Wijk aan Zee Starts Tomorrow
Here's the general info, and then we'll get to some specifics. The annual super-tournament in Wijk aan Zee, sponsored this year by Tata Steel, commences tomorrow. There are in fact three concurrent round-robins, an A-group, a B-group, and - surprise! - a C-group. The first is incredibly strong, the second merely extremely strong, while the third isn't bad but rounds out the entertainment, serves as a qualifier (as does the second: the winner of the B- and C-groups get promoted a section for the next year's event), serves as a GM-norm tournament for some Dutch players and often showcases promising young talents.
All three groups have 14 players and thus 13 rounds, with play starting on the 15th and running through the 30th, with rest days on the 19th, 24th and 27th. The rounds start at 1:30 p.m. CET/7:30 a.m. ET, except for the last round, which starts 90 minutes earlier.
The B- and C-groups are interesting, but it's the A-group that puts the tournament on the map every year. Here are the players in the A-group:
1. Magnus Carlsen 2814
2. Viswanathan Anand 2810
3. Levon Aronian 2805
4. Vladimir Kramnik 2784
5. Alexander Grischuk 2773
6. Hikaru Nakamura 2751
7. Ruslan Ponomariov 2744
8. Ian Nepomniachtchi 2733
9. Wang Hao 2731
10. Alexei Shirov 2722
11. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2715
12. Anish Giri 2686
13. Jan Smeets 2662
14. Erwin L'Ami 2624
Strong enough for you? The three Dutch players at the bottom bring the average rating down a little (though I wouldn't be surprised if Giri raises the average in a couple of years), but even with them the average is a ridiculous 2740. The world's top four are playing, and better still there isn't a dull player in the lot.
Who do you think will win? One potential complicating factor for Aronian and Kramnik fans is that they're in the Candidates, which starts May 3, and may be starting their opening disinformation campaigns. Still, that's a ways off, so it's not clear how much they'll keep hidden at this point.
Reader Comments (13)
I will put my money on Grischuk. On a not completely unrelated note, why is it that Grischuk has not gotten farther? Too much time playing poker?
[DM: I vote for this: because there are other great players too.]
Is this the first tournament with three players currently rated (FIDE, not live) over 2800?
I will (still) put Aronian and Kramnik in shared first: Aronian because he's always doing well in Wijk aan Zee, Kramnik because it might be his turn - he last won in 1998 (shared with Anand).
By the way, "below" the invitational groups A-C there are still amateur groups 1-9, with hundreds of players participating (there is e.g. group 2A, B, C, D, E, F and G). The highest level - which also serves as a qualifier for next year's GM C group - has Elo 2000-2450, the lowest one has national Elo <1400. The most prominent participant may be IM Arianne Caoili in group 2. Just mentioning this because it's probably not widely known (abroad) ... .
[DM: WIM, not IM. There's a huge difference.]
This could be Nepomniatchi's big entry into the elite. Finishing in the top 5. Why isn't the former defending champ Karjakin playing ?!
[DM: I was surprised too, but perhaps they only want so many Russians, and decided on a little variety. Or maybe Karjakin hoped to be playing in a Candidates event around this time, and thought he should keep his schedule open just in case. I don't know.]
Go Carlsen.
Nakamura will win of course.
I would plump for Carlsen- he has the clear psychological motive of wanting to prove himself stronger than those playing along with FIDE in the Candidates.
Mind you, I haven't yet read Nakamura's opinion of his own chances on Twitter- now that's the REAL guide to current form we should all be following...
Dennis Arianne does have two IMs and a GM norm though :) so WIM true... but IM strength? maybe?
[DM: Real IM and GM norms, or the W-version?]
Alright. Time to take my money off Grischuk. Got whipped like a baby :-) As usual, I want Naka to do well, but I have to say that I really dislike his off the board behavior. Still, he is the only US guy out there.
My picks
1) Carlsen
2) Aronian
3) Anand and Nepomniachtchi
With Grischuk and Nakamura in contention for third.
One should also follow the B Group as last year it produced some very exciting chess. With four 2700+ players the quality should be very high as well.
[DM: C'mon, no postdictions!]
I predict Smeets will run away with the tournanment. +5 at least.
[DM: Normally I don't like postdictions, but anyone picking Smeets deserves a little slack. I'm going to assume most of his opponents won't be as accommodating as Shirov was today.]
Give me a week and a half and I will say who will win the tournament.
[DM: Don't be so sure! It came down to the very last round last year.]
Hi Dennis I did make my predictions before knowing the results of the first round. But of course knowing how the first round of a 13 round tournament turned out does give one a big advantage in predicting the outcome. ;^)