Tata Steel tournament — a solid platform that takes Indian chess forward

They presented an unusual, but striking, sight. You normally wouldn’t expect European women in sarees on stage for the closing ceremony of a chess tournament.

They may have been wearing the unstitched Indian garment for the first time in their lives, but at the Bhasha Bhawan auditorium of Kolkata’s National Library, they managed it as well as they did the pieces on the chessboard, at the Tata Steel Chess India tournament. It was the first time that women were playing in India’s only elite chess event.

Special tournament

The organisers, Tata Steel, ensured that their first ever women’s tournament was special. They gave the women the same prize money as the men.

“I don’t remember a (chess) tournament where the prize-fund was the same for both men and women,” said Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine, during the draw of lots on the eve of the event. “Because such a tournament didn’t exist.”

Muzychuk was a beneficiary of the organisers’ decision to implement equal pay: she won the rapid section. A year later, she will be back to defend her title for the fifth edition of the tournament, which opens on August 31.

There is bound to be more interest in this year’s tournament, given the kind of unprecedented following in the country the recent Chess World Cup, which concluded at Baku a few days ago, had. Praggnanandhaa was very much the star in the tournament, as he made it to the final.

His compatriots had also done well there. In fact, four of the eight quarterfinalists were Indians — D. Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi and Vidit Gujrathi being the others. All of them will feature at the Tata Steel Chess India.

Arjun was the winner last year in the blitz section. In the rapid, he was the runner-up, while Gujrathi was third.

Arjun seems to love this event. In 2021, he had won the rapid and was the runner-up in blitz.

Breakthrough

That edition of the tournament proved a breakthrough for the teenager from Warangal. At the time he wasn’t as well-known as his contemporaries like Praggnanandhaa or Gukesh, but now he is one of the stars of India’s golden generation of chess players threatening to dominate the world.

Tata Steel Chess India has attracted the world’s top talents. The inaugural edition, held in 2018, itself had big stars like Hikaru Nakamura, Levon Aronian, Wesley So, Sergey Karjakin and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and India’s own Viswanathan Anand, who defied age to win the blitz title. Nakamura came first in the rapid event.

The man who ended Anand’s reign as the World champion, Magnus Carlsen, was the biggest attraction in the second edition of the tournament. Not surprisingly, he triumphed. The overall champion was decided by adding points from the blitz and rapid sections. The Norwegian finished with four points more than the second-placed Nakamura.

After a break enforced by the coronavirus, the tournament returned in 2021. Aronian and Le Quang Liem, a former World blitz champion, were among the main players from overseas.

Aronian won the blitz, beating the rapid champion Arjun in the tie-breaker. He had an explanation for why his young rival didn’t win the blitz title. “The only reason is… that Arjun is a very strong chess player, but physically he is not strong enough to carry two cups,” he said at the closing ceremony, making the packed auditorium laugh.

After taking part in the first three editions, Aronian wasn’t there for last year’s tournament, in which Nihal Sarin won the rapid section, ahead of strong rivals like Nakamura, So, Mamedyarov and Nodirbek Abdusattorov. Another Indian champion last year was R. Vaishali, Praggnanandhaa’s elder sister, who surprised everyone by winning the women’s title.

Added glamour

This time around, two strong Chinese players add further glamour to the women’s field. Ju Wenjun is the reigning Women’s World champion, while Lei Tingjie is the runner-up. The duo had contested the final back home in China last month.

Nino Batsiashvili and Irina Krush are the other foreigners in the women’s section, besides Ushenina. Former Women’s World rapid champion Koneru Humpy, Dronavalli Harika, Savitha Shri, Vantika Agarwal and Vaishali complete the line-up.

The men’s field is headed by the 2021 World blitz champion Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Alexander Grischuk, Teimour Radjabov, Vincent Keymer and Abdusattorov are the other foreigners in the fray. Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh, Gujrathi, P. Harikrishna and Arjun form a strong Indian contingent.

Those players could expect strong support from the chess lovers of Kolkata, who arrive in large numbers to watch their favourite players in action. You would find the auditorium often full.

The passionate chess fans of Kolkata have shown that their city is indeed the ideal host for India’s only world-class tournament. Tata Steel also deserves credit for bringing the world’s top stars to India and giving an excellent opportunity for the country’s young talent.

“Sports has been a way of life for us at Tata Steel for over a century now,” says Chanakya Chaudhary, Vice President, Corporate Services, Tata Steel. “We continue to promote sporting activities and thereby engage with the community in a conscious and meaningful way. We are encouraged by the enthusiasm and participation we have received from the city of Kolkata over the past years, and are determined to make this world class chess competition even better.”

Anand has been the tournament’s ambassador since 2021. “I am extremely delighted that chess is slowly but steadily becoming a global sport which is being followed widely,” he says. “Tournaments like Tata Steel Chess India where our young players fight it out with international Grandmasters really help the cause of producing newer champions. This format has already shown some results, as is visible with our young brigade doing well at international tournaments, such as the World Cup in Baku.”

At Baku, Praggnanandhaa had done India proud, despite losing to Carlsen in the final which had gone to the tie-breaker. He should be keen to do well in a tournament at home. As will the other young Indian stars.