Kolkata17 December. Former five-time world champion Vishwanathan Anand is all set to return to competitive action after six years. In this sequence, Vishy will play chess with his other former disciples including current world champion D. Gukesh in the proposed seventh Tata Steel Chess Tournament here from January 7 to 11.
Guru-disciple will face each other in an individual competition for the first time on Indian soil.
Anand, who last played the tournament in 2019, will be back against the new generation of Indian stars, with Gukesh at the forefront. Anand has closely mentored Gukesh in recent years at his Westbridge Anand Chess Academy. This will be the first time that these two world champions will face each other in an individual tournament on Indian soil.
You guessed it right!!
Viswanathan Anand is coming to play at the Tata Steel Chess India 2026 after 6 years. #viswanathananand #worldchampion #tatasteelchessindia #tscikolkata #chesschampion #indianchess #chessinkolkata #chesstournament2026 #grandmasterlife #tsci2026 pic.twitter.com/gVToxGxDxy
— Tata Steel Chess India (@tschessindia) December 17, 2025
Same prize money in open and women category
Tata Steel Chess India will be held at ‘Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium’, with both Open and Women categories in both Rapid and Blitz formats with equal prize money for both categories.
A strong group of young Indian players will try their best
The open category included FIDE World Cup runner-up Wei Yi, former US champion Wesley So, Hannes Niemann, Volodar Murzin and R. A strong Indian contingent including Praggnanand and Arjun Erigesi will also participate. Other Indians include Vidit Gujarati, Arvind Chidambaram, Divya Deshmukh, Vaishali R, Vantika Agarwal and Rakshita Ravi.
In the women’s category, World Cup winner Divya along with former World Championship challengers Alexandra Goryachkina, Katarina Legno, Nena Djagnije, Dee Harika and Carissa Yip will be the main attractions.
Anand said – ‘Excited to accept the challenge of the young giants’,
Excited about returning as a player, Anand said, ‘There has been a huge change in the world of chess with the emergence of talented players all over the world including India. I am very excited to accept the challenge of young veteran chess players in this big tournament of India.
DB Sundar Ramam, Vice President (Corporate Services), Tata Steel, said Anand’s return has added a special dimension to the competition. Tournament Director Dibyendu Barua said the tournament has become one of the premier chess tournaments globally and Anand facing his students and disciples is symbolic of passing the torch in Indian chess to the next generation.
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