Carlsen vs So Kicks Off Tata Steel Chess

The 79th Tata Steel Chess Tournament will have a dream start and finish. Magnus Carlsen's first opponent will be Wesley So, who had such a great second half of 2016. In the last round the world champion will play the opponent of his last world title match, Sergey Karjakin.

These pairings were the result of the drawing of lots, which were part of the opening ceremony today at the headquarters of Tata Steel in Velsen-Noord—about a 10-minute drive from Wijk aan Zee. The location was traditional, and so was the first speech by Theo Henrar, Tata Steel's chairman of directors.

The mayor of Wijk aan Zee spoke as well, Carlsen distributed prizes to the winners of a school tournament, a choir sang two songs from the musical "Chess," and there was a street football artist before the actual drawing of lots started—the most important part for the players.

For this year the setup was changed. Normally the players would be asked on stage by order of rating, starting with the lowest-rated player. However, the organizers felt that this was a bit unfair to Carlsen, who was always the last to "choose" his lot number.

This time the players were randomly asked on stage by means of a preliminary drawing of lots. It would have been funny if Carlsen would have ended up last anyway, and it was close. He chose a high number and therefore he's playing one extra game with the black pieces.

The players all received a Feijenoord shirt with their lot number.

Special attention was given to Loek van Wely, who will be playing the top group in Wijk aan Zee for the 25th time. He was given flowers, and commented: "Every year I think it's gonna be my year, but usually after two rounds I am on minus-two and busted!" Van Wely then picked shirt number 13, on Friday the 13th. Garry Kasparov would have been very satisfied.

Baskaran Adhiban, who promoted from the challengers last year, was asked how he will cope with "the monsters" of the masters. He duly replied: "I'll have to be a monster too."

To the question what are his ambitions, Richard Rapport replied: "I want to end up in the top 14."

Wesley So is always good for charming the organizers of an event. Asked about the secret behind his recent successes, he said: "My secret is to play at the Tata Steel chess tournament every January."

Levon Aronian, who was first on stage, had set the tone: "Wijk aan Zee is the chess city where the soul of our game lives."

The final, and perhaps wisest quote came from Pavel Eljanov. He said he had prepared seriously, because "the most dangerous opponent is myself."

The pairings for the first round are Harikrishna-Aronian, Adhiban-Van Wely, Eljanov-Rapport, Karjakin-Giri, So- Carlsen, Wojtaszek-Nepomniachtchi, and Andreikin-Wei Y.

Interestingly, the tournament has added a very welcome novelty this year. In case of a tie after 13 rounds, there will be a playoff to decide upon the winner.

The 79th edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament takes place in Wijk aan Zee, The Netherlands January 13-29. On Thursday, January, 19 the masters will play their games at the Feijenoord football stadium in Rotterdam, and on Wednesday, January 25 their venue is The Philharmonie in Haarlem.

Note that Chess.com will be producing the live broadcast with GM Yasser Seirawan, which will be available on the tournament website and on Chess.com/TV. And look for daily reports here of each round, including photos, games, and quotes from the day's action.

Schedule & Pairings Masters