Ten Trivia about the Tata Steel Tournament series, the Wimbledon of Chess

by Eduard Frey
1/13/2023 – The traditional Tata Steel international invitation tournament series, annually ongoing since the year 1938, held in Wijk aan Zee and earlier in Beverwijk, is a highlight in the calendar of classical chess. Eduard Frey presents funny Trivia from the rich history of this remarkable tournament. | Photo: Playing Hall, Organiser

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The world famous chess tournament series is held every year, usually in January, in the small town Wijk aan Zee, part of the larger Beverwijk, a town and municipality in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. The seaside location offers the widest sand beach of the country, located next to beautiful dunes.

Initially and longtime, the tournament was called after its sponsor, the Dutch steel producer Hoogovens, 1999 saw the last Hoogovens tournament, the Dutch company merged with British Steel to become Corus. Fortunately for the chess world, the sponsorship continued under the new name Corus tournament from 2000 to 2010. Since 2011, the chess festival is billed as Tata Steel tournament, after Corus had been acquired by Tata Steel, headquartered in India.

From 1938 up to and including 1967, the tournament always took place in Beverwijk, since 1968 it has been held in Wijk aan Zee (pronounced vyke ahn zeh). There was no tournament in 1945.

First winners in 1938 were the Dutch players Philip Bakker and Jilling Van Dijk, in its inception with only four players as an employee tournament for Hoogovens in a pure national event. Max Euwe participated and won a first time in 1940. The tournament became a six players event in 1942, and in 1943, already eight players from the hosting nation took part.

Since 1946, now usually with ten participants, the invitation tournament has been  internationally mixed (O’Kelly won ahead of Stoltz that year), in 1960 two players from the Soviet Union did take part for the first time (Larsen and Petrosian tied for the win). From 1964 onwards, there were 16 players competing, in 1963, the field for once even consisted of 18 players, since 1980 it has usually been 14 players strong. Twice, in the years 1993 and 1995, the event changed to a knock-out concours with a marginal back-up Open for the eliminated contenders; in 1994 a ten-player tournament took place.

Since 1996 the Wijk aan Zee tournament usually was a traditional round robin, and usually 14 players were invited. Contrary to most other modern tournaments, Wijk aan Zee always offers an additional B-group, named «Challengers» (there was a C-group during some years, too) for upcoming, rising stars, legendary seniors. And somehow less prominent or overshadowed (grand)masters, plus a bunch of talented chess artists from The Netherlands and, nowadays, India. Of course, women are invited as well, Judit Polgar and Hou Yifan each played five times in the A-group, Nona Gaprindashvili already got a spot in the A-group during the 1970s, and played from the sixties to the eighties several times in the B-group, in 1987 she was shared winner together with Ivan Farago who had the best tie-break, and Luc Winants.

Traditionally, the winner of the B-group advances to the A-group in the following season. 2022 was the year of Arjun Erigaisi, winning Wijk aan Zee-B as a still relatively unknown player, clinching the strong Abu Dhabi Masters and some other Open Festivals, winning the individual silver medal on board three at the Chess Olympiad in Chennai, becoming National Indian Champion a first time, surpassing the notorious 2700 Elo barrier in style, and last but not least, landing a big personal sponsorship deal with Quantbox Research. Virtually everything started with winning the B-group at Wijk in January a year ago.

Not to forget the large amateur events! The Tata Steel tournament welcomes about two thousands of amateur players every year. Wijk aan Zee is definitely a chess festival for both, amateurs and professionals. All rounds are open to the public.

A quote attributed to Bent Larsen captures the significance and tradition of the series: "Normal people have to see Naples before they die…, but a chess grandmaster has to win the Wijk aan Zee tournament first of all".

Bent Larsen reads the news while his colleagues play. The picture was taken during the tournament in Beverwijk 1961 which Larsen won together with Borislav Ivkov. | Photo: Harry Pot, Anefo

Record winner

Record winner with eight titles (so far) at the Hoogovens / Corus / Tata Steel invitation tournament held in Wijk aan Zee and in earlier years in Beverwijk in its long history, is Magnus Carlsen.

In 2004 a 13-year old Magnus Carlsen won the "C" group in Wijk, making his first GM norm on the way. In 2006, he was first (alongside with Alexander Motylev) in the "B" group.

In 2008 (together with Levon Aronian), 2010, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, and 2022 (always clear first), Carlsen won the "A" group. Magnus Carlsen is a regular visitor in Wijk aan Zee and will play for the 19th time overall in 2023, making his 16th A-entry.

Vishy Anand won or co-won five times (among them three shared titles), four players won four times each (sole or / and shared) at Beverwijk and Wijk aan Zee respectively, namely Max Euwe, Lajos Portisch, Viktor Korchnoi, and Levon Aronian who is playing again this year.

This DVD allows you to learn from the example of one of the best players in the history of chess and from the explanations of the authors how to successfully organise your games strategically, and how to keep your opponent permanently under pressure.

Longest winning span at Beverwijk / Wijk aan Zee series

Ping-Pong with the suit coat still buttoned. That’s serious old school. Chess Grandmaster Korchnoi at the Wijk aan Zee Hoogovens tournament, January 1968. | Photo: J. de Nijs, Anefo

The longest winning span at Wijk aan Zee / former Beverwijk series is held by Viktor Korchnoi with 19 years (tournament victories between 1968 at his first participation and 1987, in total four wins), ahead of Max Euwe, 18 years (between 1940 and 1958, four wins), followed by Fridrik Olafsson, 17 years (between 1959 and 1976, two wins), and Viswanathan Anand, also 17 years (between 1989 and 2006, five wins).

Biggest winning margin at Beverwijk / Wijk aan Zee

The record winning margin in absolute points at Beverwijk / Wijk aan Zee A-tournament series since its beginning in the year 1938 is also held by Viktor Korchnoi. In January 1968 (it was the first Hoogovens played at Wijk aan Zee), Korchnoi finished winning the tournament with 12 out of 15, three full points ahead of shared runners-up Lajos Portisch, Mikhail Tal and Vlastimil Hort.

In this video course, experts (Pelletier, Marin, Müller and Reeh) examine the games of Viktor Korchnoi. Let them show you which openings Korchnoi chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were, or how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame.

At his first entry at Hoogovens tournament in 1968, Korchnoi started with a streak of eight consecutive wins (!), beating in a row GM Padevsky (rd.1), GM Matanovic (rd.2), GM Bobotsov (rd.3), GM Ivkov (rd.4), IM (GM later) Hans Ree (rd.5), IM Nikola Karaklajic (Serbia, Yugoslavia), who was selected from the Masters section at Beverwijk Hoogovens - B in 1967 (rd.6), GM Rossolimo (rd.7), and GM Tal (rd.8), then drawing to GM Donner in round nine.

Note: At the end of that year, in December 1968, Korchnoi took the world elite tournament of Palma de Mallorca, too, featuring the World Champion Petrosian, his upcoming Challenger and Vice World Champion Spassky, and Larsen, the Palma winner from 1967. Korchnoi, clear first and unbeaten, made another fine tournament, as he drew Petrosian and defeated Spassky, Larsen and Gligoric, amongst others. Thus, in the final round he easily could grant half a point to a Spanish player. According to Chessmetrics, these were the two strongest tournaments of 1968, in historical ranking, Korchnoi then was second behind Bobby Fischer during 1968 (all twelve months) and 1969 (all twelve months).

Korchnoi presents many of his most brilliant efforts from the years 1949-2005, among them, games against Smyslov, Geller, Tal, Huebner, Karpov, Kasparov, Spassky and Short.

Oldest winner

Savielly Tartakower (1887-1956), is the oldest winner of the series at age of near 62 years (!), taking clear first place in 1949 at Beverwijk (facing much less strong opponents in a smaller event than usuall today). Euwe, Botvinnik, and Korchnoi all won at Beverwijk and Wijk aan Zee, in their mid-/late 50s.

Youngest winner

Magnus Carlsen (*1990), co-winner with Aronian in 2008 (incl. Anand, Kramnik, Topalov, the then top three of the world ranking, Mamedyarov, Leko, Ivanchuk, Gelfand, Radjabov, Adams) at age of 17 years and two months.

Best woman ever

Judit Polgar as best woman ever at Beverwijk / Wijk aan Zee was clear runner-up in 2003, only half a point and unbeaten behind the winner. And here are the full standings from the tournament, which was played exactly twenty years ago (some players are still active, but none of them are participating in the 2023 A or B edition):

1. Anand, 8.5 points

2. Judit Polgar, 8

3. Bareev (title defender from Wijk aan Zee tournament 2002), 7.5

4.-8. Shirov, van Wely, Grischuk, Kramnik (reigning Einstein world champion), Ivanchuk, 7

9.-10. Radjabov, Topalov, 6.5

11.-12. Karpov (former world champion), Ponomariov (reigning FIDE world champion), 6

13. Krasenkow, 4

14. Timman, 2.5

Polgar’s result is also regarded as one of the best ever achieved by a woman in classical chess.

The strongest tournament of the series

The strongest event of the series happened arguably in 2001, when nine top ten players participated, namely #1 Kasparov, #2 Anand, #3 Kramnik, #4 Adams, #5 Leko, #6 Morozevich, #7 Shirov, #8 Topalov, #9 Ivanchuk from the official FIDE Elo rating list in January 2001 (only missing out from the top ten is the number ten ranked Gelfand). Kasparov won unbeaten a third time consecutively, three entries, and three clear wins, always surpassing strongest opposition.

That means, the claim "Strongest ever field" for 2023 (Strongest field ever' at 85th edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament) is doubtful, several editions with more top ten / top twenty ranked players had been organised before.

Kasparov’s trilogy

Garry Kasparov played and won the tournament in Wijk aan Zee three times in a row, namely in 1999, 2000, and 2001.

It was at Wijk in 1999, when Garry Kasparov created his masterpiece against Veselin Topalov:

 
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1.e4       Mueller,Karsten d6 Topalov is a Sicilian player, but against Kasparov he prefers to spring a slight surprise on his well prepared opponent as soon as possible. 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Pirc is a somewhat rare opening in Gary's practice and he often used to react with 3.f3!? e.g. e5 4.d5 c6 5.c4 Qb6 6.Nc3 Be7 7.Nge2 0-0 8.Ng3 cxd5 9.Na4! Qc7 10.cxd5 Bd7 11.Be3 Rc8 12.Nc3 Na6 13.Be2 Bd8 14.0-0 Qa5 15.Kh1 Nc5 16.Bd2 Ne8 17.f4 exf4 18.Bxf4 Bf6 19.Bg4 Qd8 20.Bxd7 Qxd7 21.Qf3 Rc7 22.Nf5 Bxc3 23.bxc3 Na4 24.Qg3 Nxc3 25.Rae1 f6 26.Bxd6 Nxd6 27.Nxd6 Kasparov,G-Wahls,M/GER-Kasparov/1992/ But the Bulgarian was probably well prepared for a fight in the Saemisch, after all he is King's Indian expert. 3...g6 4.Be3 Bg7?! A major exponent of the 4.Be3 line GM Vlastimil Jansa would be dissatisfied with this move, as later Black will have to lose a tempo capturing on h6. 4...Ng4?! 5.Bg5 is also not ideal, as it rather loses than gains time. 4...c6!? has the best reputation. 5.h3! Black's most reasonable alternative is Less dangerous is ≤5.Qd2 Nbd7 6.Bd3 b5 7.Nf3 e5!? 5...Nbd7 ≤5...b5?! 6.e5! dxe5 6...Nfd7 7.exd6 exd6 8.d5 b4 9.dxc6 bxc3 10.cxd7+ Nxd7 11.b3 Be7 12.Bh6 Bb7 13.Nf3 Qa5 14.Be2 g5 15.Bg7 Rg8 16.Bd4 h5 17.Qd3 g4 18.hxg4 hxg4 19.Bxc3 Qd5 20.Qxd5 Bxd5 21.Nd4 Rc8 22.Bb4 Bxg2 23.Rg1 Ba8 24.Rxg4 Rh8 25.0-0-0+- Sokolov,A-Zakharevich,I/Elista/1995/ 7.dxe5 Qxd1+ 8.Rxd1 Nfd7 9.f4 Bg7 10.Nf3 f6 11.e6 Nf8 12.Nxb5 Nxe6 13.Nxa7 Bb7 14.Bc4 Nc7 15.Kf2 Nd5 16.Nxc6 Bxc6 17.Bxd5 Bxd5 18.Rxd5 Rxa2 19.Rb5 0-0 20.Rd1 Nc6 21.Nd4 Nxd4 22.Bxd4 Rc8 23.Rd2+- Jansa,V-Schlosser,M/Muenster/1992/ ≤5...Bg7?! 6.f4!  0-0 7.Nf3 Nbd7 8.e5 Nh5 9.Ne2 Bh8 10.g4 Ng7 11.Bg2 dxe5 12.fxe5 Nb6 13.Bh6 Be6 14.0-0 Qd7 15.Nf4 Bd5 16.Nxd5 Nxd5 17.Qe2 Rad8 18.Rae1 Nc7 19.c3 Nce6 20.Nd2 Qc7 21.Ne4 a5 22.Rf2 b5 23.Ref1 Qb6 24.Kh1 Jansa,V-Hoi,C/Gausdal/1991/ 6.f4 e5 7.Qf3!? Black's main problem is to break up effectively the strong pawn cahin e4,f5, so deserving attention is b5!? 7...Qa5 8.Bd3 Bg7 9.dxe5 dxe5 10.f5 b5 10...gxf5?! 11.Qxf5! b5 12.Nge2 b4 13.Nb1 Nb6 14.Qf2 Na4 15.0-0 Be6 16.b3 Nb2 17.Ng3 Nxd3 18.cxd3 Qb5 19.Nd2 Rd8 20.Bg5 Movsesian,S-Ftacnik,L/Hamburg op/1997/ 11.Nge2 ≤11.g4?! b4 12.Nd1 gxf5! 13.gxf5 b3+ 14.Nc3 bxc2 15.Nge2 Rb8 16.Bc1 Rg8 17.Bxc2 Bf8 18.b3 Ba6 19.Bd2 Bb4 20.a3 Nh5 21.Qxh5 Bxe2 22.Nxe2 Bxd2+ Kharlov,A-Labok,V/Podolsk/1992/ 8.0-0-0 8.Bd3 Bb7 8...b4 9.Nce2 Qe7 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.f5 gxf5 12.Qxf5 12.exf5?! Bb7 13.g4 Nd5 14.Bf2 e4 15.Qg3 e3 16.Be1 Bg7 17.g5 Be5 18.Qg4 h5 19.Qg2 0-0-0 20.Nf3 Nf4 21.Nxf4 Bxf4 22.Be2 c5 23.h4 Ne5 24.Rxd8+ Rxd8 25.Kb1 Nxf3 0-1,Wagener,C-Andersen,J/Szeged/1994/ 12...Qe6!?∞ 5.Qd2 c6 6.f3 More consistent and preferred by Jansa is 6.Bh6!? as White can sometimes effectively play f4 later on. Bxh6 7.Qxh6 Qa5 7...b5 8.e5! b4 9.exf6 bxc3 10.bxc3 exf6 11.Bd3 Qe7+ 12.Ne2 Qf8 13.Qd2 Qe7 14.0-0 0-0 15.Rfe1 f5 16.c4 Nd7 17.Rab1 Nb6 18.Qa5 Be6 19.Nf4 Qf6 20.c5 dxc5 21.Nxe6 fxe6 22.Qxc5± Jansa,V-Gazik,I/CSR-chT/1992/ 8.Bd3 c5!? 8...b5 9.Nf3 b4 10.Ne2 Ba6 11.0-0 Nbd7 12.Ng3 Bxd3 13.cxd3 Rg8 14.Qd2 Rb8 15.a3 Qb5 16.axb4 Qxb4 17.Qxb4 Rxb4 18.Rfc1 Nb8 19.Rxa7 Rxb2 20.e5! עe8,Van der Wiel,J-Azmaiparashvili,Z/Wijk aan Zee/1993/ Rather passive is 8...Nbd7 9.Nf3 e5 10.0-0 exd4 11.Nxd4 Qh5 12.Qd2 0-0 13.Be2 Qe5 14.f4 Qe7 15.Bf3 Nb6 16.Rae1 Rd8 17.b3 c5 18.Nde2 Bd7 19.Ng3 Bc6 20.a4± dams,M-Nogueiras,J/Buenos Aires/1991/ 9.Nge2 ≤9.Nf3 Bg4!∞ 9...cxd4 10.Nxd4 Nc6!? Unplayable is 10...Qb6? 11.0-0-0 Nc6 12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.e5! dxe5 14.Ne4 Be6 15.Qg7 0-0-0 16.Nxf6 exf6 17.Qxf6 Rhe8 18.Rhe1 Bg4 19.f3 e4 20.Rxe4 Rxe4 21.Ba6+ Qxa6 22.Rxd8+ Kb7 23.Qxf7+ Kb6 24.fxe4 1-0,Jansa,V-Hoffmann,H/BL2-O 9697/1997/ 11.Nb3 Qb6 12.Nd5 12.0-0-0 Be6 13.f3 0-0-0 14.Rhe1 Kb8 15.Bf1 Rc8 16.Qe3 Qxe3+ 17.Rxe3 g5 18.g3 h5 19.f4 h4 20.Bb5 Ng4 21.Re2 hxg3 22.hxg3 Rh3 Kroeze,F-Beim,V/Leeuwarden/1994/ 12...Nxd5 13.exd5 Nb4!? 13...Ne5 14.0-0 Bd7 15.Be2 0-0-0 16.a4 Kb8 17.a5 Qc7 18.c4 Bg4 19.Bxg4 Nxg4 20.Qf4 Ne5 21.Ra4 g5 22.Qd4 h5 23.Rc1 h4 24.Qe3 h3 25.g3 e6 26.Nd4 Qc5 27.Rc3 Ng4 28.Qd2 e5 29.Nb3 Qc8 30.c5 Hamdouchi,H-Chabanon,J/FRA-chT/1998/ 6...b5 7.Nge2 White has various possibilities here. Not too promising is the old line 7.0-0-0 Qa5 8.Kb1 Nbd7 9.Bh6 Bxh6 10.Qxh6 Nb6 11.Nh3 Bxh3! 12.Qxh3 Na4! Ultra-sharp is 7.g4 h5!? 7...Nbd7 8.g5 Nfd7 9.f4 Nb6∞ 7...Nbd7 8.Bh6 Bxh6 9.Qxh6 Bb7 Black should strive for immediate counterplay. 9...e5!? 10.a3 and forcing a central exchange costs Black precious time, e.g. Too soft is ≤10.dxe5?! dxe5 11.Nc1 Bb7 12.Nd3 Qe7 13.g3 0-0-0 14.b4 a5 15.a3 Kc7 16.Be2 axb4 17.axb4 Ra8= Kristensen,B-Hansen,C/Vejle/1994/ 10...Qa5 11.dxe5 dxe5 12.Nc1 Bb7 13.b4! Qb6 14.Nb3 9...Qa5 10.Nc1 b4 10...Qb6 11.Nb3 a5 12.a4 b4 13.Nd1 Ba6 14.Ne3 Bxf1 15.Rxf1 Qa6 15...c5!? 16.Nc4 Qa6 17.Nbxa5 cxd4 18.Qd2 16.Kf2 Rc8 17.Kg1 c5 18.dxc5 Nxc5 19.Nd4 Qb6 20.Nc4 Qa6 21.b3 Ncd7 22.Nb5 Ne5 23.Ne3 Qb6 24.Kh1 Rc5 25.Rad1 Rg8 26.Rd2 g5 27.Nxd6+ Qxd6 28.Rxd6 Rg6 29.Rxf6 1-0,Moroz-Janda/Decin/1998/ 11.Nb3 Qh5 12.Qxh5 Nxh5 13.Nd1 a5 14.a3 Bb7 15.axb4 axb4 16.Rxa8+ Bxa8 17.Nf2 0-0 18.Nd3 c5 19.dxc5 dxc5 20.Nbxc5 Nxc5 21.Nxc5 Rc8 22.Nd3 Rxc2 23.Kd1 b3 24.Be2 Bb7 25.Re1 f5 26.exf5 gxf5 27.Nb4! Rantanen,Y-Jamieson,R/Haifa olm/1976/ 10.a3! The right moment for prophylaxis ≤10.0-0-0?! Qa5 Gary tries to achieve a better version of 10.Nc1 e5 11.dxe5 dxe5 12.Nb3 a6 13.0-0-0 Qc7!? 14.Qg7 Rf8 14...Rg8? 15.Rxd7+- 15.g3 0-0-0 16.Bh3 Kb8 17.Bxd7 Nxd7 18.Qxh7 a5 19.Kb1 a4 20.Nc1 a3 21.b3 b4 22.N3e2 c5 23.Qh6 f5!? Moroz,A-Yurasov,A/Simferopol/1991/ 10...e5 10...a5 11.Nd1 b4 12.Ng3!? As Black's will have to castle he doesn't want to weaken his position here any further. 11.0-0-0 Qe7 Black wants to get his to safety as soon as possible. But interesting was 11...a6!? 12.Kb1 12.f4 Ng4 13.Qg7 Qf6= nikam nevedie a po 12...Qc7 (Covers a5.) 13.dxe5 dxe5 14.Qg7 Ke7!? 12.Kb1 a6 13.Nc1! 0-0-0 14.Nb3 exd4!? Topalov realizes the danger, connected with 5 followed by a timely d5and decides to open up the position and fight. 14...c5?! 15.d5± 15.Rxd4 15.Nxd4 c5 16.Nb3 -15.4 15...c5 16.Rd1 Nb6 5 16...Ne5 17.Be2 d5? 18.f4 5 17.g3 Kb8 17...d5!? 18.Bh3+ 18.Qf4 d4 19.Bh3+ Nfd7∞ 18...Kb8 19.exd5 19.Qf4+ Ka7! 20.Nxc5? Nh5 21.Qe3 d4! 19...Nbxd5 20.Nxd5 Nxd5 20...Rxd5 21.Qf4+!? Qe5 22.Qxe5+ Rxe5 23.Rd6 21.Na5 18.Na5?! Kasparov already envisages the rich combinational possibilities, but this very natural move is probably objectively not the best. 18.Bh3!? e1 d5 19.exd5 -17...d5!? Deserving attention is also 18.Qf4 Ka7 18...Ka8 19.Na5 19.g4!? 5 and Black can't play 19.Bxb5 Nh5 20.Qh4!? Qxh4 21.gxh4 axb5 22.Nxb5+ Kb8 23.Nxd6 f5 24.Nxc5 Bd5!?∞ 19...d5? 20.Nxc5!± 18...Ba8 19.Bh3 d5 20.Qf4+ Ka7 21.Rhe1 d4 Ftacnik: 'Black has achieved impressive success, but his position is a bit dangerous. Kasparov unleashes phantastic combination.' Opening the position is suicide, after 21...dxe4 22.fxe4 5 Nxe4 22...Rxd1+ 23.Rxd1 Nxe4 24.Rd7+!+- 23.Nxe4 Rxd1+ 24.Rxd1 Bxe4 25.Re1 Re8 26.Rxe4! Qxe4 27.Qc7+ Ka8 28.Nc6+- 22.Nd5 '!' Ftacnik. Nbxd5 22...Nfxd5? 23.exd5 Qd6 24.Qxf7++- 23.exd5 Qd6 Mueller,Karsten: 'The pearl from Wijk aan Zee My favourite combination by Kasparov At the A Trainer course at the start of 1999 Klaus Darga really went into raptures about the combination Kasparov had just played:hite has to get started:' Mueller,Karsten: 'Die Perle von Wijk aan Zee Meine Lieblingskombination von Kasparov Beim A Trainer Lehrgang geriet Klaus Darga Anfang 1999 richtig ins Schwärmen über die gerade gespielte Kombination Kasparovs:eiß muss loslegen:' 24.Rxd4!       24.Qxd6? Rxd6 25.b4 cxb4 26.axb4 Nxd5 24.Nc6+ Bxc6 25.dxc6 Qxf4 26.Re7+ 26.gxf4 Nd5!? 26...Kb6 27.gxf4 Nd5 28.Rxf7 Rdf8 24...cxd4? Ftacnik: 'It should be noted, that 24...Kb6! would most certainly save the game for black, but we would be robbed of some fascinating lines. ' 24...Kb6!= Mueller,Karsten: '!' Mueller,Karsten: 'was indicated. After it Black is even better, because his king is safe and he has more space on the queenside.' Mueller,Karsten: 'war angesagt. Danach steht Schwarz sogar besser, weil sein König sicher ist und er am Damenflügel mehr Raum hat.' 24...Bxd5!? 25.Rxd5! Nxd5 25...Qxf4 26.Rxd8 Qh6 26...Qc7 27.Rxh8 Qxa5 28.Re7++- 27.Re7+ Kb6 28.b4!+- 26.Qxf7+ Nc7 27.Re6 Rd7 27...Qd1+ 28.Ka2 Rd7 29.Re7± 28.Rxd6 Rxf7 29.Nc6+ Ka8 30.f4 25.Re7+‼ The real point of the combination. Mueller,Karsten: 'The first point of Kasparov's combinatory fireworks.' Mueller,Karsten: 'Die erste Pointe von Kasparovs Kombinationsfeuerwerk.' 25.Qxd4+? Qb6! 26.Re7+ Nd7 27.Rxd7+ 27.Qc3 Qg1+ 27...Rxd7 28.Qxh8 Rxd5-+ 25...Kb6 25...Qxe7? Mueller,Karsten: '?!' 26.Qxd4++- Kb8 Mueller,Karsten 27.Qb6+ Bb7 28.Nc6+ Ka8 29.Qa7# 25...Kb8 26.Qxd4 Mueller,Karsten: '+-' Nd7 27.Bxd7 Bxd5 28.c4!+- 26.Qxd4+ Kxa5 Mueller,Karsten: 'After' Mueller,Karsten: 'Nach' 26...Qc5 27.Qxf6+ Qd6 Mueller,Karsten: 'the paradoxical' Mueller,Karsten: 'gewinnt das paradoxe' 28.Be6‼ Mueller,Karsten: '+-!!' Mueller,Karsten: 'wins.' Mueller,Karsten: '.' Bxd5 29.b4+- 27.b4+ Ka4 28.Qc3!? This shows Kasparov's combination was more intuitive, than arithmetically exact. Mueller,Karsten: '?!' Ftacnik: 'It seems, that white could have won more easily with the help of a fine move 28.Ra7!!' Mueller,Karsten: 'Kasparov misses the beautiful and more direct winning move' Mueller,Karsten: 'Kasparov verpasst den schönen direkteren Gewinnzug' A simpler and even more beautiful win was found by (I think) Kavalek: 28.Ra7! Mueller,Karsten: 'which was found by Kavalek:' Mueller,Karsten: 'welcher von Kavalek gefunden wurde:' Bb7 28...Nxd5 Ftacnik 29.Rxa6+‼ Qxa6 30.Qb2 Nc3+ 31.Qxc3 Bd5 32.Kb2 Mueller,Karsten: 'It is very paradoxical that after this king move Black is completely powerless:' Mueller,Karsten: 'Es ist sehr paradox, dass Schwarz nach diesem Königszug völlig machtlos ist:' Qe6 33.Bxe6 fxe6 34.Qb3+! Bxb3 35.cxb3# 29.Rxb7 Qxd5 29...Nxd5 30.Bd7‼ Ra8 30...Rxd7 31.Qb2 Nc3+ 32.Qxc3 Qd1+ 33.Kb2 33.Ka2 Mueller,Karsten Rd3 and now comes the point: und nun folgt die Pointe: 34.Ra7!+- 33...Rd3 34.Ra7!+- 31.Bxb5+ axb5 32.Ra7+ Qa6 33.Qxd5 Qxa7 34.Qb3# 30.Rb6!+- 30.Rb6 Ra8 30...a5 31.Ra6 Ra8 32.Qe3‼ Rxa6 32...Rhe8 33.Rxa8 Rxa8 34.Kb2+- 33.Kb2 axb4 34.axb4 Kxb4 34...Qa2+ Mueller,Karsten 35.Kxa2 Kxb4+ 36.Kb2 Rc6 37.Bf1+- 35.Qc3+ Ka4 36.Qa3# 31.Qxf6 a5 32.Bf1+- 28...Qxd5 29.Ra7 29.Kb2? Mueller,Karsten Qd4-+ 29...Bb7 30.Rxb7 30.Qc7? Mueller,Karsten: 'runs into' Mueller,Karsten: 'läuft in' Qd1+= 30...Qc4 Mueller,Karsten: '!?' 30...Rhe8 Mueller,Karsten: '?!' Mueller,Karsten: 'fails to' Mueller,Karsten: 'scheitert an' 31.Rb6 31.Ra7? Rd6 32.Kb2 Qe5-+ 31...Ra8 32.Bf1‼+- 6 Mueller,Karsten: '!!' Mueller,Karsten: '(G.Ligterink)' Re1+ Mueller,Karsten 32...Nd7 Mueller,Karsten 33.Rd6 Re1+ 34.Kb2+- 33.Qxe1 Qd4 33...Nd7 34.Rb7 Qxb7 35.Qd1!+- (Greengard) 34.Rd6 Nd5 35.Rxd5 Qxd5 36.Qc3 Rd8 37.Bd3 Rd7 38.Be4 Qc4 39.Qxc4 bxc4 40.Bc6++- 31.Qxf6 Kxa3 Mueller,Karsten: '?!' Now White wins by force. Mueller,Karsten: 'After this Kasparov's attacking genius triumphs more or less immediately.' Mueller,Karsten: 'Danach triumphiert Kasparovs Angriffsgenie mehr oder weniger direkt.' 31...Rd1+ 32.Kb2 Ra8 32...Qd4+ Mueller,Karsten: '?!' 33.Qxd4 Rxd4 34.Rxf7 Rd6 35.Re7 6 Ra8 Mueller,Karsten 36.Be6+- 33.Qb6 Qd4+ 33...a5 Mueller,Karsten: '?!' 34.Bd7! Rd5 35.Qe3 Mueller,Karsten: '+-' axb4 36.Ra7++- 34.Qxd4 Rxd4 35.Rxf7 35.Bd7‼ Mueller,Karsten and according to the computer White should win in the long run because Black cannot free himself, e.g. und Weiß sollte laut Computer langfristig gewinnen, weil Schwarz sich nicht befreien kann, z.B. Rd6 36.g4 Rf6 37.f4 h6 38.h4 Rd6 38...Rxf4 39.Bc6 Rc4 40.Bd5 a5 41.Bxc4 bxc4 42.Kc3+- 39.f5 g5 40.h5 Rf6 41.Rc7 a5 42.Rb7 axb4 43.Bxb5+ Ka5 44.a4 Rd6 45.Rxf7+- 35...a5 36.Be6 axb4 37.Bb3+ Ka5 38.axb4+ Rxb4 38...Kb6 39.Rxh7 and with 3 pawns for the exchange White gradually wins. 39.c3±  32.Qxa6+ Kxb4 33.c3+! Mueller,Karsten: 'Very strong. Here at the latest Kasparov must have seen the whole final combination. Or else he could still have deviated with' Mueller,Karsten: 'Sehr stark. Spätestens hier muss Kasparov die gesamte Endkombination gesehen haben. Sonst hätte er noch mit' 33.Bd7 Mueller,Karsten with a slight advantage. mit leichtem Vorteil abbiegen können. 33...Kxc3 33...Kb3 34.Qa2+ Kxc3 35.Qb2+ Kd3 36.Re7!+- 34.Qa1+ Kd2 34...Kb4 35.Qb2+ Ka5 35...Qb3 36.Rxb5+ Mueller,Karsten: '+-' 36.Qa3+ Qa4 37.Ra7++- 35.Qb2+ Kd1 Mueller,Karsten: 'This position is very suitable for a tactical exercise:' Mueller,Karsten: 'Diese Stellung eignet sich gut als Taktikaufgabe:' 35...Ke3? 36.Re7+ 35...Ke1 36.Re7+ Kd1 37.Bf1!+- is the same as in the game. 36.Bf1! Mueller,Karsten: '!!' Mueller,Karsten: 'A powerful clap of thunder.' Mueller,Karsten: 'Ein gewaltiger Donnerschlag.' Rd2 36...Qxf1? Mueller,Karsten 37.Qc2+ Ke1 38.Re7+ Qe2 39.Qxe2# 37.Rd7! Ftacnik: 'The final trick, but white is completely right, the game is finally over.' Mueller,Karsten: 'The fantastic final point.' Mueller,Karsten: 'Die fantastische Schlusspointe.' Rxd7 38.Bxc4 bxc4 39.Qxh8 Rd3 39...Rb7+ 40.Ka2 Kc2 41.Qd4+- 40.Qa8 c3 41.Qa4+ Ke1 41...Kd2 42.Qc2+ 42.f4 f5 43.Kc1 Rd2 44.Qa7 Mueller,Karsten: 'Unbelievably beautiful fireworks!' Mueller,Karsten: 'Ein unglaublich schönes Feuerwerk!' 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Kasparov,G2812Topalov,V27001–01999B07Hoogovens4

 

Ivan Sokolov beat the "Beast from Baku" at Wijk aan Zee in 1999. | Photo: noord-hollandsarchief.nl

In total, Garry scored +19=19-1 at Wijk aan Zee (always 14 players / 13 rounds single round robin). His only loss:

 
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1.d4       Wells. Ftacnik. McShane Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 Wells: 'Ivan has written both a book and a monograph on 4 Qc2, but is also increasingly branching out in this direction. ' 0-0 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 c5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.a3 Bxc3 9.bxc3 Qc7 '!?' Wells. 9...dxc4 Wells 10.Bxc4 Qc7 11.Bd3 e5 12.Qc2 is a more common route to the position we encounter at move 12. The move order in the game reflects a prevailing belief that 10 cxd5 does not offer white any clear route to a plus. 10.Qc2 10.cxd5 Wells exd5 11.a4 Re8 12.Ba3 c4 13.Bc2 Ne4 14.Bxe4 Rxe4 15.Nd2 Re8! is looking pretty resilient at the moment. Black has good chances of maintaining his light-square blockade. 10...dxc4 11.Bxc4 e5 12.Bd3 Re8 12...Bg4 McShane: is also possible, and after 13.Nxe5 Nxe5 14.dxe5 Qxe5 15.f3 with the two bishops White is a little better. 13.e4 '!?' Wells. Wells: 'Ivan Sokolov has been very productive of interesting ideas for white in the Nimzo-Indian with both 4.Qc2 and latterly 4.e3. Here however his talent has been for some admirable archaelogical digging. The text move was popular in the 1950s and to some extent the 60s too, before dying out, as is often the case for no particularly convincing reason. The main line ' 13.dxe5 Wells Nxe5 14.Nxe5 Qxe5 15.f3 leads to heavily analysed structures. 13...exd4 13...c4 14.Bxc4 exd4 15.cxd4 Na5 15...Rxe4!? 16.Bd3 16.Ng5? Nxd4 17.Qa2 Qxc4 18.Qxc4 Ne2+ 16...Re7 17.Bg5 17.d5 Nxd5 17...Ne5 18.Nxe5 Qxc2 19.Bxc2 Rxe5 20.d6 18.Bxh7+ Kh8 19.Bg5 17...Bg4 18.Bxf6 gxf6 19.Bxh7+ Kg7 20.Be4 Rh8 20...Rae8! 21.g3 f5 22.Bxc6 bxc6 23.Ne5 Bh3 24.Rfe1± 1-0 Nor,I-Seidl,J/Graz 1998/EXT 99/[Wells] (35) 16.Bd3 Qxc2 17.Bxc2 Nxe4 should be about equal, but isn't really Kaparov's style. He heads straight for the tactics. Wells: 'is given as ' by Ivan Sokolov. ' 17...Nxe4 Wells: is given as ' by Ivan Sokolov. 18.Re1 Nd6 19.Bf4 Nac4 20.Bb3 Bf5 21.Ne5 Be6 22.Nd3 Rad8 23.Nc5 Bc8 23...Bd5?? 24.Bxd6+- 24.Bxc4 Nxc4 25.Bc7 Rxe1+ 26.Rxe1 Rf8 27.d5 Nxa3 27...b6!? 28.d6 Nb5 29.Re7 a5 29...b6!? 30.Bb8 a4 31.Nxa4 Be6 32.Rxb7 Bd5 33.Rb6 Nd4 34.h3 h5 35.Nc5 Ne6 36.Na6 Rc8 37.Bc7 Kf8 38.d7 Ra8 39.Rxe6 fxe6 40.d8Q+ Rxd8 41.Bxd8 1-0 Rogers,I-Solomon,S/Sydney 1999 (41) 14.cxd4 Bg4 15.e5 15.Qxc5 Nxe4 15...Bxf3 16.gxf3 Qd7 17.Be3 17.d5 Ne5 18.Be2 Qh3 19.Qe3 Nxd5 20.exd5 Ng6 21.Qg5 Rxe2 17...Nxe4 17...Nxe4 Wells 18.Bxe4 Rxe4 19.fxe4 Qg4+= is one route to early peace. The text leads to a rather forcing sequence resulting in a very sharp position due to the vulnerability of both sides' kings. 16.Bxe4 Rxe4 17.Ng5 17.Ne5 Be6 18.Be3= 17...Rxd4 17...Re7 18.Qc2 g6 19.Ne4 Bf5 20.Nf6+ Kg7 21.Qd2 Kxf6 22.d5 Rd8 23.Bb2+ Ne5 24.f4 Qc5+ 18.Bb2 Rd3 15.dxc5 McShane Bxf3 16.gxf3 Nd4 is not good news for White 15...Bxf3 16.exf6 Nxd4 17.Bxh7+ Kh8 18.fxg7+ Kxg7 19.Bb2 Rad8 ' McShane. McShane: 'With the c-pawn pinned, White was threatening Bxd4+' 19...Qe5 20.Bxd4 cxd4 21.gxf3 Rh8 22.Qe4 Qg5+ 23.Kh1 Rxh7 24.Qxd4+ f6 25.Qd6± 20.gxf3 20.Rfc1 Rh8 20...Re2 21.Bxd4+ Rxd4 22.Qc3 22.Qxc5 Rd1+ 23.Rxd1 Qxc5-+ 22...Qf4 23.Qxf3 Qxf3 24.gxf3 Kxh7 25.Rxc5 Rdd2 21.Qxc5 Qxc5 22.Rxc5 Kxh7 23.Bxd4 Rhg8 24.Be5 Rxg2+ 25.Kf1 Rg6 26.Rc3 Bg2+ 27.Ke2 Re8 28.Re3 ½-½ Langeweg,K-Kuijpers,F/Leeuwarden NK 1980 (28) Rc6 20.Bf5!? Wells might be a safe option for a minimal edge Re2 20...Rh8 21.h3 21.Bxd4+ Rxd4 22.Qc3 Bd5 23.Rfe1 and white's king is somewhat the safer, although black's pieces are well centralised and it may not amount to too much. 20...Rh8 21.Kh1 Rxh7 Ftacnik: 'Only Kasparov could answer the question, why he refrained from the more promising idea 21...Kf8!?' Wells: 'The problem with this is that by his next couple of moves white is able to gain time to both cover h2 and to mount a dangerous counter-attack on the g-file. If we can detect a reason why white once gave up this interesting line, it might be due to the alternative ' 21...Kf8 22.Qe4 22.Bxd4 Rxd4 23.f4 Rxf4 22...f5! 22...f6 23.Bxd4 23.Qh4 Rxh7 23...Qg7 24.Bxd4 Rxd4 25.Qh3 Rd7 26.Qf5 Rxh7 27.Qxc5+ Qe7 24.Qxf6+ Ke8 25.Rfe1+ Kd7 26.h4 Rf8 27.Re7+ 27.Qg5 Qf4-+ 27...Rxe7 28.Qxf8 0-1 Endzelins-Bouwmeester/Eu-Echecs Jub T /FS 1984 (44) 23...Rxd4 24.Qg6 Rxh7 25.Qxf6+ Qf7 26.Qxf7+ Rxf7 27.Rac1 c4 0-1 Vladimirov-Lisitsin/Moscow semi-finals 1955 (33) 23.Qh4 Rxh7 24.Qf6+ Ke8 25.Rfe1+ 25.Qg6+ Qf7 26.Rfe1+ Kf8 25...Kd7 26.Re5 Kc8 26...Rdh8 27.Bxd4 Rxh2+ 28.Kg1 Rh1+ 29.Kg2 R8h2+ 30.Kg3 Rh3+ 31.Kf4 Rh4+ 32.Kxf5 Rh5+ 33.Ke4 R1h4+ 34.f4+- 27.Bxd4 cxd4 28.Qxf5+ Kb8 0-1 Marks,I-Tenev Teno,P/cr EU/M/GT 1988 (39) 22.Rg1+ Kh8 23.Rg3 23.Bxd4+ Rxd4 24.Rg3 b6 25.Rag1 Qc8 26.Qe2 f6 27.Qf1 Rdh4 28.R1g2 Rd4 29.Qg1 Rd8 30.Rg6 23...Qe5 24.Rag1 McShane: 'Here White threatens Qxh7+ and Rh3 mate. ' Rh4?± '?' Ftacnik. Ftacnik: 'The first independent move is very unfortunate, it seems that black's position instantly becomes hopeless.' 24...Qh5 25.R1g2 f6 25...b6 26.Rg4± 26.Qg6 26.Qc4 Qf7 27.Qxf7 '!' Wells. Wells: 'I.Sokolov' 27.Qxc5! Wells I.Sokolov Ne2 28.Qg5 Rd1+ 28...Nxg3+ 29.fxg3 Rd6 30.Rc2 29.Rg1 Nxg3+ 30.fxg3 Rd6 31.Rc1 Rh5 32.Qf4± 27...Rxf7 28.f4 b5 28...Rd6?!= 29.Rh3+ Rh7 30.Rhg3 Re7 31.Rh3+ Rh7 32.Rhg3 ½-½ Porath,Y-Stahlberg,G/Amsterdam 1954 (32) 26.Qd1 Re7 27.Qg1 b5 28.Rg8+ Rxg8 29.Rxg8+ Kh7 30.Qg4 Qxg4 31.Rxg4 Rd7 31...Nxf3 32.Bxf6 Rd7 26...Qxg6 27.Rxg6 f5 28.R2g5 Rf8 29.Rd6 Rg7 30.Rxd4 cxd4 31.Bxd4 Rff7 32.h4 Kh7 33.Bxg7 Rxg7 34.Rxf5 Kh6= 25.Qc1?= '!' McShane. McShane: 'The position appears to be in the balance: Black has a healthier queenside in return for his weaker king position. But it is the weaker king that counts when Sokolov powers through on the g-file. Kasparov can't do a thing to challenge the white rooks, as his own rooks aren't working together.' 25.f4!± Qh5 25...Qd6 26.Qf5 Qc6+ 27.f3 Qh6 28.R3g2 b6 28...Qxf4 29.Qxc5+- 29.Qxf7+- 26.R1g2 26.Bxd4+ cxd4 27.R3g2 Qf3 26.f3! Qh6 26...Rh3 27.Rxh3 Qxh3 28.Qe4 f6 28...Qe6 29.Qxb7± 29.Qxb7 Qd7 30.Qe4± 27.Qg2 Qf8 28.Rg7 Rh6 29.Qg5 Rg6 29...Rh3 30.Qf6+- 30.Rxg6 fxg6 31.Qxg6+- 26...Re8 27.Qd2 Qd5 28.Rg5 Qe4 28...f5! 29.Rxf5 Qxf5 30.Bxd4+ Kh7 30...cxd4 31.Qxd4++- 31.Be5 Rg4 32.Rg3 Rxg3 33.hxg3 29.Rxc5 Qe1+ 30.Qxe1 Rxe1+ 31.Rg1+- 25...Kh7??+- 25...Qh5! 26.R3g2 26.R1g2 Re8 27.Qg1 Qe5 28.Rg8+ Rxg8 29.Rxg8+ Kh7 30.Ra8! 30.Rf8 Ftacnik Qg7 31.Qb1+! Kh6 32.Bc1+ Kh5 33.Be3+- 30...Qf4 31.Qg8+ Kh6 32.Qh8+ Kg6 33.Qg8+ Kh6= 26...f6 26...b6 27.Qe3 Qd5 28.Qe7 Rh6 29.Rg3 Kh7 30.Rg7+ Kh8 31.Rxf7 Rxh2+ 32.Kxh2 Qh5+ 33.Kg3 Rg8+ 34.Kf4 Qxf3+ 35.Ke5!+- 27.Qe3 Re8 28.Bxd4 cxd4 29.Qb3 Qh7 30.Qa4 Ra8 31.Re1 Qf7 32.Qb4 32.Re4 Rxe4 33.fxe4 Rd8 34.Qa5! b6 35.Qf5 Rg8 36.Qh3+ Qh7 37.Rxg8+ Kxg8 38.Qc8+ 38.Qxh7+ Kxh7 39.Kg2 b5 40.Kf3 a5 41.Ke2 b4 42.a4= 42.axb4 axb4 43.Kd3 b3 44.f4 Kg6 45.Kd2 Kh5 46.h3= 38...Kg7 39.Qd7+ Kg6 40.Qxd4 Qh3 32...Rd8 33.Re7 Qd5 34.Qxb7 Qxb7 35.Rxb7 d3 36.Rg1 d2 37.Rd1 Rc4 38.Rbb1= 26.Qb1+ '!' McShane. Kh8 26...f5 27.Bxd4 cxd4 27...Rdxd4 28.Qxb7++- 27...Qxd4 28.Qxf5+ Kh8 29.Rh3+- 28.Qxb7+ Kh8 29.Qf7!+- 27.Qf1 Qe6 28.Qg2 McShane: ' White has the unmeetable threat of Rg8+ followed by mate.' Ftacnik: 'The pressure along the g-file is simply too strong.' 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Sokolov,I2610Kasparov,G28121–01999E59Hoogovens9

 

In an interview with Sagar Shah, Ivan Sokolov remembered this famous win against Kasparov:

Question: When you saw that Kh7 was a mistake and that you could win the game now, what went through your mind?

It was kind of a funny moment because we both had plenty of time on the clock. I realized that after I triple on the g-file it was going to be mate.

Kasparov was already prepared to resign and leave. He had his Rolex back on his hand, his chocolate was taken away from the board, his jacket was on. Basically he was saying - Come on, make this move and get it over with!

Then I said to myself - Hang on, when is the next time that I will have such a position against Kasparov from which I can demolish him in just one move? Perhaps never!

How much time did I have on my clock? 40 minutes! Well, let's wait for a while then! Have a look at this beautiful position, look at miserable him (Garry really looks miserable when he is lost), there is no reason to rush!

So I took 10 minutes and then executed the move and he immediately resigned. *Smiles*

For the full talk (keep in mind, this interview is from 2015), see:

Interview with Ivan Sokolov (1/2) | ChessBase and
Interview with Ivan Sokolov (2/2) | ChessBase

Following his playing career, grandmaster Ivan Sokolov has become a renowned chess trainer, most recently leading the Uzbek national team as their coach to victory at the Chennai Olympiad in 2022.

The last non-titled tournament winner at Beverwijk / Wijk aan Zee

Mission accomplished. The winners of Beverwijk 1964, Nei (on the phone) and Keres, 26 January. | Photo: Eric Koch, Anefo

The titleless Iivo Nei, together with GM Paul Keres, both from Estonia, won at the prestigious Beverwijk Hoogovens tournament in 1964 (with many elite players, GM Portisch was sole third, GM Ivkov sole fourth, GM Larsen joint fifth, including GM Parma, GM Filip, GM Donner or GM Bobotsov).

At that time, there was no official FIDE Elo list existing. Nei got the IM title for this big tournament triumph, but he never was awarded the GM title (nor the GM Honorary title later). In retrospect, from 1960 to 1976 Nei was a top-100 player according to the Chessmetrics historical ratings by Jeff Sonas. Nei was best-ranked on position 21, and has beaten many greats. Iivo Nei, born in 1931, is still alive, and it would be a nice gesture to grant the grandmaster title to him.

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Dutchman Loek van Wely played incredible 25 times in 26 years (from 1992 to 2017, except in 2000) in the A-group at Wijk aan Zee, but could never win and never made it to the podium! Loek's best result is a shared 4th-8th place in 2003. Five times, he finished as shared or sole last.

Hoogovens Beverwijk 1963. The big winner Donner and clear runner-up David Bronstein have a chat. | Photo: Eric Koch, Anefo

Jan Hein Donner played 24 Beverwijk / Wijk aan Zee – A groups (from 1950 to 1975, except in 1954 and 1956), he won three times, in 1950 outright (ahead of 2./3. Euwe, Rossolimo), in 1958 shared with Euwe, and in 1963 outright (ahead of 2. Bronstein, incl. Averbakh, Pilnik, Matanovic, Ivkov, O’Kelly, Parma, veteran Pirc, Stahlberg, 18 players, arguably Donner’s biggest international win), ten times he finished in the bottom half of the usually strong tournament table.

PS: Prins, 1 win, in total only got 3 entries. Donner and Prins were not on friendly terms

Theo Van Scheltinga made 21 appearances at Beverwijk and later Wijk aan Zee between 1944 and 1969, winning twice in the 1940s (the early years of the series weren’t that strong)

Chess legend Jan Timman took part exactly 20 times between 1972 and 2004, not counting further B-sections and a honorary tournament, he triumphed twice, but also finished four times sole last in the A-group

Further frequent players from the hosting nation (selection)

Ree 19x – best result as fourth/fifth

Langeweg 16x – sole sixth out of 16 players in 1966

Piket 15x – he came close in 1997 as shared second after a loss in the last round, Salov won

Van der Wiel 15x – two podium finishes as shared second and shared third

Giri 12x in a row at Wijk aan Zee – A, and also playing in 2023, he twice tied for first place, in 2018 and in 2021, but losing both times the speed tie-break (2018 was the first year, where Wijk aan Zee established a play-off, otherwise Giri would be a twice tournament winner, comparisons with earlier years may be biased, thus)

Cortlever 12x – one win in 1939 in a pure national Quadrangular

Sosonko 12x – two wins, joint with Geller and joint with Timman

Tiviakov 7x – clear runner-up in 1994 (no player from the top ten), Nikolic won

(Other) elite players at Wijk aan Zee / Beverwijk

Anand 19x (5 wins)

Carlsen 15x in A-group (record winner with 8 A-wins), Carlsen played 18x in Wijk A, B, C group, starting in 2004, this year will be his 19th visit overall, and his 16th A-group attendance since 2007, he only left out the edition of 2014

Adams 14x (none, shared second as best result)

Korchnoi 13x (4 wins), Kramnik 13x (1 win, at his first entry in 1998, together with Anand)

Leko 12x (1 win), O’Kelly de Galway 12x (1 win), I. Sokolov 12x (none, shared second), Topalov 11x (2 wins), Nikolic 11x (2 wins), Karjakin 11x (1 win), Andersson 11x (1 win)

Aronian 10x (4 wins, playing in 2023), Caruana 10x (1 win, playing in 2023), Ivanchuk 10x (1 win), Hort 10x (none, but four times (co-)runner-up), Shirov 10x (none, shared third), Portisch 9x (4 wins), Gelfand 9x (1 win), Ivkov 9x (1 win), Hübner 9x (none, shared third), Short 8x (2 wins)

Euwe 7x (4 wins), Nunn 7x (3 wins), F. Olafsson 7x (2 wins), Browne 7x (2 wins), Matanovic 7x (1 win), Radjabov 7x (1 win), Miles 7x (none, shared second), Kavalek 7x (none, no podium), So 6x (1 win, playing in 2023), Seirawan 6x (1 win), Ljubojevic 6x (1 win), Pilnik 6x (1 win)

Mamedyarov 5x (none, shared second), Larsen 5x (2 wins), Salov 5x (2 wins), Tal 5x (1 win, remember, the great attacker Tal, who died in 1992, never got a nomination / invitation at the Linares tournament), Rossolimo 5x (1 win), Nakamura 5x (1 win), Judit Polgar 5x (none, sole runner-up), Bobotsov 5x (none, sole third), Morozevich 5x (none, shared third), Svidler 5x (none, no podium), Hou Yifan 5x (none, no podium)

Some selected top players with less than five entries in the series

Geller 4x (3 wins, all were shared), Karpov 4x (2 wins), Stahlberg 4x (1 win), Bareev 4x (1 win), Grischuk 4x (none, sole runner-up), Nepomniachtchi 4x (none, shared third), Rapport 4x (none, shared second, playing in 2023), Ponomariov 4x (none, no podium), Duda 4x in a row 2019-2022, and again invited in 2023, had to withdraw (none, no podium)

Kasparov 3x (3 clear wins in a row!), Ribli 3x (1 win), Sax 3x (1 win), Dreev 3x (1 win), Ding Liren 3x (none, twice shared second, playing in 2023), Szabo 3x (none, sole second), Gligoric 3x (none, shared second), Pomar Salamanca 3x (shared second), Vachier-Lagrave 3x (none, shared second), Smejkal 3x (sole third), Adorjan 3x (none, no podium), Lautier 3x (none, no podium), Benko 3x (none, no podium), Kamsky 3x (none, no podium), Wojtaszek 3x (none, no podium), Eljanov 3x (none, no podium), Navara 3x (none, no podium)

Polugaevsky 2x (2 wins, both as clear first), Petrosian 2x (1 win), Taimanov 2x (1 win), Keres 2x (1 win), Nei 2x (1win, titleless!), Beliavsky 2x (1 win), Mecking 2x (none, no podium), Torre 2x (none, no podium)

One participation (selection in no particular order): Tartakower (1 win), Botvinnik (1 win), Spassky (1 win), Eliskases (sole runner-up), Bronstein (sole runner-up), Uhlmann (sole third), Yanovsky (shared third), Smyslov (shared fifth in 1972, Portisch won above 2./3. Pomar, Hort, 4. Browne, 5.-6. Savon, Smyslov), Flohr, Averbakh, Vaganian, R. Byrne, Pachman, Unzicker, Panno, Speelman, Bacrot, Kmoch, Kostic, Grünfeld, and unforgotten Vugar Gashimov in 2012 in what sadly turned out to be his last tournament in classical chess before his death in January 2014.

Eleven undisputed, universally accepted World Chess Champions played the series, all since Euwe, except Fischer. There are only a few other prominent players since end of World War II, who never took part / couldn’t play at Beverwijk / Wijk aan Zee, ie. Reshevsky, Boleslavsky, Kholmov, Kotov, or Stein.

PS: Wijk aan Zee also hosted some official FIDE Candidate’s matches, for instance in 1991, with Jussupow beating Dolmatov, and Korchnoi (60 years) beating Sax. For reasons of consistency, such events are not included in the stats and figures above; in the official website, they are listed, too.

Youth Mania in recent years

The Tata Steel invitation tournament in January 2021 had an exceptional young line-up: All of the participants were below 40 years, it’s insane, none of the 14 chess players had yet celebrated his 35th birthday! The oldest player from the January 2021 field, Harikrishna, is born in May 1986, and the youngest player, Firouzja, born in 2003, is aged 17 and a half.

Such an average of age is notable and likely to be a novum in the long and great history of the Wijk aan Zee series: the age average of the players is around 26-27 years, roughly calculated.

Same went for the edition in 2022: The oldest participant is near 37, the youngest player is 16 and a half. Age average of the players is again around 26-27 years, roughly calculated.

In 2023, surprisingly, reigning World Champion Carlsen (born in November 1990) with 32 years of age is already the second-oldest player in the field of the nominated 14 A-participants, only Aronian, who was born in the 1980s, is older than Magnus.

Times are changing

An iconic picture of Miguel Najdorf in play at Wijk aan Zee, 24 January 1973. | Photo: Bert Verhoeff, Anefo

Miguel Najdorf (born in April 1910, died in 1997), gave his debut at Wijk aan Zee tournament in 1971 (Korchnoi won in his second and last entry at Wijk aan Zee as a Soviet player, above 2.-5. Ivkov, Gligoric, F. Olafsson, Petrosian, followed by 6.-9. Andersson, Hort, Hübner, and Mecking, alphabetical order, 16 players) when he had already celebrated his 60th birthday!

Kostic played in 1952 in Beverwijk (Euwe won above O’Kelly, Yanofsky and Rellstab joint third) at age of 65.

After a long break from tournament chess Grünfeld, who was 67 at that time, played in 1961 in Beverwijk (Larsen and Ivkov won two full points ahead of Uhlmann). He died a year later.

Najdorf played at the Hoogovens (since 1968 held in Wijk aan Zee) a third and last time in 1978 (Portisch won half a point above Korchnoi, Andersson third) at the age of 68.

Korchnoi played in 2000 (Kasparov won 1.5 points ahead of joint 2.-4. Anand, Kramnik, Leko, including further top players such as Morozevich, Adams, Short, Nikolic, Timman, Piket, or Judit Polgar who tied with Korchnoi) at the age of 69.

The veteran players could avoid to be last or co-last as it happened in the A-group to a young Carlsen, and Kramnik, Shirov, Gelfand, Morozevich, Ljubojevic, Adams, Navara, young Rapport, young Giri, Timman, Donner, or Van Wely who indeed all finished last or co-last at least once in the main section of the series!

Najdorf and especially Korchnoi who won a year later at Biel GMT in 2001 above Svidler, Gelfand, Grischuk, and Lautier, were still busy on the circuit and competitive on highest level.

Did I miss to pay my taxes? Err, the new anti-cheating rules, and special play-off regulations, plus pandemic prevention measures, …not to forget, FIDE reforms qualifications paths to Candidates Tournament, life is getting complicated! Belgian prodigy Daniel Dardha and Lucas van Foreest (with mask) at Wijk aan Zee - B group, 29 January 2022. | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit, Organiser

An entertaining and exciting 85th Wijk aan Zee Tata Steel Tournament to all chess lovers!

Statistical rhubarb is subject to change. Some data are taken from the site www.chessdiagonals.ch, maintained by the author.

Official Website: Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2023


Eduard Frey was born in spring 1967, is an economist (lic. et mag. rer, pol.) and works as a coach in human resources. He learned the game as a child from his father. Chess is a hobby without rating. He has been a frequent visitor to the Biel Chess Festival since 1976, as well as to Lucerne (1982 Olympiad, and the 1985, 1989, 1993, 1997 World Team Championships), and to the international tournaments in Zurich or the Lugano Open series. Frey spoke with many top players; he knew Viktor Korchnoi, Wolfgang Uhlmann and Mark Taimanov more closely.

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