New Delhi, 21 October (Hindustan Reporter). World No. 1 and former five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen is set to participate in the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid & Blitz Tournament (TSCI) from November 13 to 17 at the Dhonho Dhanyo Auditorium in Kolkata. This is Carlsen's second appearance at the event after winning the title in 2019.
The sixth edition of the tournament featured three of India's top five players – Arjun Erigaysi, R. Praggnanand and Vidit Gujarati will also attend. However, current world No. 4 D. Gukesh will miss the event due to his World Championship title clash against China's Ding Liren in Singapore in November-December.
Recently, Nihal Sarin, S.L., was elected Player of the Tournament in the Global Chess League (GCL). Narayanan will also represent India in the open category.
Foreign players include former world rapid champions Nodirbek Abdussaturov (Uzbekistan) and Daniil Dubov (Russia) as well as Wesley So (USA) in the competitive 10-player field.
In the women's category, world No. 5 Alexandra Goryachkina (Russia) will be the highest-ranked participant. Two-time European women's champion and double Olympiad gold medalist Katarina Lagno adds further star power to the line-up, alongside Alexandra Kosteniuk, Nana Dzhanidze and Valentina Gunina.
India's top female player Koneru Humpy returned to action after skipping the Chess Olympiad 2024 due to personal reasons. Gold medal winning women's team of Budapest Chess Olympiad – R. Vaishali, Harika Dronavalli, Divya Deshmukh and Vantika Agarwal – will also compete.
Former five-time world champion Vishwanathan Anand will continue his role as the tournament's ambassador.
Anand said, “I am excited to return to Tata Steel Chess India, which is now a major event. “This year’s edition brings the best tournament in the world under the leadership of Magnus Carlsen.”
The Tata Steel Chess India Tournament, first held in 2018, is considered a companion competition to the prestigious Tata Steel Masters. Notably, it is one of the few chess competitions that offers equal prize money for both men and women.
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