2013 Tata Steel Lineup Announced

The organisers of the annual Tata Steel chess festival in Wijk Aan Zee have today announced the confirmed line-ups for the A and B Groups at the 75th edition to be held from 11-27 January 2013.

Despite the difficult economic environment, the A Group once again has an excellent mix of players and promises to be a great tournament.

World #1 Magnus Carlsen will be in Wijk for the 10th year in succession, and last year's winner world #2 Lev Aronian will be defending his title.

Red hot star Fabiano Caruana is next in ranking order, followed by world champion Vishy Anand. The 2011 winner Hikaru Nakamura will be flying the flag for the USA, while four local players will hope to make a good impression on the tournament, headed by Anish Giri.

2009 winner Sergey Karjakin will be in the mix again, while Pentala Harikrishna qualifies as last year's B Group winner.

Perhaps most eye-catching of all is the inclusion of women's world champion Hou Yifan in what will be her first Grand Slam tournament with the world's elite (male) players.

The A Group

The B Group is an interesting mix of youth and experience. The three top finishers from this year's Junior World Championship, Alexander Ipatov, Richard Rapport and Nils Grandelius will be playing, as will 16-year old Russian star Daniil Dubov. 

The more experienced members of the B Group will include former winners Predrag Nikolic and Jan Timman.  The C Group line-up will be announced nearer to the event.

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The B Group

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Who will you be cheering for in 2013 in Wijk Aan Zee?