Tata Steel Chess 2014

It's that time of the year again when the most active and prestigious chess players gather in the Netherlands in a port town, Wijk aan Zee, to attend the former Corus Chess Tournament, now called Tata Steel Chess Tournament.  Browse the participant list and choose your favorite Grandmaster to follow.  My favorites include:  Levon Aronian (Armenia, 2812), Hikaru Nakamura (United States, 2789), and Anish Giri (Netherlands, 2734) in the Master Section.  In the Challengers section, Anna Muzychuk (Slovenia, 2566) and Ivan Saric (Croatia, 2637) are my picks.

The time control is:  100 min./40 moves, 50 min./20 moves, 15 min./30 sec. inc. for each move.

The tournament began on Saturday, January 11 (the day of the Mountain Home Open) and will continue until January 26.  Though 3 rounds have already been played, there is plenty of time to follow the games and the progress of the tournament.  The games begin at 1 pm (Holland Time) meaning that locals (Mountain Time) need to rise at 5 am to view the live games.

Master's Results:
Levon Aronian (2.0/3)
Hikaru Nakamura (2.0/3)
Anish Giri (2.0/3)

Challenger Results:
Anna Muzychuk (2.0/3)
Ivan Sarik (2.0/3)
* Current Leader:  Benjamin Bok (2.5/3)


My three picks from the Master's Section each scored at least one win.

Masters Schedule:

Round 1 - Saturday the 11th Dominguez, L. - Giri, A. ½-½ Van Wely, L. - Karjakin, S. 0-1 Harikrishna, P. - Aronian, L. ½-½ Caruana, F. - Gelfand, B. 1-0 Rapport, R. - So, W. 0-1 Nakamura, H. - Naiditsch, A. 1-0	Round 2 - Sunday the 12th Giri, A. - Naiditsch, A. 1-0 So, W. - Nakamura, H. ½-½ Gelfand, B. - Rapport, R. 0-1 Aronian, L. - Caruana, F. 1-0 Karjakin, S. - Harikrishna, P. ½-½ Dominguez, L. - Van Wely, L. ½-½
Round 3 - Monday the 13th Van Wely, L. - Giri, A. ½-½ Harikrishna, P. - Dominguez, L. 1-0 Caruana, F. - Karjakin, S. 1-0 Rapport, R. - Aronian, L. ½-½ Nakamura, H. - Gelfand, B. ½-½ Naiditsch, A. - So, W. ½-½	Round 4 - Wednesday the 15th Giri, A. - So, W. Gelfand, B. - Naiditsch, A. Aronian, L. - Nakamura, H. Karjakin, S. - Rapport, R. Dominguez, L. - Caruana, F. Van Wely, L. - Harikrishna, P.
Round 5 - Friday the 17th Harikrishna, P. - Giri, A. Caruana, F. - Van Wely, L. Rapport, R. - Dominguez, L. Nakamura, H. - Karjakin, S. Naiditsch, A. - Aronian, L. So, W. - Gelfand, B.	Round 6 - Saturday the 18th Giri, A. - Gelfand, B. Aronian, L. - So, W. Karjakin, S. - Naiditsch, A. Dominguez, L. - Nakamura, H. Van Wely, L. - Rapport, R. Harikrishna, P. - Caruana, F.
Round 7 - Sunday the 19th Caruana, F. - Giri, A. Rapport, R. - Harikrishna, P. Nakamura, H. - Van Wely, L. Naiditsch, A. - Dominguez, L. So, W. - Karjakin, S. Gelfand, B. - Aronian, L.	Round 8 - Tuesday the 21st Giri, A. - Aronian, L. Karjakin, S. - Gelfand, B. Dominguez, L. - So, W. Van Wely, L. - Naiditsch, A. Harikrishna, P. - Nakamura, H. Caruana, F. - Rapport, R.
Round 9 - Thursday the 23rd Rapport, R. - Giri, A. Nakamura, H. - Caruana, F. Naiditsch, A. - Harikrishna, P. So, W. - Van Wely, L. Gelfand, B. - Dominguez, L. Aronian, L. - Karjakin, S.	Round 10 - Saturday the 25th Giri, A. - Karjakin, S. Dominguez, L. - Aronian, L. Van Wely, L. - Gelfand, B. Harikrishna, P. - So, W. Caruana, F. - Naiditsch, A. Rapport, R. - Nakamura, H.
Round 11 - Sunday the 26th Nakamura, H. - Giri, A. Naiditsch, A. - Rapport, R. So, W. - Caruana, F. Gelfand, B. - Harikrishna, P. Aronian, L. - Van Wely, L. Karjakin, S. - Dominguez, L.