Twelve years ago on January 17, Netherlands paramount chess grandmaster Anish Giri vanquished Norway’s Magnus Carlsen at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament. Giri was 16 years of age and Carlsen was 20. Twelve years later, on January 17, in the identical Tata Steel Tournament Giri defeated Carlsen once more; and this time Carlsen is the world champion.
Now in its 85th edition, the annual Tata Steel Chess Tournament has always been held in the Netherlands. Carlsen has won it eight times, the last being last year. Vishy Anand has won it five times. Participating players were Levon Aronian who won four times, Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So and Jorden van Foreest who won at least once. Anand is not participating this year. Giri has never won this tournament.
The Tata Invitational Masters is a 14-player competition which runs from January 14-29. There is also the Tata Invitational Challengers Tournament where some lesser but promising names are on show. Included among the 14-player invitees are two women, Eline Roebers of the Netherlands and Vaishali Ramesbabu of India who boast FIDE ratings of 2343 and 2425 respectively. Heading the Challengers list this year is grandmaster Salem Saleh with a 2677 FIDE rating.
In the Masters Round 4 games, Carlsen was not the only grandmaster who lost to a lesser ranked player. Ding Liren the Chinese chess superstar was outplayed by India’s 17-year-old grandmaster Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu. Carlsen and Ding are the only players currently who are rated above 2800. Ding will play for the world championship title this year.
Chess game
World champion Magnus Carlsen hardly ever loses at classical chess. This is one of those times.
White: Anish Giri
Black: Magnus Carlsen
Event: 2023 Tata Steel Masters, Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, January 17
Type of Game: Queen’s Indian Defence
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6
5. Qc2 Bb7 6. Bg2 c5 7. d5 exd5 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. O-O Be7 10. Rd1 Nc6 11. Qf5 Nf6 12. e4 d6 13. e5 Qd7 14. Qxd7+ Nxd7 15. exd6 Bf6 16. Re1+ Kf8 17. Nc3 Nb4 18. Ne5 Nxe5 19. Bxb7 Rd8 20. Rd1 Nc4 21. d7 Nc2 22. Rb1 Nd4 23. b4 Rxd7
24. Bd5 Nd6 25. bxc5 bxc5 26. Ba3 Ke7 27. Bxc5 Ne6 28. Bb4 a5 29. Bxa5 Rc8
30. Na4 Nc4 31. Rbc1 Be5 32. Bb4+ Kf6 33. Nc5 Nxc5 34. Rxc4 Rdc7 35. Ba5. 1-0. Black resigns.
