Wijk aan Zee Starts Tomorrow (Saturday)!
That is, it starts in just a few hours - later today for many of you, early tomorrow for the rest of us. The annual tournament at Wijk aan Zee (the Tata Steel Chess Tournament) is one of the great events on the yearly chess calendar, not least because it opens the new year for chess fans everywhere.
There's an open tournament, but the main attraction (except to those who are playing in the open event, of course) is the pair of invitational round-robins, especially the A-group. The pairings for that group are, and here they are:
- Radjabov - van Wely
- Ivanchuk - Jobava
- Vachier-Lagrave - Hou Yifan
- Ding Liren - Caruana
- Saric - Aronian
- Giri - Carlsen
- So - Wojtaszek
The B- or Challengers Group isn't as loaded, but it's quite strong in its own right as well. Here are its pairings:
- Shankland - Wei Yi
- Dale - Haast
- Navara - L'Ami
- Timman - Klein
- van Kampen - Sevian
- Michiels - Gunina
- Salem - Potkin
It will be interesting to see a new battle of the "Cars", and like a good American I'll be rooting for three of the five S's. (The ones which aren't followed by an "a"; not that I'm rooting against them or anyone else in the event.) I'm also especially curious to see how Wei Yi fares, as he has been widely seen as one of the world's biggest talents. Still one more story line: if Hou Yifan can gain more than two points in the tournament, she will pass Judit Polgar on the rating list.
The action begins at 1:30 p.m. local time in Wijk aan Zee (which is also CET), 7:30 a.m. ET.
Predictions? Alternative story lines?
Reader Comments (4)
For many amateurs (including some that I know personally), the main reason to play the open - often the only one they play for the entire year - might be playing at the same venue a few meters away from the world top. BTW it isn't one big Swiss, but lots of 4- or 10-player round robins at different levels, with the chance to promote to a higher or relegate to a lower group (I have clubmates in groups 3 and 9, and friends in various other groups). The winner of the top amateur group qualifies for the B group, that's how 16-year old Australian IM Ari Dale reached the/this stage.
Prediction: favorites to win the A group are Carlsen, Caruana and Aronian. Carlsen and Aronian scored "50%" at earlier events, winning every second one they played in, Caruana still has to add Wijk aan Zee to his collection.
[DM: You're predicting a three-way tie? Obviously they're favorites, but c'mon, pick one winner!]
One of many other story lines: The B group is diverse in many aspects: Age ranging from 14 (Sevian) to 63 (Timman), big Elo differences (it's rather a BC-group, but the C group was discontinued last year), geography despite having five Dutch players. Four continents are involved, including exotic chess countries as Australia, United Arab Emirates (Salem's coach is Dutchie Ivan Sokolov) and Belgium - I follow the event for many years, not sure if it ever had a Belgian in the A-, B- or formerly C-group.
All for now, off to see the action in Wijk aan Zee, braving the elements (wind force 8) to get there and back in the evening.
[DM: Maybe it gusted that hard, but it seems a bit calmer now. And at least you're reaching the mid-40s, F; I've been "enjoying" a range from -10 to +10 F, not counting wind chills. Brr!]
Curious observation: Not a single player from Russia in the A-group
[DM: A good observation! I wonder if there's any non-coincidental reason for that.]
One story is that Giri and So are in the world top 10 in the live ratings. That seems to have happened quickly… I can’t see Carlsen not winning this though.
[DM: Seems like a fact more than a story, though if they win one might invent a storyline about the middle-aged Carlsen facing increasing challenges from the young whippersnappers.]
......and just a week or two after this tournament is over, Carlsen, Anand, and several others will be playing in another super-tournament !
By the way, the New York Times yesterday (Friday) had a good article on Samuel Sevian.