Tata Steel 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, 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.^[2]^[3]

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".^[4]^[5] 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, Vladimir Kramnik, Garry Kasparov, Viswanathan Anand, Veselin Topalov, and Magnus Carlsen. 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. Anand is the only other player to have won the event five or more times, with five wins. Anand also holds the record of most consecutive games played at the tournament without a loss (70 – from 1998 to 2004). R Praggnanandhaa is the defending champion after defeating Gukesh Dommaraju in the tiebreaks in 2025.

Tournament history

Hoogovens Beverwijk

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, until 1943, when it was expanded to six players, and in 1944 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 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.^[6]

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.^[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.^[7]

Winners of the top group:^[8]

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

Hoogovens Wijk aan Zee

The tournament was moved to the Dutch seaside town Wijk aan Zee in 1968.^[1] In this period, the tournament began to be popularly called "Wijk aan Zee". Winners of the Grandmaster A group since 1968 have been:^[8]

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

Corus tournament

From 2000, the formal name for the tournament was changed to the "Corus Chess Tournament".^[1] The winners of the A-group were:^[8]

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

Tata Steel tournament

From 2011, the formal name changed to the 'Tata Steel Chess Tournament'.^[1] The winners of the Masters section were:^[8]

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

Multiple winners

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.^[5] 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.^[b]^[9]

Winners^[c]
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

Notes

^ ^a ^b Edition was held as a Single-elimination tournament^[1]
^ The format and number of games is decided by the number of tied players
^ Shared titles are bolded.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Frey, Eduard (13 January 2023). "Ten Trivia about the Tata Steel Tournament series, the Wimbledon of Chess". ChessBase. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
^ "Masters & Challengers". Tata Steel Chess. 18 January 2025. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
^ Ahmed, Shahid (2 February 2025). "Gukesh or Praggnanandhaa - Who will win 87th Tata Steel Masters?". ChessBase India. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
^ Barden, Leonard (12 January 2018). "Magnus Carlsen aims for strong showing at 'Wimbledon of chess' event". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
^ ^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.
^ Golombek 1977, p. 143.
^ Damsky & Sugden 2005, p. 164.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "All-time Tournaments – Tata Steel Chess". Tata Steel Chess. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
^ "Format". Tata Steel Chess. Retrieved 22 February 2025.

Bibliography

Damsky, Yakov; Sugden, John (25 August 2005). The Batsford Book of Chess Records. Batsford Books. ISBN 0-7134-8946-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
Golombek, Harry (1977). Golombek's Encyclopedia of Chess. Crown Publishers. ISBN 0-517-53146-1.

External links

Official website

[KO-9] Edition was held as a Single-elimination tournament^[1]

[10] The format and number of games is decided by the number of tied players

[12] Shared titles are bolded.

[History-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Frey, Eduard (13 January 2023). "Ten Trivia about the Tata Steel Tournament series, the Wimbledon of Chess". ChessBase. Retrieved 22 February 2025.

[2] "Masters & Challengers". Tata Steel Chess. 18 January 2025. Retrieved 22 February 2025.

[3] Ahmed, Shahid (2 February 2025). "Gukesh or Praggnanandhaa - Who will win 87th Tata Steel Masters?". ChessBase India. Retrieved 22 February 2025.

[4] Barden, Leonard (12 January 2018). "Magnus Carlsen aims for strong showing at 'Wimbledon of chess' event". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 February 2025.

[Tie2018-5] "Magnus Carlsen wins Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2018". FIDE. 29 January 2018. Archived from the original on 28 January 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2018.

[FOOTNOTEGolombek1977143-6] Golombek 1977, p. 143.

[FOOTNOTEDamskySugden2005164-7] Damsky & Sugden 2005, p. 164.

[Winners-8] "All-time Tournaments – Tata Steel Chess". Tata Steel Chess. Retrieved 22 February 2025.

[11] "Format". Tata Steel Chess. Retrieved 22 February 2025.

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v t e 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 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

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)
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