Always wondered what chess player's consider the holy grail, the penultimate tournament behind the world championships... in other words the toughest tournament in the world in terms of payout, player ratings, competition level, and amount of publicity.

Linares and Wijik an Zee.

Linares/Corus(Wijk an zee) are both pretty prestigious. Though Linares has been called the Wimbledon of chess, I feel like Corus is just as special in it's own right with the rich history. Another likely candidate is the top section of the Aeroflot Open that requires a minimum elo of 2550 to enter.