Tata Steel Chess Tournament

Annual chess tournament held in the Netherlands

This article is about the annual chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee. For the chess tournament in Kolkata, see Tata Steel India Chess Tournament.

Playing hall of the 80th Tata Steel Tournament, 2018

The Tata Steel Chess Tournament is an annual chess tournament held in January in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands. It was called the Hoogovens Tournament from its creation in 1938 until the sponsor Koninklijke Hoogovens merged with British Steel to form the Corus Group in 1999, after which the tournament was called the Corus Chess Tournament. Corus Group became Tata Steel Europe in 2007. Despite the name changes, the series is numbered sequentially from its Hoogovens beginnings; for example, the 2011 event was referred to as the 73rd Tata Steel Chess Tournament.[1][2]

Top grandmasters compete in the tournament, but regular club players are welcome to play as well. The Masters group pits fourteen of the world's best against each other in a round-robin tournament, and has sometimes been described as the "Wimbledon of Chess".[3][4] Since 1938, there has been a long list of famous winners, including Max Euwe, Bent Larsen, Tigran Petrosian, Paul Keres, Lajos Portisch, Boris Spassky, Mikhail Botvinnik, Mikhail Tal, Viktor Korchnoi, Jan Timman, Anatoly Karpov, Vasyl Ivanchuk, Vladimir Kramnik, Garry Kasparov, Viswanathan Anand, Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian, Sergey Karjakin, and Magnus Carlsen. Of the ten World Chess Champions since the first tournament in 1938, only four – Alexander Alekhine, Vasily Smyslov, Bobby Fischer, and Ding Liren – have not won it. In 2001, nine of the top ten players in the world participated.

Magnus Carlsen holds the record for most wins at the tournament, with eight titles to his name. Anand is the only other player to have won the event five or more times. Anand also holds the record of most consecutive games played at the tournament without a loss (70 – from 1998 to 2004).

## Tournament history

[edit]

### Hoogovens Beverwijk

[edit]

The early tournaments were very small, starting with groups of four in 1938, and entry restricted to Dutch players. The first five tournaments continued this way, with the contest held annually early in January. In 1943 and 1944 the tournament field was doubled in size to eight players. No tournament was held in 1945 due to World War II. The first international tournament was held in 1946. The main tournament field was expanded to ten, with invitations to Alberic O'Kelly de Galway (Belgium) and Gösta Stoltz (Sweden) along with a Dutch contingent of eight.

The tournament field remained at ten until 1953 when it was increased to twelve, and an international women's tournament was also held. In 1954 the tournament field was returned to ten players, but the strength of the competitions increased. The field was greatly enlarged to 18 in 1963, and although it reduced to 16 in 1964, the event had become the strongest international chess tournament in the world (Golombek 1977, p. 143).

As the tournament grew in stature, the ancillary women's tournament became a regular feature, as did a 'Masters' event and 'Masters Reserves' events. There also began a tradition to operate a year on year invitation policy that resembled the system used in football 'league tables'; the winner of a lesser category event would receive an invitation to the next higher event the following year.

The 1946 tournament was one of the first European international chess tournaments after World War II. Food shortages were still a problem in Europe, so the post-tournament banquet featured pea soup, inexpensive fare of the common people. In subsequent years pea soup has been served as the first course of the concluding banquet, a tradition continued when the tournament was moved from Beverwijk to Wijk aan Zee (Damsky & Sugden 2005, p. 164).

Tigran Petrosian, Hoogovens 1960 Jan Hein Donner vs. Bruno Parma, Hoogovens 1963

Winners of the top group:[5]

# | Year | Winner(s)

|
|

1 | 1938 |  Jilling Van Dijk (Netherlands)

* * *

Philip Bakker (Netherlands)
2 | 1939 |  Nicolaas Cortlever (Netherlands)
3 | 1940 |  Max Euwe (Netherlands)
4 | 1941 |  Arthur Wijnans (Netherlands)
5 | 1942 |  Max Euwe (Netherlands)
6 | 1943 |  Arnold van den Hoek (Netherlands)
7 | 1944 |  Theo van Scheltinga (Netherlands)
– | 1945 | No competition (due to World War II)
8 | 1946 |  Alberic O'Kelly de Galway (Belgium)
9 | 1947 |  Theo van Scheltinga (Netherlands)
10 | 1948 |  Lodewijk Prins (Netherlands)
11 | 1949 |  Savielly Tartakower (France)
12 | 1950 |  Jan Hein Donner (Netherlands)
13 | 1951 |  Hermann Pilnik (Argentina)
14 | 1952 |  Max Euwe (Netherlands)
15 | 1953 |  Nicolas Rossolimo (France)
16 | 1954 |  Hans Bouwmeester (Netherlands)

* * *

Vasja Pirc (Yugoslavia)
17 | 1955 |  Borislav Milić (Yugoslavia)
18 | 1956 |  Gideon Ståhlberg (Sweden)
19 | 1957 |  Aleksandar Matanović (Yugoslavia)
20 | 1958 |  Max Euwe (Netherlands)

* * *

Jan Hein Donner (Netherlands)
21 | 1959 |  Friðrik Ólafsson (Iceland)
22 | 1960 |  Bent Larsen (Denmark)

* * *

Tigran Petrosian (Soviet Union)
23 | 1961 |  Bent Larsen (Denmark)

* * *

Borislav Ivkov (Yugoslavia)
24 | 1962 |  Petar Trifunović (Yugoslavia)
25 | 1963 |  Jan Hein Donner (Netherlands)
26 | 1964 |  Paul Keres (Soviet Union)

* * *

Iivo Nei (Soviet Union)
27 | 1965 |  Lajos Portisch (Hungary)

* * *

Efim Geller (Soviet Union)
28 | 1966 |  Lev Polugaevsky (Soviet Union)
29 | 1967 |  Boris Spassky (Soviet Union)

### Hoogovens Wijk aan Zee

[edit]

Mark Taimanov, Hoogovens 1970 Mikhail Tal, Hoogovens 1973 Nigel Short, Hoogovens 1986

The tournament was moved to the Dutch seaside town Wijk aan Zee in 1968. In this period, the tournament was popularly called both "Hoogovens" and "Wijk aan Zee". Winners of the Grandmaster A group since 1968 have been:

# | Year | Winner(s)

|
|

30 | 1968 |  Viktor Korchnoi (Soviet Union)
31 | 1969 |  Mikhail Botvinnik (Soviet Union)

* * *

Efim Geller (Soviet Union)
32 | 1970 |  Mark Taimanov (Soviet Union)
33 | 1971 |  Viktor Korchnoi (Soviet Union)
34 | 1972 |  Lajos Portisch (Hungary)
35 | 1973 |  Mikhail Tal (Soviet Union)
36 | 1974 |  Walter Browne (United States)
37 | 1975 |  Lajos Portisch (Hungary)
38 | 1976 |  Ljubomir Ljubojević (Yugoslavia)

* * *

Friðrik Ólafsson (Iceland)
39 | 1977 |  Gennadi Sosonko (Netherlands)

* * *

Efim Geller (Soviet Union)
40 | 1978 |  Lajos Portisch (Hungary)
41 | 1979 |  Lev Polugaevsky (Soviet Union)
42 | 1980 |  Walter Browne (United States)

* * *

Yasser Seirawan (United States)
43 | 1981 |  Gennadi Sosonko (Netherlands)

* * *

Jan Timman (Netherlands)
44 | 1982 |  John Nunn (United Kingdom)

* * *

Yuri Balashov (Soviet Union)
45 | 1983 |  Ulf Andersson (Sweden)
46 | 1984 |  Alexander Beliavsky (Soviet Union)

* * *

Viktor Korchnoi (Switzerland)
47 | 1985 |  Jan Timman (Netherlands)
48 | 1986 |  Nigel Short (United Kingdom)
49 | 1987 |  Nigel Short (United Kingdom)

* * *

Viktor Korchnoi (Switzerland)
50 | 1988 |  Anatoly Karpov (Soviet Union)
51 | 1989 |  Viswanathan Anand (India)

* * *

Predrag Nikolić (Yugoslavia)

* * *

Zoltán Ribli (Hungary)

* * *

Gyula Sax (Hungary)
52 | 1990 |  John Nunn (United Kingdom)
53 | 1991 |  John Nunn (United Kingdom)
54 | 1992 |  Valery Salov (Russia)

* * *

Boris Gelfand (Belarus)
55 | 1993 |  Anatoly Karpov (Russia)
56 | 1994 |  Predrag Nikolić (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
57 | 1995 |  Alexey Dreev (Russia)
58 | 1996 |  Vasyl Ivanchuk (Ukraine)
59 | 1997 |  Valery Salov (Russia)
60 | 1998 |  Viswanathan Anand (India)

* * *

Vladimir Kramnik (Russia)
61 | 1999 |  Garry Kasparov (Russia)

### Corus tournament

[edit]

From 2000, the popular name for the tournament was more or less equally shared between "Wijk aan Zee" and "Corus".

# | Year | Winner(s)

|
|

62 | 2000 |  Garry Kasparov (Russia)
63 | 2001 |  Garry Kasparov (Russia)
64 | 2002 |  Evgeny Bareev (Russia)
65 | 2003 |  Viswanathan Anand (India)
66 | 2004 |  Viswanathan Anand (India)
67 | 2005 |  Peter Leko (Hungary)
68 | 2006 |  Viswanathan Anand (India)

* * *

Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria)
69 | 2007 |  Levon Aronian (Armenia)

* * *

Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria)

* * *

Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan)
70 | 2008 |  Levon Aronian (Armenia)

* * *

Magnus Carlsen (Norway)
71 | 2009 |  Sergey Karjakin (Russia)
72 | 2010 |  Magnus Carlsen (Norway)

### Tata Steel tournament

[edit]

Magnus Carlsen, Tata Steel 2013

From 2011, the popular name for the tournament was changed from 'Corus' to 'Tata Steel'.

# | Year | Winner(s)

|
|

73 | 2011 |  Hikaru Nakamura (United States)
74 | 2012 |  Levon Aronian (Armenia)
75 | 2013 |  Magnus Carlsen (Norway)
76 | 2014 |  Levon Aronian (Armenia)
77 | 2015 |  Magnus Carlsen (Norway)
78 | 2016 |  Magnus Carlsen (Norway)
79 | 2017 |  Wesley So (United States)
80 | 2018 |  Magnus Carlsen (Norway)
81 | 2019 |  Magnus Carlsen (Norway)
82 | 2020 |  Fabiano Caruana (United States)
83 | 2021 |  Jorden van Foreest (Netherlands)
84 | 2022 |  Magnus Carlsen (Norway)
85 | 2023 |  Anish Giri (Netherlands)
86 | 2024 |  Wei Yi (China)

## Multiple winners

[edit]

Until recently, players ending on the same score shared the title.

The first tie-break was held in 2018, with Magnus Carlsen defeating Anish Giri 1½–½. The two players sharing first place after the regular games play two Blitz games and then possibly also an Armageddon game to decide a sole winner.[6]

Winners  Player  | Wins  | Tournaments Won

|
|

Magnus Carlsen | 8 (1 shared)  | 2008, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2022
Viswanathan Anand | 5 (3 shared)  | 1989, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2006
Max Euwe | 4 (1 shared)  | 1940, 1942, 1952, 1958
Levon Aronian | 4 (2 shared)  | 2007, 2008, 2012, 2014
Viktor Korchnoi | 4 (2 shared)  | 1968, 1971, 1984, 1987
Lajos Portisch | 4 (1 shared)  | 1965, 1972, 1975, 1978
Jan Hein Donner | 3 (1 shared)  | 1950, 1958, 1963
Efim Geller | 3 (3 shared)  | 1965, 1969, 1977
Garry Kasparov | 3  | 1999, 2000, 2001
John Nunn | 3 (1 shared)  | 1982, 1990, 1991
Walter Browne | 2 (1 shared)  | 1974, 1980
Anatoly Karpov | 2  | 1988, 1993
Bent Larsen | 2 (2 shared)  | 1960, 1961
Predrag Nikolić | 2 (1 shared)  | 1989, 1994
Friðrik Ólafsson | 2 (1 shared)  | 1959, 1976
Lev Polugaevsky | 2  | 1966, 1979
Valery Salov | 2 (1 shared)  | 1992, 1997
Gennadi Sosonko | 2 (2 shared)  | 1977, 1981
Nigel Short | 2 (1 shared)  | 1986, 1987
Jan Timman | 2 (1 shared)  | 1981, 1985
Veselin Topalov | 2 (2 shared)  | 2006, 2007
Theo van Scheltinga | 2  | 1944, 1947

## Summary by year

[edit]

### 2010s

[edit]

#### 2010

[edit]

Main article: Corus Chess Tournament 2010

Magnus Carlsen finished first with a score of 8½/13, winning his second title.

#### 2011

[edit]

Main article: Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2011

Hikaru Nakamura finished first with a score of 9/13, winning his first title and his first super-tournament.

#### 2012

[edit]

Main article: Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2012

Levon Aronian finished first with a score of 9/13, winning the title for a third time.

#### 2013

[edit]

Main article: Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2013

Magnus Carlsen finished first with a score of 10/13, winning the title for a third time and matching Garry Kasparov's record score for the event, set in 1999.

#### 2014

[edit]

Main article: Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2014

Levon Aronian finished first with a score of 8/13, winning the title for a fourth time.

#### 2015

[edit]

Main article: Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2015

Magnus Carlsen finished first with a score of 9/13, winning the title for a fourth time.

#### 2016

[edit]

Main article: Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2016

Magnus Carlsen finished first with a score of 9/13, winning the title for a record-equalling fifth time.

#### 2017

[edit]

Main article: Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2017

Wesley So defeated defending champion Magnus Carlsen by one point, with a score of 9/13.

#### 2018

[edit]

Main article: Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2018

Magnus Carlsen won for a record sixth time, defeating Anish Giri on tiebreak after both finished with a score of 9/13.

#### 2019

[edit]

Main article: Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2019

Magnus Carlsen was the winner of this tournament, with a score of 9/13.

### 2020s

[edit]

#### 2020

[edit]

Main article: Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2020

Fabiano Caruana was the winner of this tournament, with a score of 10/13.

#### 2021

[edit]

Main article: Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021

Jorden van Foreest was the winner of this tournament, with a score of 8½/13. He defeated Anish Giri in an Armageddon playoff.

#### 2022

[edit]

Main article: Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022

Magnus Carlsen was the winner of this tournament, with a score of 9½/13.

#### 2023

[edit]

Main article: Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2023

Anish Giri won the 85th edition Tata Steel Chess 2023 finishing the tournament with 8½ out of 13 points. He defeated the world's top two ranked players (Magnus Carlsen and Ding Liren) in the process.

#### 2024

[edit]

Main article: Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2024

Wei Yi was the winner of this tournament, with a score of 8½/13. He was tied with Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Gukesh D, and Anish Giri, but won against Abdusattorov and then Gukesh (who had defeated Giri) in the blitz single-elimination tiebreak.

## See also

[edit]

* List of strong chess tournaments

## References

[edit]

Notes

1. ^ "Anand leads at Tata Steel Chess". IndiaVoice. 25 January 2011. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
2. ^ "Participants Tata Tournament announced". ChessVibes. 21 October 2010. Archived from the original on 24 October 2010.
3. ^ Barden, Leonard (12 January 2018). "Magnus Carlsen aims for strong showing at 'Wimbledon of chess' event". The Guardian.
4. ^ "Magnus Carlsen wins Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2018". FIDE. 29 January 2018. Archived from the original on 28 January 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2018. "the Tata Steel Chess, often called as "Wimbledon of Chess", celebrated its 80th anniversary"
5. ^ "All-time Tournaments – Tata Steel Chess".
6. ^ "Tournament – Tata Steel Chess Tournament".

Bibliography

* Damsky, Yakov; Sugden, John (2005), The Batsford Book of Chess Records, Batsford, p. 164, ISBN 0-7134-8946-4
* Golombek, Harry (1977), "Hoogoven Chess Tournament", Golombek's Encyclopedia of Chess, Batsford, p. 143, ISBN 0-517-53146-1

* Kings, Queens & Rookies. The Tata Steel Chess Tournament. A Celebration of 85 Years.. Ed.: Peter Boel & Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam. Alkmaar, New in Ches, 2023. ISBN 9789493257771

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tata Steel chess tournament.

* Official website

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Tata Steel Chess Tournament

Hoogovens Beverwijk|

* 1938
* 1939
* 1940
* 1941
* 1942
* 1943
* 1944
* 1946
* 1947
* 1948
* 1949
* 1950
* 1951
* 1952
* 1953
* 1954
* 1955
* 1956
* 1957
* 1958
* 1959
* 1960
* 1961
* 1962
* 1963
* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967

Hoogovens Wijk aan Zee|

* 1968
* 1969
* 1970
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999

Corus|

* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010

Tata Steel|

* 2011
* 2012
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* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
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Grand Slam Chess Association

* Tata Steel Wijk aan Zee
* Linares
* M-Tel Masters Sofia
* Pearl Spring Nanjing
* Grand Slam Masters Final

* v
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* e

Major recurring international chess tournaments

* Strong chess tournaments
* Mini chess tournaments
* Round-robin chess tournaments

Major present
(average rating > 2700;
round-robin system generally)|

* Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting (since 1973)
* Grand Chess Tour (since 2015)
* Grenke Chess Classic (since 2013)
* London Chess Classic (since 2009)
* Norway Chess (since 2013)
* Shamkir Chess (since 2014)
* Shenzhen Masters (since 2017)
* Sinquefield Cup (since 2013)
* Tata Steel Chess Tournament (since 1938)
* UzChess Cup (since 2024)

Other present
(Swiss system generally)|

* Aeroflot Open (since 2002)
* Australasian Masters (since 1987)
* Biel Chess Festival (since 1968)
* Canadian Open (since 1956)
* Capablanca Memorial (since 1962)
* Cappelle-la-Grande Open (since 1985)
* Carlos Torre Repetto Memorial (since 1987)
* Chigorin Memorial (since 1909)
* Doeberl Cup (since 1963)
* Dubai Open (since 1999)
* Gibraltar Chess Festival (since 2003)
* Hastings International Chess Congress (since 1920)
* Hogeschool Zeeland Tournament (since 1995)
* Lublin Grandmaster Tournament (since 2009)
* Paul Keres Memorials (Tallinn, since 1969) (Vancouver, since 1975)
* Prague Chess Festival (since 2019)
* Qatar Masters Open (2014–2015, since 2023)
* Reykjavik Open (since 1964)
* Riga Technical University Open (since 2011)
* Rilton Cup (since 1971)
* Rubinstein Memorial (since 1963)
* South African Open (since 1962)
* U.S. Open (since 1900)
* TePe Sigeman & Co chess tournament (since 1993)
* Vidmar Memorial (since 1969)
* World Open (since 1973)
* Xtracon Chess Open (since 1979)
* Zurich Christmas Open (since 1977)

Recently cancelled
(after 2000)|

* Alekhine Memorial (1956–2013, irregular)
* Acropolis (1968–2009)
* Aerosvit (2006–2008)
* Amber (1992–2011)
* Bilbao Chess Masters Final (2008–2016)
* Howard Staunton Memorial (2003–2009)
* Linares (1978–2010)
* Mar del Plata (1928–2001)
* Millionaire Chess (2014–2016)
* M-Tel Masters (2005–2009)
* North Sea Cup (1976–2008)
* Pearl Spring (2008–2010)
* Reggio Emilia (1947–2012)
* Tal Memorial (2006–2018)
* Zurich Chess Challenge (2012–2017)

Major past
(19th–20th century)|

* American Chess Congress (1857–1923)
* Carl Schlechter Memorial (1923–1996)
* DSB Congress (1879–1932)
* General Government (1940–1944)
* IBM international (1961–1981)
* Konex (1977–1994)
* Leopold Trebitsch Memorial (1907–1938)
* Lone Pine International (1971–1981)
* Max Euwe Memorial (1987–1996)
* Monte Carlo (1901–1904; 1967–1969)
* Netanya (1961–1983)
* Palma de Mallorca (1965–1972)
* Phillips & Drew Kings (1980–1986)
* Piatigorsky Cup (1963–1966)
* San Sebastián (1911–1912)
* Silesian Chess Congress (1922–1939)
* Tilburg (1977–1998)
* Triberg (1914–1917)

* Chess competitions
* National championships
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*[Netherlands]: Netherlands
*[Belgium]: Belgium
*[France]: France
*[Argentina]: Argentina
*[Yugoslavia]: Yugoslavia
*[Sweden]: Sweden
*[Iceland]: Iceland
*[Denmark]: Denmark
*[Soviet Union]: Soviet Union
*[Hungary]: Hungary
*[United States]: United States
*[United Kingdom]: United Kingdom
*[Switzerland]: Switzerland
*[India]: India
*[Russia]: Russia
*[Belarus]: Belarus
*[Bosnia and Herzegovina]: Bosnia and Herzegovina
*[Ukraine]: Ukraine
*[Bulgaria]: Bulgaria
*[Armenia]: Armenia
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*[Norway]: Norway
*[China]: China
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