World champion Magnus Carlsen will once again be a contestant when the Tata Steel Chess Tournament begins in January 2021. It is the first over the board tournament that Carlsen has participated in since he turned 30. And it is only the second international classical chess tournament to be held since the outbreak of COVID-19.
The Norwegian world champion is perfectly at ease in Wijk aan Zee. He will participate for the seventeenth time in January. Aside from Carlsen, four other top 10 players will participate: Fabiano Caruana (this year’s winner and world number two), Ian Nepomniachtchi (4), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (5) and Shakhryar Mamedyarov (8).
Of course, the best Dutch chess player, Anish Giri (11), will also participate. Iranian super talent Alireza Firouzja (18) will also participate in the “Wimbledon of Chess”.
The 2021 Tata Steel Chess Tournament will be held in De Moriaan in Wijk aan Zee from January 15 to January 31, 2021.
Whether or not viewers will be able to visit De Moriaan will depend on the COVID-19 measures in place at that time. All games can be followed live online.
Pentala Harikrishna will replace Shakhryar Mamedyarov at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament. Mamedyarov has informed the tournament organisation that he is unable to attend the 83rd edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in January. Harikrishna (34) is number 22 on the world ranking, with a rating of 2732. The last time Harikrishna participated in the Tata Steel Chess Tournament was in 2017, finishing 9th.
Tournament director Jeroen van den Berg: “Harikrishna is a solid chess player. I am very happy that he will participate in our tournament. Pentala has repeatedly shown that he can take on the world’s very best chess players. His highest ranking on the world list was 10th place. I expect him to be a strong competitor in Wijk aan Zee
Participants Tata Steel Masters 2021:
Magnus Carlsen Norway 2862 1
Fabiano Caruana U.S.A.. 2823 2
Ian Nepomniachtchi Russia 2784 4
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave France 2784 5
Shakhryar Mamedyarov Azerbaijan 2770 8
Anish Giri Netherlands 2764 11
Alireza Firouzja Iran 2749 18
Jan-Krzysztof Duda Poland 2743 19
Daniil Dubov Russia 2702 37
Andrey Esipenko Russia 2686 49
David Anton Guijarro Spain 2675 60
Jorden van Foreest Netherlands 2671 66
Nodirbek Abdusattorov Uzbekistan 2627 152
Aryan Tari Norway 2618 184