The Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2026 is taking place in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, from 16 January – 1 February 2026. The Masters line-up is the youngest ever for the event, but it is also impressively strong.
World Champion Gukesh, who will be back in top 10 in the November rating list, is back to Tata Steel in 2026. He is accompanied by his 2700+ compatriots Arjun Erigaisi, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, and Aravindh Chithambaram.
Their main competition comes from Anish Giri, who has qualified for the Candidates, and is playing amazing chess all year long, as well as the N4 in the November rating list Vincent Keymer.
With multiple players from India, The Netherlands, Germany, and Uzbekistan, it feels a bit lonely for Hans Niemann, Vladimir Fedoseev, Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, and Thai Dai Van Nguyen, who are sole representatives of their country
Tata Steel Chess 2026 participants
Name
RATING
Place in FIDE rating
Nationality
Year of birth
Arjun Erigaisi
2773
4th
India
2003
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa
2771
5th
India
2005
Anish Giri
2759
7th
The Netherlands
1994
Vincent Keymer
2755
9th
Germany
2004
Dommaraju Gukesh
2752
11th
India
2006
Nodirbek Abdusattorov
2750
12th
Uzbekistan
2004
Hans Niemann
2738
15th
USA
2003
Javokhir Sindarov
2721
24th
Uzbekistan
2005
Vladimir Fedoseev
2720
28th
Slovenia
1995
Aravindh Chithambaram
2711
29th
India
1999
Jorden van Foreest
2697
36th
The Netherlands
1999
Matthias Blübaum
2687
44th
Germany
1997
Thai Dai Van Nguyen
2664
67th
Czech Republic
2001
Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus
2651
71th
Turkiye
2011
The organizers from Wijk Aan Zee say, “Get ready for another unforgettable edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2026, taking place from 16 January to 1 February, where the youngest Masters line-up ever will battle it out for a place in the history books!”
