Tata Steel Chess Tournament
The oldest elite invitational in chess: a January round-robin in the Dutch seaside village of Wijk aan Zee, held since 1938.
- Founded
- 1938
- Held
- Annual, every January
- Where
- Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands
- Format
- Masters: a 14-player single round-robin (13 rounds), plus a Challengers group whose winner is traditionally invited to the next year's Masters
- Champion
- Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2026)
- Most titles
- Magnus Carlsen (8), Viswanathan Anand (5), Levon Aronian (4)
- Official site
- tatasteelchess.com
History
Started in 1938 as a four-player Dutch event in Beverwijk, it went international in 1946 and moved to Wijk aan Zee in 1968. It has been named after its steel sponsor ever since: Hoogovens, then Corus, and Tata Steel from 2011.
Nearly every world champion since Max Euwe has won it. Magnus Carlsen holds the record with eight titles. The closing banquet still serves pea soup, a tradition from the lean post-war years.
Tata Steel Chess Tournament in The Chess Herald
Winners
| Year | Winner |
|---|---|
| 2026 | Nodirbek Abdusattorov |
| 2025 | Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa |
| 2024 | Wei Yi |
| 2023 | Anish Giri |
| 2022 | Magnus Carlsen |
| 2021 | Jorden van Foreest |
| 2020 | Fabiano Caruana |
| 2019 | Magnus Carlsen |
| 2018 | Magnus Carlsen |
| 2017 | Wesley So |
Show all winners since 1938
| 2016 | Magnus Carlsen |
| 2015 | Magnus Carlsen |
| 2014 | Levon Aronian |
| 2013 | Magnus Carlsen |
| 2012 | Levon Aronian |
| 2011 | Hikaru Nakamura |
| 2010 | Magnus Carlsen |
| 2009 | Sergey Karjakin |
| 2008 | Levon Aronian, Magnus Carlsen (shared) |
| 2007 | Levon Aronian, Teimour Radjabov, Veselin Topalov (shared) |
| 2006 | Viswanathan Anand, Veselin Topalov (shared) |
| 2005 | Peter Leko |
| 2004 | Viswanathan Anand |
| 2003 | Viswanathan Anand |
| 2002 | Evgeny Bareev |
| 2001 | Garry Kasparov |
| 2000 | Garry Kasparov |
| 1999 | Garry Kasparov |
| 1998 | Viswanathan Anand, Vladimir Kramnik (shared) |
| 1997 | Valery Salov |
| 1996 | Vasyl Ivanchuk |
| 1995 | Alexey Dreev |
| 1994 | Predrag Nikolić |
| 1993 | Anatoly Karpov |
| 1992 | Valery Salov, Boris Gelfand (shared) |
| 1991 | John Nunn |
| 1990 | John Nunn |
| 1989 | Viswanathan Anand, Gyula Sax, Zoltán Ribli, Predrag Nikolić (shared) |
| 1988 | Anatoly Karpov |
| 1987 | Nigel Short, Viktor Korchnoi (shared) |
| 1986 | Nigel Short |
| 1985 | Jan Timman |
| 1984 | Alexander Beliavsky, Viktor Korchnoi (shared) |
| 1983 | Ulf Andersson |
| 1982 | John Nunn, Yuri Balashov (shared) |
| 1981 | Gennadi Sosonko, Jan Timman (shared) |
| 1980 | Walter Browne, Yasser Seirawan (shared) |
| 1979 | Lev Polugaevsky |
| 1978 | Lajos Portisch |
| 1977 | Gennadi Sosonko, Efim Geller (shared) |
| 1976 | Ljubomir Ljubojević, Friðrik Ólafsson (shared) |
| 1975 | Lajos Portisch |
| 1974 | Walter Browne |
| 1973 | Mikhail Tal |
| 1972 | Lajos Portisch |
| 1971 | Viktor Korchnoi |
| 1970 | Mark Taimanov |
| 1969 | Mikhail Botvinnik, Efim Geller (shared) |
| 1968 | Viktor Korchnoi |
| 1967 | Boris Spassky |
| 1966 | Lev Polugaevsky |
| 1965 | Lajos Portisch, Efim Geller (shared) |
| 1964 | Paul Keres, Iivo Nei (shared) |
| 1963 | Jan Hein Donner |
| 1962 | Petar Trifunović |
| 1961 | Bent Larsen, Borislav Ivkov (shared) |
| 1960 | Bent Larsen, Tigran Petrosian (shared) |
| 1959 | Friðrik Ólafsson |
| 1958 | Max Euwe, Jan Hein Donner (shared) |
| 1957 | Aleksandar Matanović |
| 1956 | Gideon Ståhlberg |
| 1955 | Borislav Milić |
| 1954 | Hans Bouwmeester, Vasja Pirc (shared) |
| 1953 | Nicolas Rossolimo |
| 1952 | Max Euwe |
| 1951 | Hermann Pilnik |
| 1950 | Jan Hein Donner |
| 1949 | Savielly Tartakower |
| 1948 | Lodewijk Prins |
| 1947 | Theo van Scheltinga |
| 1946 | Alberic O'Kelly de Galway |
| 1945 | Not held |
| 1944 | Theo van Scheltinga |
| 1943 | Arnold van den Hoek |
| 1942 | Max Euwe |
| 1941 | Arthur Wijnans |
| 1940 | Max Euwe |
| 1939 | Nicolaas Cortlever |
| 1938 | Jilling van Dijk, Philip Bakker (shared) |
Source: Tata Steel Chess, former champions.
Page last reviewed September 29, 2026.