Each January, around this time, the modest town of Wijk aan Zee in the Netherlands comes alive, bustling with the finest chess players on the planet. The elite chess players, the might of their generations, and the not-so-elite players, clash separately in the Masters (A) and Challengers (B) editions of the already famous Tata Steel Tournament, formerly known as the Corus and Hoogovens tournaments. The legendary tournament had its beginning in 1938. Over the years, it has attracted a long list of super-grandmasters of chess. Since World War 11, every classical world champion with the exception of Vasily Symslov and Bobby Fischer, played the Tata Steel competition. The winners’ list is impressive. The Masters features 14 of the world’s best chess players in a fierce single
