thursday, January 27th – Free day
Group B: Round 11 - Fri. Jan. 28th
Gabriel Sargissian - Laurant Fressinet  
Jon Ludvig Hammer - Le Quang Liem  
Zahar Efimenko - Radek Wojtaszek  
Surya Ganguly - Luke McShane  
Wesley So - Friso Nijboer  
David Navara - Vlad Tkachiev  
Wouter Spoelman - Li Chao  
Group B: Round 12 - Sat. Jan. 29th
Laurant Fressinet - Li Chao  
Vlad Tkachiev - Wouter Spoelman  
Friso Nijboer - David Navara  
Luke McShane - Wesley So  
Radek Wojtaszek - Surya Ganguly  
Le Quang Liem - Zahar Efimenko  
Gabriel Sargissian - Jon Ludvig Hammer  
Group B: Round 13 - Sun. Jan. 30th
Jon Ludvig Hammer - Laurant Fressinet  
Zahar Efimenko - Gabriel Sargissian  
Surya Ganguly - Le Quang Liem  
Wesley So - Radek Wojtaszek  
David Navara - Luke McShane  
Wouter Spoelman - Friso Nijboer  
Li Chao - Vlad Tkachiev  

Schedule of Grandmaster Group C

Group C: Round 1 - Sat. Jan. 15th
Mark van der Werf - Benjamin Bok  
Sebastian Siebrecht - Roeland Pruijssers  
Ivan Ivanisevic - Tania Sachdev  
Katherina Lahno - Mark Bluvshtein  
Dariusz Swiercz - Jan Willem de Jong  
Ilya Nyzhnyk - Murtas Kazhgaleyev  
Robin van Kampen - Daniele Vocaturo  
Group C: Round 2 - Sun. Jan. 16th
Benjamin Bok - Daniele Vocaturo  
Murtas Kazhgaleyev - Robin van Kampen  
Jan Willem de Jong - Ilya Nyzhnyk  
Mark Bluvshtein - Dariusz Swiercz  
Tania Sachdev - Katherina Lahno  
Roeland Pruijssers - Ivan Ivanisevic  
Mark van der Werf - Sebastian Siebrecht  
Group C: Round 3 - Mon. Jan. 17th
Sebastian Siebrecht - Benjamin Bok  
Ivan Ivanisevic - Mark van der Werf  
Katherina Lahno - Roeland Pruijssers  
Dariusz Swiercz - Tania Sachdev  
Ilya Nyzhnyk - Mark Bluvshtein  
Robin van Kampen - Jan Willem de Jong  
Daniele Vocaturo - Murtas Kazhgaleyev  
Group C: Round 4 - Tues. Jan. 18th
Benjamin Bok - Murtas Kazhgaleyev  
Jan Willem de Jong - Daniele Vocaturo  
Mark Bluvshtein - Robin van Kampen  
Tania Sachdev - Ilya Nyzhnyk  
Roeland Pruijssers - Dariusz Swiercz  
Mark van der Werf - Katherina Lahno  
Sebastian Siebrecht - Ivan Ivanisevic  
Wednesday, January 19th – Free day
Group C: Round 5 - Thurs. Jan. 20th
Ivan Ivanisevic - Benjamin Bok  
Katherina Lahno - Sebastian Siebrecht  
Dariusz Swiercz - Mark van der Werf  
Ilya Nyzhnyk - Roeland Pruijssers  
Robin van Kampen - Tania Sachdev  
Daniele Vocaturo - Mark Bluvshtein  
Murtas Kazhgaleyev - Jan Willem de Jong  
Group C: Round 6 - Fri. Jan. 21sr
Benjamin Bok - Mark Bluvshtein  
Tania Sachdev - Jan Willem de Jong  
Roeland Pruijssers - Murtas Kazhgaleyev  
Mark van der Werf - Daniele Vocaturo  
Sebastian Siebrecht - Robin van Kampen  
Ivan Ivanisevic - Ilya Nyzhnyk  
Katherina Lahno - Dariusz Swiercz  
Group C: Round 7 - Sat. Jan. 22nd
Katherina Lahno - Benjamin Bok  
Dariusz Swiercz - Ivan Ivanisevic  
Ilya Nyzhnyk - Sebastian Siebrecht  
Robin van Kampen - Mark van der Werf  
Daniele Vocaturo - Roeland Pruijssers  
Murtas Kazhgaleyev - Tania Sachdev  
Jan Willem de Jong - Mark Bluvshtein  
Group C: Round 8 - Sun. Jan. 23rd
Benjamin Bok - Tania Sachdev  
Roeland Pruijssers - Mark Bluvshtein  
Mark van der Werf - Jan Willem de Jong  
Sebastian Siebrecht - Murtas Kazhgaleyev  
Ivan Ivanisevic - Daniele Vocaturo  
Katherina Lahno - Robin van Kampen  
Dariusz Swiercz - Ilya Nyzhnyk  
Monday, January 24th – Free day
Group C: Round 9 - Tues. Jan. 25th
Dariusz Swiercz - Benjamin Bok  
Ilya Nyzhnyk - Katherina Lahno  
Robin van Kampen - Ivan Ivanisevic  
Daniele Vocaturo - Sebastian Siebrecht  
Murtas Kazhgaleyev - Mark van der Werf  
Jan Willem de Jong - Roeland Pruijssers  
Mark Bluvshtein - Tania Sachdev  
Group C: Round 10 - Wed. Jan. 26th
Benjamin Bok - Tania Sachdev  
Roeland Pruijssers - Mark Bluvshtein  
Mark van der Werf - Jan Willem de Jong  
Sebastian Siebrecht - Murtas Kazhgaleyev  
Ivan Ivanisevic - Daniele Vocaturo  
Katherina Lahno - Robin van Kampen  
Dariusz Swiercz - Ilya Nyzhnyk  
Thursday, January 27th – Free day
Group C: Round 11 - Fri. Jan. 28th
Ilya Nyzhnyk - Benjamin Bok  
Robin van Kampen - Dariusz Swiercz  
Daniele Vocaturo - Katherina Lahno  
Murtas Kazhgaleyev - Ivan Ivanisevic  
Jan Willem de Jong - Sebastian Siebrecht  
Mark Bluvshtein - Mark van der Werf  
Tania Sachdev - Roeland Pruijssers  
Group C: Round 12 - Sat. Jan. 29th
Benjamin Bok - Roeland Pruijssers  
Mark van der Werf - Tania Sachdev  
Sebastian Siebrecht - Mark Bluvshtein  
Ivan Ivanisevic - Jan Willem de Jong  
Katherina Lahno - Murtas Kazhgaleyev  
Dariusz Swiercz - Daniele Vocaturo  
Ilya Nyzhnyk - Robin van Kampen  
Group C: Round 13 - Sun. Jan. 30th
Robin van Kampen - Benjamin Bok  
Daniele Vocaturo - Ilya Nyzhnyk  
Murtas Kazhgaleyev - Dariusz Swiercz  
Jan Willem de Jong - Katherina Lahno  
Mark Bluvshtein - Ivan Ivanisevic  
Tania Sachdev - Sebastian Siebrecht  
Roeland Pruijssers - Mark van der Werf  

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