Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021

Before you is the tournament book of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021. The event has been won in sensational fashion by the young Dutch grandmaster Jorden van Foreest. In a tiebreak in the third blitz game, he was just a bit faster than his compatriot Anish Giri.

The barrage was necessary because both players very surprisingly ended with the impressive score of 8 out of 13 in joint first place. With this, they left behind, among others, World Champion Magnus Carlsen (7) and the world number two, Fabiano Caruana (8). This was an unprecedented achievement, as the tournament in Wijk aan Zee is sometimes called the "Wimbledon of chess" of the elite tournaments.

After the last round, in which Van Foreest in a formidable way left the Swede Nils Grandelius chanceless, it was a waiting game for the match between the Spaniard David Antón Guijarro and Anish Giri. Giri was in a bad position, perhaps even lost, but he managed to free himself from the tangled situation to gain an important half point.

It was decided beforehand that a tiebreak would be held, consisting of at least two blitz games. Should these result in a 1-1 score, an Armageddon game would be played. This turned out to be a nervous and blood-curdling fight, with pieces flying around. In the end, the younger of the two, Jorden van Foreest, emerged victorious, thus marking the greatest success of his still young career.

Apart from the commotion in the Dutch seaside resort of Wijk aan Zee, where the tournament was held under strict corona rules, the whole of the Netherlands rose to its feet when this great result became known. Hadn't we been waiting since 1985, when Jan Timman won the Hoogovens chess tournament, for a Dutch chess player to stand on the highest podium? And now it was even two players from this country who could dispute together who would take the highest honour.