Chess Tournament 7
Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2020
If you do have an appetite for tough challenges, Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2020 is out there! It is counted as one of the most prestigious events in the international chess calendar and open to all chess players. The event called as the “Wimbledon of Chess” and this year it celebrates its 82nd anniversary.
Although Garry Kasparov dominated the tournament previously, I follow it closely since 2004, in which year Magnus Carlsen played first time there and attained the Grand Master title. So it is a kind of beginning of a fascinating chapter for me. And what makes this year more special is, that Magnus Carlsen will play his games by carrying triple crowns and more records to break in horizon. The tournament is scheduled between 10 – 26 January 2020 and it takes place annually in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands.
Tata Steel Chess consist of main event and amateur challenge. First one is called Tata Steel Masters, which brings 14 Grand Masters and 14 challenging Grand Masters together. Live broadcast is available and attendance to venue is possible. You can follow the tournament from the official website. Second event is also very attractive to chess players from all around the world. The atmosphere is great, opponents are strong and out-of-chess time is promising for family occasions. Unfortunately my last minute arrangements didn’t pay off, so I will keep my hopes to the next convenient tournament.
Ergun UNUTMAZ, 10.01.2020
An update on 22.01.2020
The Tournament goes on at its full speed with fantastic games. In the meanwhile the World Champion Magnus Carlsen has managed to surpass Sergei Tiviakov’s 110 unbeaten classical games record at the fourth round. After 7 draws at 7 games finally he found his tempo at the eight round. Carlsen first won against Vitiugov, Nikita and yesterday at ninth round against 16 years-old Firouzja, Alireza. His comment after the match summarises the situation:
“A lot of things have gone wrong for me in this tournament, but in the last two rounds a lot of things have gone very right. I hope, it continues in that way.”
And here is the match between Firouzja and Carlsen.
And another fascinating game took place in the fifth round between Fabiano Caruana and Jorden Van Foreest.
He is very right. First rule to success is a good preparation and second is improvisation. I think he did both of those in a satisfactory level and defended the position with a great discipline.
An update on 01.02.2020
The Wimbledon of Chess for the year 2020 is over. There has been fantastic games, blunders and inspiring strategic fights on the boards. I have given place a couple of them above, but you can follow the other games from the official site.
In the end Fabiano Caruana has won this title, for the first time on his career by winning 7 and drawing 6 out of 13 parties. He reached the first place with 10 points and with a 2 points difference over Carlsen. Congratulations!
In the meanwhile the World Champion Magnus Carlsen keeps on improving his unbeaten classical games record. Maybe he is not at his top form or he is trying new things, which leads him to problematic situations in the middle game. But somehow he finds a way out of it. Already on a question about his performance he replied with the following words:
“What’s not to like. I am saving bad positions everyday.”
I also would like to congratulate Jordan Van Foreest (2.667) for his performance. Today, FIDE has revealed the February listings and he is on top of the biggest gains list, with a 23 points improvement.
And here are the lists, standings and results of the Tata Steel Chess for masters.
For further reading on the FIDE February Ratings List please click on the link.