Tata Steel Chess India 2022 to introduce women’s edition

The tournament’s fourth edition will introduce a women’s edition, with equal total prize money for both the open & women’s editions.

Indian chess legend Viswanathan Anand (centre), Chanakya Chaudhary, Vice President, Corporate Services, Tata Steel and AICF secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan, (right) during the launch of Tata Steel Chess India Women’s Tournament in Chennai on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam

The Tata Steel Rapid & Blitz Chess India tournament 2022 was officially announced at the Leela Palace in Chennai on Wednesday.

The tournament will introduce a women’s edition this time, with equal total prize money for both the open & women’s editions. The event, to be held from November 29 to December 4 in Kolkata, is set to feature top India men and women players such as Koneru Humpy, Harika Dronavalli, R. Vaishali, D. Gukesh, R. Praggnanandhaa, B. Adhiban, Nihal Sarin, Raunak Sadhwani, Vidit Santosh Gujrathi, and Arjun Erigaisi.

Jeet Banerjee, Director, Gameplan Sports Pvt. Ltd. confirmed the participation of the Muzychuk sisters (Anna & Mariya) from the 2022 Olympiad gold-winning Ukraine women’s team, Nana Dzagnidze from the silver-winning Georgia women’s team, and Alina Kashlinskaya from the Poland women’s team.

Tata Steel Chess India ambassador Viswanathan Anand had a word of appreciation for the introduction of the women’s edition and the concept of equal prize money.

Chanakya Chaudhary, Vice President - Corporate Services, Tata Steel, said: “We are delighted to announce that this year’s event will witness the launch of a women’s tournament as well. What better year to start this than FIDE’s ‘Year Of The Woman in Chess.’ The event will give young Indian talent the opportunity to play against top International Grandmasters.”