Tata Steel Chess Tournament returns to Kolkata

The third edition of the event will be held at the iconic National Library from November 17 to 21 and will offer a prize money of over $ 40,000.

Viswanathan Anand, who played in the first two editions of the event and would be the brand ambassador in this year's tournament. (File Photo)

Several Grandmasters, including Levon Aronian, Le Quang Liem, Sam Shankland, Parham Maghsoodloo, Vidit Gujrathi, Adhiban Baskaran and D. Harika, will be seen in action when the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid and Blitz tournament makes a comeback to the city following a Covid-19-induced break last year.

The third edition of the event, which will be held at the iconic National Library here from November 17 to 21 and will offer a prize money of over $ 40,000, will also feature rising stars such as Nihal Sarin, R. Praggnanandhaa, Karthikeyan Murali, D. Gukesh, Raunak Sadhwani, Arjun Erigaisi and R. Vaishali.

“There will be a new element of youth and women players participating this time,” said Chanakya Chaudhary, Vice President (Corporate Services) of Tata Steel, at a virtual press conference on Saturday.

Viswanathan Anand, who played in the first two editions of the event and would be the brand ambassador this time, thanked Tata Steel for giving a platform to the young players.

“They (the young players) will enjoy their home surroundings. I am hopeful a lot of wonderful chess will be there for the audience…I will enjoy it from a different side,” said Anand, who personally looked forward to playing in a few events in the near future.

Concurrently, the event will host the Tata Steel Chess Festival, an open event being organised in association with GM Dibyendu Barua, as well. This year the rapid competition has evolved into a rating tournament while the blitz remains a tournament for amateurs too. The Festival invited registrations from 150 players per format and registrations were closed within a day.