Magnus Carlsen will return to action after the World Championship match when he plays in Wijk aan Zee for an 18th time on the 14-30 January 2022. Magnus will be looking to win an 8th Tata Steel Masters title, but will face tough competition from world no. 2 Fabiano Caruana and local hero Anish Giri. 13 of the 14 players have been announced, with 16-year-old Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour winner Praggnanandhaa given his debut in the top event, while another teenager, 19-year-old Andrey Esipenko, gets the chance to build on his brilliant debut in 2021.
The 84th edition of the super-tournament in Wijk aan Zee is hoping to put the pandemic behind it with the return of the Challengers, amateur events and even spectators, though current restrictions will keep the numbers below pre-COVID levels. Tournament Direct Jeroen van den Berg commented: I am delighted that we will be able to organise amateur tournaments again and will be receiving visitors as well. The mix of amateurs and grandmasters all playing their games in the hall in De Moriaan is unique in the world and creates a very special atmosphere. I am certain that chess aficionados all over the world will rejoice at this news.
Most attention, however, will once again focus on the main event, the Tata Steel Masters, with Anish Giri present at a press conference on Tuesday where 13 of the 14 players were announced.
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The next big chess events on the horizon are the European Championship, that starts tomorrow with Vladislav Artemiev the top seed, and the US Championship, that begins on Wednesday with Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Hikaru Nakamura and defending champion Sam Shankland this year joined by Leinier Dominguez, who, after switching chess federation, is about to play his first official classical games in three years!
