World champion Carlsen and challenger Karjakin at Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2017
World champion Magnus Carlsen will participate in the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2017, the tournament organisation announced today. And not only Carlsen, but also his challenger Sergey Karjakin will participate.
On 11 November Carlsen and Karjakin will start their world title match in New York. Regardless who comes out on top, the world champion will be present in Wijk aan Zee in January. Carlsen won the Tata Steel Chess Tournament for the 5th time last January. Karjakin won in 2009. They will meet grandmasters like Anish Giri, Levon Aronian, Wesley So and 17-year-old Chinese prodigy Wei Yi. The 79th edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament takes place in Wijk aan Zee from 13 – 29 January 2017. As part of Tata Steel Chess On Tour the Tata Steel Masters will play their 5th round in Feyenoord Stadium De Kuip in Rotterdam on 19 January and their 10th round in De Philharmonie in Haarlem on 25 January.
Chess as linking pin
Theo Henrar, chairman of the board of directors of Tata Steel Nederland : “Tata Steel strives to unite people from different backgrounds through chess. In doing so, we particularly direct our efforts towards young people, fully in line with our community policy. In cooperation with the municipalities of Beverwijk, Rotterdam and Haarlem we will involve many young people in the Tata Steel Chess Tournament once again and will help set up community initiatives centering around the sport of chess”.
First encounter after title match
Jeroen van den Berg, director of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament: “I am very pleased with the strong field of participants of the Tata Steel Masters in 2017 and the participation of world champion Carlsen and his challenger Karjakin. At our tournament they will face off for the first time after the title match. And that is special, because it frequently happens that grandmasters opt for a break after a title match.” The field of participants of the Tata Steel Masters has an average rating of 2752 and has four players from the world’s top 10. The twelve grandmasters who have been announced so far represent nine countries. The 13th player will be announced in November and the 14th a month later, when it is known which player has the highest ranking of the players in the ACP Competition with a rating under 2750 on 1 December. The participants of the Tata Steel Challengers will be announced in November.
Magnus Carlsen will participate in the Tata Steel Chess Tournament for the 13th time. He made his debut in the C group in 2004. Carlsen is expected to face the fiercest competition form Karjakin, Aronian and So. Especially the American has had a great chess year, in which he excelled at the Olympiad in Baku (won by the USA), shortly after winning his first elite tournament in St. Louis. After a year’s absence Levon Aronian will return. The Armenian with the sunny disposition has won the Tata Steel Chess Tournament four times and could catch up with record winners Carlsen and Anand if he emerges victorious. Anish Giri will also be at the focus of attention. He became father of a son in October and went on to achieve a great result at the Tal Memorial in Moscow. All this after a period of disappointing results, which forced him out of the top 10. Giri will do his utmost to win his first tournament in front of a home crowd. Dangerous outsiders are youthful players Wei Yi (17) and Rapport (20). Their aggressive style has surprised many an opponent. Ian Nepomniachtchi is in good shape and has just won the prestigious Tal Memorial Tournament in Moscow. Indian Adhiban will debut in the Tata Steel Masters, having won the Tata Steel Challengers in 2016.