TWIC is 31. First issue 17th September 1994.88th Tata Steel 2026 ()
Tata Steel Chess tournament all set for its 2026 edition after announcing the players
Mark Crowther - Tuesday 18th November 2025
The Tata Steel Chess tournament takes place in Wijk aan Zee 16th Jan - 1st Feb 2026. The fields for both the Masters and Challengers have been set and they reflect the state of professional chess today.
The Masters group has an average age of just 23. Exciting players like Vincent Keymer, Arjun Erigaisi, Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Hans Niemann should light up the competition. World Champion Gukesh might be struggling at the moment but you'd want him in your tournament, especially as he only just missed out last year following a tie-break match with the eventual winner Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa. Dutch number one Anish Giri is the oldest player in the field at 32, he has enjoyed one of his best years, the highlight of which was his qualification for the Candidates by taking clear first place in the Grand Swiss Tournament in Samarkand.
Juniors do grab the headlines with 14 year old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus playing in the Masters and Faustino Oro in the Challengers. Vasyl Ivanchuk returns to Wijk aan Zee after a break of 10 years and is to play the Challengers. He is by far the oldest player in the field at 56.
| 88th Tata Steel Masters Wijk aan Zee NED Sat 17th Jan 2026 - Sun 1st Feb 2026
Players with ages in January 2026. |
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| Name | FIDE ID | Birthdate | Age on Jan 16, 2026 | World Rank (Oct) | Federation | Section | ||||||||||||||||
| Anish Giri | 24116068 | 1994-06-28 | 31 years, 6 months | 7th | Netherlands | Masters | ||||||||||||||||
| Vladimir Fedoseev | 24130737 | 1995-02-16 | 30 years, 11 months | 28th | Slovenia | Masters | ||||||||||||||||
| Matthias Bleubaum | 24651516 | 1997-04-18 | 28 years, 9 months | 44th | Germany | Masters | ||||||||||||||||
| Jorden van Foreest | 1039784 | 1999-04-30 | 26 years, 8 months | 36th | Netherlands | Masters | ||||||||||||||||
| Aravindh Chithambaram | 5072786 | 1999-09-11 | 26 years, 4 months | 29th | India | Masters | ||||||||||||||||
| Thai Dai Van Nguyen | 358878 | 2001-12-12 | 24 years, 1 month | 67th | Czech Republic | Masters | ||||||||||||||||
| Hans Niemann | 2093596 | 2003-06-20 | 22 years, 6 months | 15th | United States | Masters | ||||||||||||||||
| Arjun Erigaisi | 35009192 | 2003-09-03 | 22 years, 4 months | 4th | India | Masters | ||||||||||||||||
| Nodirbek Abdusattorov | 14204118 | 2004-09-18 | 21 years, 4 months | 12th | Uzbekistan | Masters | ||||||||||||||||
| Vincent Keymer | 12940690 | 2004-11-15 | 21 years, 2 months | 9th | Germany | Masters | ||||||||||||||||
| Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa | 25059530 | 2005-08-10 | 20 years, 5 months | 5th | India | Masters | ||||||||||||||||
| Javokhir Sindarov | 14205483 | 2005-12-08 | 20 years, 1 month | 24th | Uzbekistan | Masters | ||||||||||||||||
| Dommaraju Gukesh | 46616543 | 2006-05-29 | 19 years, 7 months | 11th | India | Masters | ||||||||||||||||
| Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus | 44599790 | 2011-06-03 | 14 years, 7 months | 71st | Turkey | Masters | ||||||||||||||||
| Vasyl Ivanchuk | 14100010 | 1969-03-18 | 56 years, 10 months | 127th | Ukraine | Challengers | ||||||||||||||||
| Erwin l’Ami | 1007998 | 1985-04-05 | 40 years, 9 months | 95th | Netherlands | Challengers | ||||||||||||||||
| Daniil Yuffa | 24131423 | 1997-02-25 | 28 years, 11 months | 119th | Spain | Challengers | ||||||||||||||||
| Max Warmerdam | 1048104 | 2000-03-30 | 25 years, 9 months | 226th | Netherlands | Challengers | ||||||||||||||||
| Velimir Ivic | 950122 | 2002-08-27 | 23 years, 4 months | 120th | Serbia | Challengers | ||||||||||||||||
| Carissa Yip | 2090732 | 2003-09-10 | 22 years, 4 months | 917th | United States | Challengers | ||||||||||||||||
| Panesar Vedant | 35033018 | 2003-09-12 | 22 years, 4 months | 1405th | India | Challengers | ||||||||||||||||
| Bibisara Assaubayeva | 13708694 | 2004-02-26 | 21 years, 10 months | 502th | Kazakhstan | Challengers | ||||||||||||||||
| Aydin Suleymanli | 13413937 | 2005-03-22 | 20 years, 9 months | 110th | Azerbaijan | Challengers | ||||||||||||||||
| Eline Roebers | 1058401 | 2006-05-22 | 19 years, 7 months | 1835th | Netherlands | Challengers | ||||||||||||||||
| Marc’Andria Maurizzi | 36083534 | 2007-05-16 | 18 years, 8 months | 136th | France | Challengers | ||||||||||||||||
| Lu Miaoyi | 8618020 | 2010-02-01 | 15 years, 11 months | 1120th | China | Challengers | ||||||||||||||||
| Andy Woodward | 30953499 | 2010-05-02 | 15 years, 8 months | 147th | United States | Challengers | ||||||||||||||||
| Faustino Oro | 20000197 | 2013-10-14 | 12 years, 3 months | 615th | Argentina | Challengers | ||||||||||||||||
