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.[1] 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 was taken over by the Tata Group and became Tata Steel Europe in 2007,[2] with the tournament changing its name in 2011 to its current name. It has also been referred to as "Wijk aan Zee" since the venue change from the town of Beverwijk to the town of Wijk aan Zee in 1968. Despite the name changes, the series is numbered sequentially from its Hoogovens beginnings; for example, the 2025 event was referred to as the 87th Tata Steel Chess Tournament.[3][4]

Top grandmasters compete in the tournament, but regular club players are welcome to play as well in the lower groups.[1] 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".[5][6] Since 1938, there has been a long list of very strong winners; of the fifteen undisputed World Chess Champions since the first tournament in 1938, only five – Alexander Alekhine, Vasily Smyslov, Bobby Fischer, Ding Liren and Gukesh Dommaraju – have not won it. In 2001, nine of the top ten players in the world participated.[1]

Magnus Carlsen holds the record for most wins at the tournament, with eight titles to his name. Viswanathan Anand is the only other player to have won the event five or more times, with five wins. R Praggnanandhaa is the defending champion after defeating Gukesh in the tiebreaks in 2025.

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 to clinch the title.[6] As of the 2025 edition, if two or more players lead with the same score at the end of the round-robin, they all take part in the tiebreaks to determine the sole winner. The time control of the tiebreaks is blitz, and then sudden death.[a][7]

## 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 four tournaments continued this way, until 1942, when it was expanded to six players, and in 1943 to eight players. No tournament was held in 1945 due to World War II. The first international tournament was held in 1946, with the field expanded to ten, and invitations to Alberic O'Kelly de Galway (Belgium) and Gösta Stoltz (Sweden) along with a Dutch contingent of eight.[1]

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.[8]

> Normal people have to see Naples before they die…, but a chess grandmaster has to win the Wijk aan Zee tournament first of all.

Commonly attributed to Bent Larsen, winner of the 1960 and 1961 editions[1]

The tournament field was increased to twelve in 1953, 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.[9]

As the tournament grew in stature, the tournament began to offer lower groups such as a B-group (sometimes called "Challengers" in contrast to group-A or "Masters"), and occasionally a C-group. There also began a tradition to operate a year on year policy of inviting the winner of the B-group to the A-group.[1][10]

GM Jan Hein Donner, 3 time winner vs former World Chess Champion (WCC) Max Euwe, 4 time winner, pictured at Hoogovens 1958 Future WCC Tigran Petrosian, pictured at Hoogovens 1960, which he went on to win GM Paul Keres, pictured at Hoogovens 1964, which he went on to win

Winners of the top group:[10]

Winners 1938-1967 #  | Year  | Winner(s)  | Country  | Score  | %

|
|
|
|
|

1  | 1938  | Jilling Van Dijk |  Netherlands  | 2½/3  | 83.3
Philip Bakker |  Netherlands
2  | 1939  | Nicolaas Cortlever |  Netherlands  | 3/3  | 100.0
3  | 1940  | Max Euwe |  Netherlands  | 3/3  | 100.0
4  | 1941  | Arthur Wijnans |  Netherlands  | 2½/3  | 83.3
5  | 1942  | Max Euwe |  Netherlands  | 4½/5  | 90.0
6  | 1943  | Arnold van den Hoek |  Netherlands  | 5½/7  | 78.6
7  | 1944  | Theo van Scheltinga |  Netherlands  | 5/7  | 71.4
–  | 1945  | No competition[b] |  |  |
8  | 1946  | Alberic O'Kelly de Galway |  Belgium  | 7/9  | 77.8
9  | 1947  | Theo van Scheltinga |  Netherlands  | 7½/9  | 83.3
10  | 1948  | Lodewijk Prins |  Netherlands  | 6½/9  | 72.2
11  | 1949  | Savielly Tartakower |  France  | 6½/9  | 72.2
12  | 1950  | Jan Hein Donner |  Netherlands  | 7/9  | 77.8
13  | 1951  | Hermann Pilnik |  Argentina  | 6½/9  | 72.2
14  | 1952  | Max Euwe |  Netherlands  | 7½/9  | 83.3
15  | 1953  | Nicolas Rossolimo |  France  | 9/11  | 81.8
16  | 1954  | Hans Bouwmeester |  Netherlands  | 6/9  | 66.7
Vasja Pirc |  SFR Yugoslavia
17  | 1955  | Borislav Milić |  SFR Yugoslavia  | 6½/9  | 72.2
18  | 1956  | Gideon Ståhlberg |  Sweden  | 6½/9  | 72.2
19  | 1957  | Aleksandar Matanović |  SFR Yugoslavia  | 6½/9  | 72.2
20  | 1958  | Max Euwe |  Netherlands  | 5½/9  | 61.1
Jan Hein Donner |  Netherlands
21  | 1959  | Friðrik Ólafsson |  Iceland  | 7½/9  | 83.3
22  | 1960  | Bent Larsen |  Denmark  | 6½/9  | 72.2
Tigran Petrosian |  Soviet Union
23  | 1961  | Bent Larsen |  Denmark  | 7½/9  | 83.3
Borislav Ivkov |  SFR Yugoslavia
24  | 1962  | Petar Trifunović |  SFR Yugoslavia  | 6/9  | 66.7
25  | 1963  | Jan Hein Donner |  Netherlands  | 12/17  | 70.6
26  | 1964  | Paul Keres |  Soviet Union  | 11½/15  | 76.6
Iivo Nei |  Soviet Union
27  | 1965  | Lajos Portisch |  Hungary  | 10½/15  | 70.0
Efim Geller |  Soviet Union
28  | 1966  | Lev Polugaevsky |  Soviet Union  | 11½/15  | 76.6
29  | 1967  | Boris Spassky |  Soviet Union  | 11/15  | 73.3

### Hoogovens Wijk aan Zee

[edit]

Forker WCC Mikhail Tal, pictured at Hoogovens 1973, which he went on to win Former WCC Anatoly Karpov, a 2 time winner vs GM Paul van der Sterren, pictured at Hoogovens 1988; Karpov went on to win GM Jan Timman, a 2 time winner vs WCC Garry Kasparov, a 3 time winner, pictured at Hoogovens 1999; Kasparov went on to win

The tournament was moved to the Dutch seaside town Wijk aan Zee in 1968.[11] Starting from 1982, the tournament mostly settled to its present number of 14 players.

The winners of the top group were:[10]

Winners 1968-1999 #  | Year  | Winner(s)  | Country  | Score  | %

|
|
|
|
|

30  | 1968  | Viktor Korchnoi |  Soviet Union  | 12/15  | 80.0
31  | 1969  | Mikhail Botvinnik |  Soviet Union  | 10½/15  | 70.0
Efim Geller |  Soviet Union
32  | 1970  | Mark Taimanov |  Soviet Union  | 12/15  | 80.0
33  | 1971  | Viktor Korchnoi |  Soviet Union  | 10/15  | 66.7
34  | 1972  | Lajos Portisch |  Hungary  | 10½/15  | 70.0
35  | 1973  | Mikhail Tal |  Soviet Union  | 10½/15  | 70.0
36  | 1974  | Walter Browne |  United States  | 11/15  | 73.3
37  | 1975  | Lajos Portisch |  Hungary  | 10½/15  | 70.0
38  | 1976  | Ljubomir Ljubojević |  SFR Yugoslavia  | 7½/11  | 77.8
Friðrik Ólafsson |  Iceland
39  | 1977  | Gennadi Sosonko |  Netherlands  | 8/11  | 72.7
Efim Geller |  Soviet Union
40  | 1978  | Lajos Portisch |  Hungary  | 8/11  | 72.7
41  | 1979  | Lev Polugaevsky |  Soviet Union  | 7½/11  | 68.2
42  | 1980  | Walter Browne |  United States  | 10/13  | 76.9
Yasser Seirawan |  United States
43  | 1981  | Gennadi Sosonko |  Netherlands  | 8/12  | 66.7
Jan Timman |  Netherlands
44  | 1982  | John Nunn |  United Kingdom  | 8½/13  | 65.4
Yuri Balashov |  Soviet Union
45  | 1983 | Ulf Andersson |  Sweden  | 9/13  | 69.2
46  | 1984 | Alexander Beliavsky |  Soviet Union  | 10/13  | 76.9
Viktor Korchnoi |  Switzerland
47  | 1985 | Jan Timman |  Netherlands  | 9/13  | 69.2
48  | 1986 | Nigel Short |  United Kingdom  | 9½/13  | 73.1
49  | 1987 | Nigel Short |  United Kingdom  | 9½/13  | 73.1
Viktor Korchnoi |  Switzerland
50  | 1988 | Anatoly Karpov |  Soviet Union  | 9/13  | 69.2
51  | 1989 | Viswanathan Anand |  India  | 7½/13  | 57.7
Gyula Sax |  Hungary
Zoltán Ribli |  Hungary
Predrag Nikolić |  SFR Yugoslavia
52  | 1990 | John Nunn |  United Kingdom  | 8/13  | 61.5
53  | 1991 | John Nunn |  United Kingdom  | 8½/13  | 65.4
54  | 1992 | Valery Salov |  Russia  | 8½/13  | 65.4
Boris Gelfand |  Belarus
55  | 1993 | Anatoly Karpov |  Russia  | 2½/4[c] |
56  | 1994 | Predrag Nikolić |  Bosnia and Herzegovina  | 7/9  | 77.8
57  | 1995 | Alexey Dreev |  Russia  | 2½/4[c] |
58  | 1996 | Vasyl Ivanchuk |  Ukraine  | 9/13  | 69.2
59  | 1997 | Valery Salov |  Russia  | 8½/13  | 65.4
60  | 1998 | Viswanathan Anand |  India  | 8½/13  | 65.4
Vladimir Kramnik |  Russia
61  | 1999 | Garry Kasparov |  Russia  | 10/13  | 76.9

### Corus tournament

[edit]

GM Judit Polgar vs future WCC and 5 time winner Viswanathan Anand, pictured at Mainz Chess Classic 2003; they came 2nd and 1st in that year's edition–the highest position by a woman in the tournament WCC Viswanathan Anand, pictured at Corus 2010

From 2000, the formal name for the tournament was changed to the "Corus Chess Tournament".[11] The winners of the A-group were:[10]

Winners 2000-2010 #  | Year  | Winner(s)  | Country  | Score  | %

|
|
|
|
|

62  | 2000 | Garry Kasparov |  Russia  | 9½/13  | 73.1
63  | 2001 | Garry Kasparov |  Russia  | 9/13  | 69.2
64  | 2002 | Evgeny Bareev |  Russia  | 9/13  | 69.2
65  | 2003 | Viswanathan Anand |  India  | 8½/13  | 65.4
66  | 2004 | Viswanathan Anand |  India  | 8½/13  | 65.4
67  | 2005 | Peter Leko | Hungary  | 8½/13  | 65.4
68  | 2006 | Viswanathan Anand |  India  | 9/13  | 69.2
Veselin Topalov |  Bulgaria
69  | 2007 | Levon Aronian |  Armenia  | 8½/13  | 65.4
Teimour Radjabov |  Azerbaijan
Veselin Topalov |  Bulgaria
70  | 2008 | Levon Aronian |  Armenia  | 8/13  | 61.5
Magnus Carlsen |  Norway
71  | 2009 | Sergey Karjakin | Russia  | 8/13  | 61.5
72  | 2010 | Magnus Carlsen |  Norway  | 8½/13  | 65.4

### Tata Steel tournament

[edit]

WCC and 8 time winner Magnus Carlsen, pictured at Tata Steel 2013, which he went on to win WCC Magnus Carlsen , pictured at Tata Steel 2018, which he went on to win A group photo of the 14 GMs competing in the Masters section of Tata Steel Chess 2025, including WCC D Gukesh (sitting center) and eventual winner R Praggnanandhaa (sitting, 2nd from right)

From 2011, the formal name changed to the 'Tata Steel Chess Tournament'.[11] The winners of the Masters section were:[10]

Winners 2011-present #  | Year  | Winner  | Country  | Score  | %

|
|
|
|
|

73  | 2011 | Hikaru Nakamura |  United States  | 9/13  | 69.2
74  | 2012 | Levon Aronian |  Armenia  | 9/13  | 69.2
75  | 2013 | Magnus Carlsen |  Norway  | 10/13  | 76.9
76  | 2014 | Levon Aronian |  Armenia  | 8/11  | 72.7
77  | 2015 | Magnus Carlsen |  Norway  | 9/13  | 69.2
78  | 2016 | Magnus Carlsen |  Norway  | 9/13  | 69.2
79  | 2017 | Wesley So |  United States  | 9/13  | 69.2
80  | 2018 | Magnus Carlsen |  Norway  | 9/13  | 69.2
81  | 2019 | Magnus Carlsen |  Norway  | 9/13  | 69.2
82  | 2020 | Fabiano Caruana |  United States  | 10/13  | 76.9
83  | 2021 | Jorden van Foreest |  Netherlands  | 8½/13  | 65.4
84  | 2022 | Magnus Carlsen |  Norway  | 9½/13  | 73.1
85  | 2023 | Anish Giri |  Netherlands  | 8½/13  | 65.4
86  | 2024 | Wei Yi |  China  | 8½/13  | 65.4
87  | 2025 | R Praggnanandhaa |  India  | 8½/13  | 65.4

## Multiple winners

[edit]

The following players have won the tournament more than once; years where they shared the title are bolded.

Multiple winners Player  | Country  | Wins  | Tournaments Won

|
|
|

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

## See also

[edit]

* List of strong chess tournaments

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ The format and number of games is decided by the number of tied players.
2. ^ Due to World War II.[1]
3. ^ a b Edition was held as a single-elimination tournament[1]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Frey, Eduard (13 January 2023). "Ten Trivia about the Tata Steel Tournament series, the Wimbledon of Chess". ChessBase. Archived from the original on 15 January 2025. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
2. ^ "India media upbeat on Tata's win". BBC News. 1 February 2007. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
3. ^ "Masters & Challengers". Tata Steel Chess. 18 January 2025. Archived from the original on 18 January 2025. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
4. ^ Ahmed, Shahid (2 February 2025). "Gukesh or Praggnanandhaa - Who will win 87th Tata Steel Masters?". ChessBase. Archived from the original on 11 February 2025. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
5. ^ Barden, Leonard (12 January 2018). "Magnus Carlsen aims for strong showing at 'Wimbledon of chess' event". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 1 December 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
6. ^ a b "Magnus Carlsen wins Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2018". FIDE. 29 January 2018. Archived from the original on 28 January 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
7. ^ "Format". Tata Steel Chess. Archived from the original on 7 February 2025. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
8. ^ Damsky, Yakov; Sugden, John (25 August 2005). The Batsford Book of Chess Records. Batsford Books. p. 164\. ISBN 0-7134-8946-4.
9. ^ Golombek, Harry (1977). Golombek's Encyclopedia of Chess. Crown Publishers. p. 143\. ISBN 0-517-53146-1.
10. ^ a b c d e "All-time Tournaments – Tata Steel Chess". Tata Steel Chess. Archived from the original on 18 January 2025. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
11. ^ a b c Green, Nathaniel (26 August 2024). "Tata Steel Chess: A Photo Retrospective". Chess.com. Archived from the original on 5 September 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2025.

## 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
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Hoogovens Wijk aan Zee|

* 1968
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Corus|

* 2000
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Tata Steel|

* 2011
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* v
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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
* t
* 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)

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
* Supranational championships

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