The Tata Steel Masters in Wijk aan Zee, The Netherlands is one of the most prestigious over-the-board tournaments in all chess. Held annually in January, the 2022 tournament will run from January 14 to 30.
The 2021 tournament was won by Dutch GM Jorden van Foreest, the tournament’s first Dutch winner since GM Jan Timman in 1985.
In most years, several tournaments are held simultaneously, although 2021 is an exception. Historically, the winner of the second level tournament (formerly Group B, now known as the Challengers) advances to the following year’s first division, the Masters (formerly Group A).
Broadcast
You can watch the show live on Chess.com/TV or on our Tic and Youtube canals. Our commentators will include GM Daniel Naroditsky, GM Robert hess, and WIM Fiona Steil-Antoni.
Program
The 2022 Tata Steel Masters tournament takes place from January 14 to 30, 2022. The lowest rated Challengers tournament returns in 2022 after a hiatus in 2021. In addition to the Masters and Challengers tournaments, there are no events on site for 2022.
Site
The tournament takes place every year in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands, a small seaside resort on the North Sea.
Format
The tournament is a single round robin tournament. Everyone is played once for a total of 13 turns.
In each game, players have 100 minutes for the first 40 moves, 50 minutes for the next 20 and 15 minutes for the remainder of the game. There is a 30 second increment throughout.
Any tie for first place is broken by two blitzes followed, if necessary, by Armageddon.
Players
The field is 14 players. At least one Dutch player participates each year and GM Anish Giri was the first player to be confirmed for 2022. 12 additional players were announced on October 26, 2021, with general manager Vidit Gujrathi completing the pitch on November 23. In most years the winner of the previous Challengers tournament also plays in the Masters, but there was no Challengers tournament in 2021..
the full field is below (score and ranking of the official FIDE list of December 2021).
| # | fed | Last name | Evaluation | World ranking |
| 1 | Magnus carlsen | 2856 | 1 | |
| 2 | Fabiano Caruana | 2792 | 4 | |
| 3 | Anish Giri | 2772 | seven | |
| 4 | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | 2767 | 9 | |
| 5 | Richard Report | 2763 | 11 | |
| 6 | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 2760 | 13 | |
| seven | Sergei Karzakin | 2743 | 18 | |
| 8 | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | 2727 | 22 | |
| 9 | Daniel Dubov | 2720 | 24 | |
| ten | Andrei Esipenko | 2714 | 26 | |
| 11 | Sam shankland | 2708 | 29 | |
| 12 | Jorden van Forest | 2702 | 34 | |
| 13 | Nils grandelius | 2672 | 66 | |
| 14 | Praggnanandhaa R. | 2612 | 198 |
The Challengers field is available here.
Prize fund
The prize fund is not accessible to the public.
Regulations
Regulations can be found here.
Story
The tournament was first played in 1938 as a Dutch local tournament. It has taken place every year since, except in 1945, when it became a major international event. Originally played in Beverwijk, he moved to Wijk aan Zee in 1968. The sponsor also moved, from Hoogovens in 1938, to Corus in 1999, and finally, to Tata Steel from 2011.
From 1938 to 2021, GM Magnus Carlsen (7) and GM Viswanathan Anand (5) have the most tournament wins. Four players are tied just below them with four wins: general managers Levon Aronian, Max Euwe, Viktor Korchnoi and Lajos Portisch.
Every tournament champion since it became known as Tata Steel in 2011 is below. The full list can be found on the Tata Steel Chess website.
| Year | fed | Champion |
| 2021 | Managing Director Jorden van Forest | |
| 2020 | Managing Director Fabiano Caruana | |
| 2019 | Managing Director Magnus Carlsen | |
| 2018 | Managing Director Magnus Carlsen | |
| 2017 | GM Wesley So | |
| 2016 | Managing Director Magnus Carlsen | |
| 2015 | Managing Director Magnus Carlsen | |
| 2014 | GM Levon Aronian | |
| 2013 | Managing Director Magnus Carlsen | |
| 2012 | GM Levon Aronian | |
| 2011 | Managing Director Hikaru Nakamura |
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