Exciting and very strong Tata Steel

Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2012 is the strongest ever
Eight women in groups B and C, Jan Timman in B group
Source: TWIC

October 2011 official Tata Steel Press Release. Translated using goole and then tidied up by Mark Crowther. Read the original Dutch version.

The participants of the 74th Chess Tournament Tata Steel is the strongest of its – long and rich – history. It features 10 of the top 15 chess players in the world. With an average rating of 2752 it exceeds the Tata Steel Chess Tournament, anniversary edition of 2008, in terms of rating, when the average was 2740. It is also the first time in the history that a tournament with 14 participants with such a strong positions in the rating list. There is a rookie in the A-Group, Vugar Gashimov from Azerbaijan, the current number-10 in the world.

Interesting names are also those of Veselin Topalov (who hasn’t played much following his defeat in the world championship match against World Champion Anand in 2010) and Boris Gelfand, the next challenger for Anand.

The defending Tata Steel Chess champion Hikaru Nakamura from America, returns. The Dutch contribution to the A-group of the tournament is the 17-year-old Anish Giri and the talented Loek van Wely and A-Group regular who returns after a years sabbatical.

Included in the Grandmaster groups B and C of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament are the names of eight participating women. Among them, the reigning European champion Viktorija Cmilyte, who leads the B group. The other two female participants in this group are Kateryna Lahno (fifth in the world) and the young Dronavalli Harika (20) from India. Reigning European champion Vladimir Potkin makes his debut in Wijk aan Zee in this group. The organizing committee is pleased that former winner Jan Timman’s invitation to play in the B group, has been accepted.

The grandmaster group C features the debuts of Dutch youth players Lisa Schut (17) and Anne Haast (18). There are 3 other women in this group, the Armenian grandmaster Elina Danielian (living in Groningen), German and Indian players Elisabeth Paehtz and Tania Sachdev.

Also two-time national junior champion Lars Ootes (20) is among the participants, and Daan Brandenburg, who earlier this year gained the grandmaster title. Both Ootes and Brandenburg were not previously in one of the master groups. One notable name in the C group is that of Matthew Sadler, the Netherlands-based former world top 100 player. The Englishman, in fact an amateur chess player, debuts in Wijk aan Zee. He seems to be a fortunate pick, because of two impressive tournament victories in Barcelona and Oslo the next world he will ascend to a place in the top-100.

The 74th Tata Steel Chess Tournament will take place from 13 to 29 January 2012 in the sports hall Moriaan in Wijk aan Zee. Admission is free to the public. Participants in the amateur groups can register from Monday, October 31, 2011 via the site.

See also: http://www.tatasteelchess.com

Source: http://www.chess.co.uk/twic/