Carlsen Tops 'Strongest-Ever Field' At Tata Steel Chess 2023

GM Magnus Carlsen once again tops the field for the upcoming 2023 Tata Steel Chess Tournament. The 85th edition of the annual super-tournament in Wijk aan Zee will have five players from the world's top-10 and also five of the world's biggest talents.

Traditionally, the Tata Steel Chess Tournament announces the field for the Masters group about two months in advance. This time, it's exceptionally strong. 

The tournament will have the world number-one Carlsen (coming to Wijk aan Zee for the 19th time) as well as the world number-two GM Ding Liren, and three more top-10 players: GMs Fabiano Caruana, Anish Giri, and Wesley So. Furthermore, two other grandmasters from the world's top-20 will be present: GMs Richard Rapport and Levon Aronian. GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda. withdrew shortly before the tournament and has been replaced by GM Parham Maghsoodloo. Of course, 2021 winner GM Jorden van Foreest is also back.

Besides this group of already well-established grandmasters, we have five of the strongest newcomers, rising stars, prodigies, or however you want to call them, all born in the 21st century: GMs Gukesh D., Arjun Erigaisi, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Vincent Keymer, and Praggnanandhaa R.

2023 Tata Steel Chess Masters Participants

No fewer than five of the 14 participants have won the Tata Steel Chess Tournament before: Carlsen (the record holder with eight victories in 2008, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2022), Aronian (2007, 2008, 2012, and 2014), Caruana (2020), So (2017), and Van Foreest (2021).

"We'll be seeing great games," said tournament director Jeroen van den Berg. "And I’m not just talking about the matches between the world’s best players; I am really looking forward to how the young top talents, such as 16-year-old Gukesh or 18-year-old Abdusattorov, will compete with the seasoned players."

"This is the strongest field I have ever seen in Wijk aan Zee, an extremely impressive line-up," said Giri "I hear the same enthusiasm from other participants. It's great to compete together for the coveted title in January. Everyone wants to win this tournament at least once and I think that all participants will be able to do that in the upcoming edition."

Update: on December 5, 2022 the participants of the Challengers group were announced as well.

2023 Tata Steel Chess Challengers Participants

After two years of absence due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the hundreds of amateurs are expected to play again, alongside the top GMs and spectators, during this 85th jubilee edition. The tournament will take place January 13-29, 2023 in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands.

This report was updated on January 7, and January 12, 2023 to reflect the replacement of Duda by Maghsoodloo in the Masters, the replacement of Salem by Ivic in the Challengers, and to update the ratings of the players to those of the January 2023 FIDE list.