5/5/2024 – Leon Luke Mendonca was the surprise winner of the Tata Steel Challenger tournament in Wijk aan Zee. He started with 3 out of 6 points, and was lost in the lower part of the table, until he recovered with 6.5 points out of his last 7 games, to reach first place! The Indian Grandmaster and ChessBase Host, Arne Kaehler, started a video series in 2023, on how a typical day in a life of a professional chess player looks like. In the third episode, Leon talks about his own approach to learning tactics, and gives us some examples to solve! | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2024

4/20/2024 – Leon Luke Mendonca was the surprise winner of the Tata Steel Challenger tournament in Wijk aan Zee. He started with 3 out of 6 points, and was lost in the lower part of the table, until he recovered with 6.5 points out of his last 7 games, to reach first place! The Indian Grandmaster and ChessBase Host, Arne Kaehler, started a video series in 2023, on how a typical day in a life of a professional chess player looks like. In the second episode, Leon talks about his opening preparation for an upcoming tournament. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2024

1/29/2024 – Leon Luke Mendonca was the surprise winner of the Tata Steel Challenger tournament in Wijk aan Zee. He started with 3 out of 6 points, and was lost in the lower part of the table, until he recovered with 6.5 points out of his last 7 games, to reach first place! The Indian Grandmaster and ChessBase Host, Arne Kaehler, started a video series in 2023, on how a typical day in a life of a professional chess player looks like. The insights of young Leon (turning 18 in March) are tremendous, and you can learn a lot in this first video. | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2024

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

2/1/2021 – In the fifth and last episode of the "Wijk aan Zee Storytellers" podcast Eric van Reem talks to his compatriot Loek van Wely. "KingLoek" played 25 times in Wijk and 297 games in group A, only Dutch Grandmaster Jan Hein Donner can boast of more. In the podcast van Wely talks about his first tournament, where he played in group B and lost to all three Polgar sisters, the soccer games on the restdays, the rivalry between the Dutch players, and what the Netflix series "The Queen's Gambit" has to do with Wijk and himself. | Photo: Magnus Carlsen (left) and Loek van Wely (right) during an intense soccer match. | Photo: Alina l'Ami

1/25/2021 – In the third part of the "Wijk aan Zee Storytellers" series, Eric van Reem, host of the "Let's talk about chess" podcast, talks to GM Ian Rogers, the well-known and popular player and chess writer from Australia. In the podcast Rogers remembers how he first played in Wijk when he was 16 years old. And he reveals what he thinks is the most spectacular game ever played in Wijk. And no, it is not Kasparov vs Topalov but Bellon vs Jamieson, played in group B, in 1977! | Photo: Ian Rogers 2014 | Photo: Macauley Peterson

1/22/2021 – Eric van Reem, host of the "Let's talk about chess" podcast, continues his "Wijk aan Zee Storytellers" series. In the first episode he talked to Dutch GM John van der Wiel, now he talks to Vishy Anand, five-time World Champion and five-time winner in Wijk. Anand shared a lot of stories about this fantastic tournament and obviously enjoyed these memories. | Photo: Vishy Anand at his home in Kotturpuram, Chennai | Photo: Amruta Mokal

1/21/2021 – The Tata Steel Tournament in Wijk aan Zee has a long tradition, reaching back to 1938. To hear more about this tradition and to share stories from this famous tournament, Eric van Reem, host of "Let's talk about chess", invited a number of "Wijk aan Zee Storytellers" to his podcast. In the first episode he talks to GM John van der Wiel (1959) from The Netherlands, who participated no less than 28(!) times in the Wijk aan Zee tournament.

1/14/2021 – The 83rd edition of the traditional Wijk aan Zee tournament is about to begin, with the first round scheduled to take place on Saturday. Seven-time winner Magnus Carlsen will be leading a 14-player field which includes world number 2 and latest World Championship challenger Fabiano Caruana. Carlsen won the “A tournament” for the first time thirteen years ago, when he shared first place with Levon Aronian. | Photos: Frits Agtenderbos / ChessVista

2/2/2019 – After Magnus Carlsen and Vladislav Kovalev won the Tata Steel Masters and Challengers tournaments, the ARVES Chess Endgame Studies Association organised a study solving competition in Wijk aan Zee for the tenth time. Former woman Dutch champion Anne Haast — the youngest participant — was the surprising winner. YOCHANAN AFEK composed three out of the nine studies that were used in the event and sent a report from the North Sea coastal city. | Photos: Harry Gielen

1/28/2019 – Magnus Carlsen won his seventh Tata Steel Chess title after holding a draw against Anish Giri despite all of the latter's attempts to keep the game going. Peace was signed after 30 moves as Anish contented himself with the second place. There was a three-way tie for third between Ian Nepomniachtchi, Ding Liren and Vishy Anand, who all scored 7½/13. In the Challengers, Vladislav Kovalev took the title with a staggering 1½ point margin after beating Stefan Kuipers in the final round. GM MIKHAIL GOLUBEV provided expert analyses of the most exciting games. | Photos: Alina l'Ami / Official site

1/26/2019 – A completely unexpected resignation from Sam Shankland allowed Anish Giri to catch up with Magnus Carlsen in the standings. A half point behind, the only chaser is Ian Nepomniachtchi, who grabbed an important win over Vladimir Fedoseev. In other news, Vladimir Kramnik got his first victory this year, while Vladislav Kovalev won the only decisive game of the Challengers and joined Maksim Chigaev at the top of the standings. Full report by ALEX YERMOLINKSY. | Photos: Alina l'Ami / Official site

1/23/2019 – Early leader Ian Nepomniachtchi defeated Vidit Gujrathi's Petroff Defence to join Magnus Carlsen and Vishy Anand at the top of the standings. Round nine also saw Vladimir Fedoseev bouncing back to 50% after tricking Teimour Radjabov in a rook endgame and Jorden van Foreest holding Anish Giri to a draw from a complex middlegame. In the Challengers, Maksim Chigaev is still the sole leader. Expert analysis by GMs DANIEL FERNANDEZ and DANIEL KING. | Pictured: Pia Sprong | Photos: Alina l'Ami / Official site

1/21/2019 – Magnus Carlsen and Vishy Anand defeated Richard Rapport and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov respectively to share the lead on 5½/8 at the Tata Steel Masters. Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Vladimir Fedoseev also won in Sunday's eighth round and received a boost of confidence before the second rest day. In the Challengers, Maksim Chigaev got his third straight win and is the sole leader. GM ADHIBAN BASKARAN sent expert analysis. | Photos: Alina l'Ami / Official site

1/20/2019 – On a day filled with remarkably fighting chess in Wijk aan Zee, Vishy Anand defeated his old rival and friend Vladimir Kramnik to join the leading pack on 4½/7 — the Indian now shares first place with Carlsen, Giri, Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren. Meanwhile, Teimour Radjabov and Sam Shankland grabbed their first wins this year. In the Challengers, Maksim Chigaev won and caught up with Vladislav Kovalev on 5/7. | Photos: Alina l'Ami / Official site

1/15/2019 – The drawing streak of Magnus Carlsen continues as the World Champion tied his fourth round match-up against Vladimir Kramnik at the Tata Steel Masters. Meanwhile, Anish Giri and Vidit won their games to join Vishy Anand and Ding Liren in the chasing pack half a point behind sole leader Ian Nepomniachtchi. In the Challengers, Vladislav Kovalev beat Lucas van Foreest to seize his spot in the leading group. The action of the day was analysed by GM DANNY KING. | Photos: Alina l'Ami / Official site

1/14/2019 – Ian Nepomniachtchi is now the sole leader at the 81st edition of the Tata Steel Masters after knocking down Vladimir Kramnik's Berlin wall in the third round of the competition. Ding Liren beat Jorden van Foreest with the black pieces and now shares second place with Vishy Anand. In the Challengers, Andrey Esipenko and Parham Maghsoodloo won in round three to join the pack of co-leaders on 2/3. Expert analysis by DANIEL FERNANDEZ and DANNY KING. | Photos: Alina l'Ami / Official site

1/14/2019 – It was a good day for the locals in the Tata Steel Masters, as both Dutch participants recovered from their first round losses — Anish Giri got a third win in a row against Vladimir Kramnik and Jorden van Foreest defeated Jan-Krzysztof Duda with the black pieces after surviving a complicated time scramble. In the Challengers, young Vincent Keymer joined the leaders thanks to a win over Stefan Kuipers. GM DANIEL KING provides expert analyses of all the action. | Photos: Alina l'Ami / Official site

1/12/2019 – The elite chess season of 2019 took off on Saturday with the first round of the Tata Steel Masters. Seven fighting games left Vishy Anand and Ian Nepomniachtchi as co-leaders, after the rest of the encounters finished drawn. The biggest escape of the day was achieved by Vladimir Kramnik, who could not be taken down by Teimour Radjabov. Meanwhile, in the Challengers, experience got the better of youth, as Anton Korobov and Evgeny Bareev defeated their much younger colleagues to join a four-player leading pack. Expert analysis by GM ADHIBAN BASKARAN and IM MERIJN VAN DELFT. | Photos: Alina l'Ami / Official site

1/11/2019 – The annual "Tata Steel Chess Tournament" starts on Saturday in the Dutch North Sea town of Wijk aan Zee. The "Masters" is super-strong this year: Of the 14 participants in the round-robin tournament, only the local hero GM Jorden van Foreest has an Elo rating below 2700; three players are over 2800 including World Champion Magnus Carlsen, the defending champion and six-time tournament winner. The average Elo of the tournament is 2753. The participants in the "Challengers" also has a mouthwatering field. Here you'll find all the details! | Photo: TataSteelChess.com

2/15/2018 – Solving endgame studies is a highly recommended method of making you a much more creative player by improving your endgame understanding, sharpening your tactical sense and calculative skills, equipping you with a whole arsenal of conventional as well as out of the box weapons. Yet first and foremost it is a great fun provided you face human and friendly challenges and keep your silicon monsters switched off for a change. | Pictured: The winner, GM Twan Burg (left) & IM P.Peelen | Photo: Harry Gielen

2/12/2018 – Our readers called it "devilish" and "insane" — the study shown to us by Hans Böhm during the Tata Steel Chess Tournament had people really straining their minds — and computers. Today we give you the solution and tell you who won the prize (a signed version of Fritz 16). But more importantly, we provide a full background of the study, published by Dutch composer Gijs van Breukelen, a number of years after it had been seen by friends — including the great Mikhail Tal.

2/5/2018 – The Tata Steel Tournament, often called the "Wimbledon of Chess", is held in a wind-swept Dutch coastal resort, Wijk aan Zee, in the middle of winter. It is very prestigious and attracts top players from around the world, as well as hundreds of amateurs, who play in subsidiary tournaments or simply come to watch the action in the top groups. We bring you impressions of this year's 80th anniversary event, and a wonderful chess study to solve. You can win a Fritz 16 signed by the winners!

1/12/2018 – Today, Friday, January 12, is the official start of the Tata Steel Chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee. Tomorrow, Saturday, January 13th at 13:30 CET, the first round begins. The tournament in Wijk aan Zee is the first elite tournament of the year and always a great celebration of chess. It is also a tournament with a long tradition – this year it celebrates its 80th birthday. The tournament has written chess history and continues to do so today, which makes it tempting to look at some numbers. | Photo: TataSteelChess.com