Tata Steel 2024. One of the great chess tournaments of the year!

<big>January means Tata Steel, one of the year&#39;s most important tournaments. 
 
Play starts January 13, at 8 AM EST, 14:00 local (Paris, Amsterdam, Rome, Berlin), 13:00 UTC. 
The rest days are January&nbsp;17, 22 and 25</big> 
<big>The tournament is a round-robin with 14 players (13 rounds). Time&nbsp;control is&nbsp;100 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 50 minutes for 20 moves, then 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment per move from move one.</big> 
 
<big>The nice (and cold) small town in the north of the country, Wijk aan Zee, hosts the blazoned event at its 86th edition.</big>

<img alt="" src="https://www.chessclub.com/uploads/content/Wijk_aan_Zee_2024.png" style="max-width: 100%;height: auto;" /> 
Wijk aan Zee - Source: wikipedia.org 
 
<big>Anish Giri, the Dutch super grandmaster, will be there to&nbsp;defend his title. 
The line-up is impressive, with a rating average of 2712 (category 19). 
Magnus won&#39;t be in Wijk aan Zee, but there is a lot of interest in the &quot;return&quot; of the reigning World Champion after months of being afar from the chess scene. 
GM Liren Ding is indeed the first seed, and it&#39;ll be great to see him play again. 
Another note of interest is the participation in the Master tournament of the Chinese GM&nbsp;Ju Wenjun, the current World Champion!</big>

<img alt="" src="https://www.chessclub.com/uploads/content/Ju_Wenjun_1.png" style="max-width: 100%;height: auto;" /> 
GM Ju Wenjun, reigning World Champion - Photo:&nbsp;Andreas Kontokanis . Source: Wikipedia.org

<big>Last but not least, US Hans&nbsp;Niemann is the top seed in the Challenger tournament. 
 
In Wijk aan Zee, there will be THREE World Champions playing: Liren Ding, Ju Wenjun, and the French Junior World Champion Marc&rsquo;Andria Maurizzi (in the Challengers event).</big> 
 
<big>Here is the official Tata Steel clip announcing the participants in the Master event:</big> 
 
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ru7rlqIxN_s?si=OAzq9c0KQ49__t3d" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe> 
 
<big>LINE UP - MASTERS</big>

<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="overflow-x:auto;">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td><big>Player</big></td>
			<td><big>Federation</big></td>
			<td><big>Rating</big></td>
			<td>&nbsp;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td><big>Ding Liren</big></td>
			<td><big>China</big></td>
			<td><big>2780</big></td>
			<td><big><img alt="" src="https://www.chessclub.com/uploads/content/Tata24_Ding.png" style="width: 127px; height: 150px;" /></big></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td><big>Ian Nepomniachtchi</big></td>
			<td><big>FIDE</big></td>
			<td><big>2769</big></td>
			<td><big><img alt="" src="https://www.chessclub.com/uploads/content/Tata24_Nepo.png" style="width: 121px; height: 150px;" /></big></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<big>Alireza Firouzja</big>
			</td>
			<td><big>France</big></td>
			<td><big>2759</big></td>
			<td><big><img alt="" src="https://www.chessclub.com/uploads/content/Tata24_Firouzja.png" style="width: 122px; height: 150px;" /></big></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<big>Anish Giri</big>
			</td>
			<td><big>Nederlands</big></td>
			<td><big>2749</big></td>
			<td><big><img alt="" src="https://www.chessclub.com/uploads/content/Tata24_Giri.png" style="width: 134px; height: 150px;" /></big></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<big>Praggnanandhaa R</big>
			</td>
			<td><big>India</big></td>
			<td><big>2743</big></td>
			<td><big><img alt="" src="https://www.chessclub.com/uploads/content/Tata24_Pragga.png" style="width: 123px; height: 150px;" /></big></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<big>Santosh Gujrathi Vidit</big>
			</td>
			<td><big>India</big></td>
			<td><big>2742</big></td>
			<td><big><img alt="" src="https://www.chessclub.com/uploads/content/Tata24_Vidit.png" style="width: 127px; height: 150px;" /></big></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<big>Parham Maghsoodloo</big>
			</td>
			<td><big>Iran</big></td>
			<td><big>2740</big></td>
			<td><big><img alt="" src="https://www.chessclub.com/uploads/content/Tata24_Maghsoodloo.png" style="width: 144px; height: 150px;" /></big></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<big>Wei Yi</big>
			</td>
			<td><big>China</big></td>
			<td><big>2740</big></td>
			<td><big><img alt="" src="https://www.chessclub.com/uploads/content/Tata24_WeiYi.png" style="width: 117px; height: 150px;" /></big></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<big>Nodirbek Abdusattorov</big>
			</td>
			<td><big>Uzbekistan</big></td>
			<td><big>2727</big></td>
			<td><big><img alt="" src="https://www.chessclub.com/uploads/content/Tata24_Abdusattorov.png" style="width: 139px; height: 150px;" /></big></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<big>Gukesh D</big>
			</td>
			<td><big>India</big></td>
			<td><big>2725</big></td>
			<td><big><img alt="" src="https://www.chessclub.com/uploads/content/Tata24_Gukesh.png" style="width: 118px; height: 150px;" /></big></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<big>Jorden Van Foreest</big>
			</td>
			<td><big>Nederlands</big></td>
			<td><big>2682</big></td>
			<td><big><img alt="" src="https://www.chessclub.com/uploads/content/Tata24_VanForeest.png" style="width: 127px; height: 150px;" /></big></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<big>Alexander Donchenko</big>
			</td>
			<td><big>Germany</big></td>
			<td><big>2643</big></td>
			<td><big><img alt="" src="https://www.chessclub.com/uploads/content/Tata24_Donchenko.png" style="width: 140px; height: 150px;" /></big></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<big>Max Warmerdam</big>
			</td>
			<td><big>Nederlands</big></td>
			<td><big>2625</big></td>
			<td><big><img alt="" src="https://www.chessclub.com/uploads/content/Tata24_Warmerdam.png" style="width: 125px; height: 150px;" /></big></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
			<big>Ju Wenjun</big>
			</td>
			<td><big>China</big></td>
			<td><big>2549</big></td>
			<td><big><img alt="" src="https://www.chessclub.com/uploads/content/Tata24_JuWenjun.png" style="width: 141px; height: 150px;" /></big></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>