Tata Steel chess: Carlsen, India’s Olympiad stars to descend in Kolkata

Come November, and the attention of chess fans in the country will turn towards Kolkata, where members of India’s double gold medallist teams from the Chess Olympiad — along with world no. 1 Magnus Carlsen — will be in the fray for the sixth Tata Steel Chess India. The marquee event will be held from 13-17 November at the newly built Dhono Dhanyo auditorium.

This will be the five-time Norwegian world champion’s second appearance in the Tata event, which he won on his previous visit in 2019. Now heading the FIDE live ratings with a phenomenal 2831 points, the 33-year-old’s presence will certainly raise the profile of the tournament.

However, the event is also the first time that virtually all members of India’s golden squads in Budapest will be in action in the country barring Gukesh D., who will be busy with the World Championship match in Singapore. The Open event will feature Arjun Erigaisi, R. Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi, while the women’s field will see Vaishali R., GM Harika Dronavalli, Vantika Agrawal and teenage sensation Divya Deshmukh.

Koneru Humpy, the first Indian woman to become a grandmaster, will skip the Olympiad for personal reasons but will be back in the fray for this event.   

Viswanathan Anand, a former five-time world champion himself and ambassador of the event, said: “This year brings the best of the world headed by (Magnus) Carlsen. I am particularly excited that the women’s event will have the best of Indian Chess. This year has been a celebration of Indian chess and this event will be a fitting tribute.”  Like earlier editions, the tournament will have both Open and women category with the same format – rapid and blitz & will have equal prize money for both categories. 

Chanakya Chaudhary, vice-president, corporate services, Tata Steel, said in a statement: “We are excited to host the sixth edition of Tata Steel Chess India, which marks the return of World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen. Members of the Indian men and women’'s squads, following their gold medal wins at the Chess Olympiad 2024, will also join the tournament alongside top global players. We strive to raise the bar of the event, encouraged by the enthusiastic response we have received year after year.”

Following are the fields in Open and women’s categories:

Open: Magnus Carlsen, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Wesley So, Vincent Keymer, Daniil Dubov, Nihal Sarin, S.L. Narayanan, Arjun Erigaisi, R. Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi.

Women: Aleksandra Goryachkina, Kateryna Lagno, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Nana Dzagnidze, Valentina Gunina, Koneru Humpy, Vaishali R., Harika Dronavalli, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal.