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Anticipation is building for the LXXX edition of the tournament set to take place January 12th to the 28th, 2018. Most of the 11 rounds will be held in the traditioinal venue in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands, with two "on tour" days taking place this year in Hilversum and Groningen. There's even a slick widescreen trailer:
Currently number 12 in the world, with an Elo rating of 2765, Svidler hasn't made an appearance in Wijk ann Zee since 2007. Back then at 16-year-old Magnus Carlsen made his Masters group debut (called the A group at the time)...and finished tied for last place without a single win! Svidler also participated in 1999, 2004 and 2005, but he has never finished higher than sixth.
Maxime Matlakov (right) earned the 13th and final spot by virtue of his position in the ACP Tour standings. The 26-year-old Russian is currently at his peak rating of 2735, putting him at number 23 in the world on the December rating list.
Matlakov has had a particularly strong year, including joint first place finishes at the Grenke Chess Open in April, and the European Individual Championship in June (he became Champion on tiebreak score).
The tournament is chok full of champions this year, including World Champion Magnus Carlsen, and his predecessors, Viswanathan Anand, and Vladimir Kramnik plus former Women's World Champion and world number one Hou Yifan. Carlsen and Anand have each won the tournament five times.
The "on tour" days will take the grandmasters of the Masters group to the "Beeld en Geluid" building in Hilversum (also known as "the media capital" the Netherlands) on January 17 and the Academiegebouw building ("Academy Building") of the University of Groningen on January 24th. All rounds are freely accessible to the public.
Spectacular venues in Hilversum and Groningen | Source: www.tatasteelchess.com
Wesley So is the defending champion having absolutely "crushed it" last January, with 9 / 13 points, finishing a full point clear of Magnus Carlsen.
| Name | FED | Elo | World Rank |
| Magnus Carlsen | Norway | 2837 | 1 |
| Fabiano Caruana | USA | 2799 | 3 |
| Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | Azerbaijan | 2799 | 5 |
| Wesley So | USA | 2788 | 6 |
| Vladimir Kramnik | Russia | 2787 | 7 |
| Viswanathan Anand | India | 2782 | 8 |
| Anish Giri | Netherlands | 2762 | 13 |
| Peter Svidler | Russia | 2763 | 12 |
| Sergey Karjakin | Russia | 2760 | 14 |
| Wei Yi | China | 2739 | 20 |
| Maxim Matlakov | Russia | 2735 | 26 |
| Hou Yifan | China | 2680 | 66 |
| Adhiban Baskaran | India | 2655 | 96 |
| Gawain Jones | England | 2659 | 85 |
(FIDE rankings as of December 1, 2017)
The Fashionable Caro-Kann Vol.1 and 2
The Caro Kann is a very tricky opening. Black’s play is based on controlling and fighting for key light squares. It is a line which was very fashionable in late 90s and early 2000s due to the successes of greats like Karpov, Anand, Dreev etc. Recently due to strong engines lot of key developments have been made and some new lines have been introduced, while others have been refuted altogether. I have analyzed the new trends carefully and found some new ideas for Black.
In the Challengers we see Indian GM Vidit Gujrathi at the top of an interesting field. At 23 years of age, and rated 2715 he's the fourth Indian player to have crossed 2700. Both he and the second seed, Bassem Amin from Egypt, will be making their Wijk aan Zee debut. Amin was the first African player to break the 2700 barrier.
In all the tournament sports 13 participants from nine different countries. Jorden van Foreest and younger brother Lucas are among the four Dutch players. It's extremely rare to see siblings competing together at this level. Lucas — just 16 years old — won the 2017 top amateur group, thus earning promotion to the Tata Steel Challengers.
Tournament director Jeroen van den Berg calls the field a "nice mix":
The field of participants of the Tata Steel Challengers is a nice mix of youth and experience, male and female top chess players. German grandmaster Matthias Blübaum and Ukranian Anton Korobov will make their debut and are not among the top candidates for the title, but may create some surprises. Only 20 years old, Matthias Blübaum has been one of the top German players for years. Korobov is known for his daring and attacking style, which yields varying results. He is just out of the top 100, while he was part of the top 40 last June.
Once again the Challengers includes a veteran player to participate in the Tata Steel Challengers, chosen based on thir ACP tour results. That will be Michal Krasenkow from Poland. At 54 years old he remains a very strong player — at 2671 he'll be the third seed — and has prior experience in the tournament.
Two other young players, the Norwegian Aryan Tari and Jeffery Xiong (pictured below) from the USA are both back. Xiong won the World Junior Championship in 2016, and Tari completed the same feat last week.
Two female top chess players have also been invited: Harika Dronavalli from India (12th on the world rankings of female players) and Olga Girya (17th) from Russia, both 26 years old. Girya will maker her debut in Wijk aan Zee.
| Name | FED | Elo | B-year |
| Vidit Gujrathi | India | 2715 | 1994 |
| Bassem Amin | Egypt | 2689 | 1988 |
| Michal Krasenkow | Poland | 2671 | 1963 |
| Anton Korobov | Ukraine | 2652 | 1985 |
| Matthias Blübaum | Germany | 2642 | 1997 |
| Erwin l'Ami | Netherlands | 2634 | 1985 |
| Jeffery Xiong | USA | 2634 | 2000 |
| Jorden van Foreest | Netherlands | 2629 | 1999 |
| Benjamin Bok | Netherlands | 2601 | 1995 |
| Aryan Tari | Norway | 2593 | 1999 |
| Harika Dronavalli | India | 2504 | 1991 |
| Olga Girya | Russia | 2484 | 1991 |
| Lucas van Foreest | Netherlands | 2481 | 2001 |
The Tata Steel Chess tournament and it's predecessors has a long tradition in the hamlet of Wijk aan Zee. The official site maintains an extensive "statistics" page, where you can browse through the history of the event. There you can see for instance that Garry Kasparov won the tournament in 1999, 2000 and 2001. Vishy Anand has played 208 games there throughout his career — the most of any 2018 participant. He and Carlsen with five wins apiece have the most tournament victories.
The tournament's history page touts the significance of chess for its chief sponsor:
Like chess, steel making requires strategic thinking to find creative solutions to the complex challenges our customers face. At Tata Steel we are proud of the global standing the chess tournament has acquired during its long history, the impact it continues to have in the region and its positive influence on the game of chess and in inspiring future generations. Like during past editions, hundreds of children, both at the Main Event and in the Chess On Tour locations will be able to partipate in Tata - Kids of Steel® Chess events.
Photos: TataSteelChess.com
