Tata Steel Chess 2026 Preview: Four Candidates, Eclectic Masters and Challengers

Tournament Information

The Tata Steel Chess tournament is one of the longest-running chess tournaments in history. It has attracted the world's top players for decades and is currently celebrating its 88th edition. The Masters section pits 14 players in a big single-player round robin, setting the stage for exhilarating chess battles as the clash of styles and ratings makes for quite the spectacle. The Challengers section is similarly structured, and Tata Steel Chess also includes a well-attended Amateurs section.

Time control

The time control is 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by an additional 30 minutes for the rest of the game. The game starts off with no increment, but on move 41, a 30-second increment is introduced.

Lichess Broadcast

The Lichess broadcast coverage can be found here.

Lichess Interviews

Check out our on-site player interviews on YouTube after every round!

Lichess Blogs

Lichess will write blog posts after rounds 5, 8, 11, and 13.

Annotations

GM Renier Castellanos Rodriguez will annotate the games of the Masters section and WGM Petra Papp will annotate the games of the Challengers section.

Schedule

Lineup (Masters)

Pairings for Round 1 (Masters)

#1 Seed: GM Vincent Keymer

By Frans Peeters - https://www.flickr.com/photos/suspeeters/52638550008/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=128315577

GM Vincent Keymer is coming into the 2026 Tata Steel Masters with his highest rating yet and a world #4 spot, just behind GM Magnus Carlsen, GM Hikaru Nakamura, and GM Fabiano Caruana, who have all decided to skip this event this year. Overall, Keymer has had a great 2025. He finished in clear 1st at the 2025 Chennai Grand Masters, 2 points ahead of the field, and gained a whopping 21 rating points there. He also tied for second in the 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss, narrowly missing the second Candidates spot due to his worse tiebreaks. Another great tournament for Keymer was the 2025 European Team Chess Championship, where he finished on an undefeated 7/9. Furthermore, Keymer also did well at the 2025 European Chess Club Cup, where he, playing for Nový Bor, finished on 5/6, defeating three 2500+ players, two 2600+ players, and only losing to this tournament's second seed, GM Arjun Erigaisi. Despite these successes, Keymer did get eliminated in the rapid tiebreaks in round 4 of the 2025 FIDE World Cup, losing to the eventual third place finisher, GM Andrey Esipenko, but he did not lose a classical game in said event. With some topsy-turvy results in fast-paced chess — and chess variants — to round off the year (2025 Global Chess League 2025 and 2025 Global Chess League Finals, where he lost to Arjun multiple times, 2025 FIDE World Rapid and Blitz, and the 2025 Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Finals), Keymer remains one of the favorites to win the prestigious Tata Steel tournament.

#2 Seed: GM Arjun Erigaisi

By Frans Peeters Photography - https://www.flickr.com/photos/40058780@N08/52654462714/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=153165034

GM Arjun Erigaisi is, by just a single rating point separating him and GM Vincent Keymer, the 2026 Tata Steel Master's second seed. Last year, Arjun's 2025 was off to a bad start as he finished in 10th place out of 14 in the 2025 Tata Steel Masters, continuing to have an up-and-down first, second, and third quarter of the year. He proceeded to finish decently at the aforementioned 2025 European Chess Club Cup, winning against Keymer but also losing to this tournament's fifth seed, world champion GM Gukesh D. After losing to GM Wei Yi in the rapid tiebreaks in the quarterfinals of the 2025 FIDE World Cup, Arjun did not play any classical chess tournaments for the remainder of 2025, doing well overall in blitz and rapid, however — most importantly third place finishes at both the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz 2025, finishing in sole 1st in the blitz Swiss section.

#3 Seed: GM Anish Giri

By Frans Peeters from Roosendaal, The Netherlands - NZ9\_3751\_t, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=144719274

GM Anish Giri had a rather good 2025, especially in its fourth quarter. Of the six individual classical tournaments he played, he won two and had no disastrous finishes in the other four. Most notably, he qualified for the 2026 FIDE Candidates by finishing in sole first place at the 2025 Grand Swiss. Giri also finished first, half a point ahead of sixth seed GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov as well as GM Aleksandar Indjic, at the 2025 Sharjah Masters. Moreover, Giri finished shared second at both the 2025 Chennai Grand Masters and 2025 Prague International Chess Festival. Giri did get eliminated in round 3 of the 2025 FIDE World Cup, losing against GM Alexander Donchenko, but, as the winner of the 2023 Tata Steel Chess tournament, Giri surely knows what it takes to win it all.

#4 Seed: GM R Praggnanandhaa

By Frans Peeters - https://www.flickr.com/photos/suspeeters/52638511795/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=128315644

GM R Praggnanandhaa's very hot 2025 cooled down, but only slightly, in the fourth quarter. Praggnanandhaa finished in a very disappointing 35th place in the 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss, winning three games, losing two, and drawing six. He also lost in the rapid tiebreaks to GM Daniil Dubov at the 2025 FIDE World Cup and in rapid and blitz to both GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and GM Levon Aronian at the Semifinals and Finals of the 2025 Grand Chess Tour Finals, respectively. Finishing in a three-way tie for first at the 2025 London Chess Classic, a tournament Praggnanandhaa needed to play for the 2025 FIDE Circuit, Praggnanandhaa truly has not played a lot of classical chess in the fourth quarter of 2025. If his form in the first three quarters of 2025 is anything to go by, the defending champion will surely be a contender for first place.

#5 Seed: World Champion GM Gukesh D

By Frans Peeters - https://www.flickr.com/photos/suspeeters/54275358184/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=158589068

GM Gukesh D's first three quarters of 2025 was full of setbacks, while his fourth quarter showed much less activity. Gukesh did well at the 2025 European Chess Club Cup, winning three games — one against Arjun — and drawing two. However, he was eliminated in round 3 of the 2025 FIDE World Cup by GM Frederik Svane, and also finished in a regrettable 42nd place at the 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss. Gukesh will be looking to bring back his 2025 Tata Steel form, winning what has been dubbed as "the Wimbledon of chess" once and for all.

Seeds #6 to #11 (The 2700+)

The 2026 Tata Steel Chess Masters has no shortage of 2700+ players. Seeds 6 to 11 are all known for their enterprising and combative chess, all of them being established top players for some time now.

By Frans Peeters from Roosendaal, The Netherlands - NZ9\_0180\_t, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=158656342

GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov had a disastrous 2025 Sinquefield Cup, but since that tournament, he has improved his form gradually, culminating in a resounding victory at the 2025 London Chess Classic, where he gained a staggering 19 rating points.

Abdusattorov's compatriot, GM Javokhir Sindarov, has had an even more fortunate run, finishing in first at the 2025 TePe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament, 2nd (after tiebreaks) at the 2nd Uzchess Cup, and 1st at the 2025 FIDE World Cup.

By Frans Peeters from Roosendaal, The Netherlands - NZ9\_1347\_t, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=144975718

Due to a lack of tournament invites, GM Hans Moke Niemann did not play much classical chess in 2025, only playing in two individual tournaments and one team tournament. In terms of team tournaments, at the Campeonato de España por equipos de club — Spanish Club Championship, Niemann drew four, won two, and lost one. As for individual tournaments, at the 2025 FIDE World Cup, Niemann was eliminated in round 2 by GM Lorenzo Lodici, who won the second rapid tiebreak game. Niemann did better, however, in the 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss, where he albeit finished in a disappointing eight place after being tied for the lead going into the last round.

GM Vladimir Fedoseev will be looking to bring back his 2025 Tata Steel form, when he finished in fourth place and gained 11 rating points to his then 2717 rating. More recently, after an unsatisfactory 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss, Fedoseev had level performances at the 2025 European Team Chess Championship and 2025 European Chess Club Cup. With another unfortunate tournament in the 2025 FIDE World Cup, Fedoseev will be looking to improve his classical performance and clinch a solid finish in this tournament.

By Frans Peeters - https://www.flickr.com/photos/suspeeters/54275541490/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=158557122

GM Jorden van Foreest has already won the Tata Steel Masters, winning the 2021 edition on tiebreaks with Giri. He started the year with a 2680 rating and finished it at 2703, gaining rating gradually in the classical tournaments he played. With some strong recent performances, Van Foreest seems to be in good form and will look to add one more Masters Title under his belt.

GM Aravindh Chithambaram only recently broke into the world's top ranks, achieving his peak 2749 rating in April of 2025. He did so by tying for first with Praggnanadhaa at the 6th Stepan Avagyan Memorial. Since then, he lost some rating in a few tournaments, but his biggest rating sink came at the behest of the 2nd Uzchess Cup, where he lost 23 rating points. Aravindh, therefore, will be looking to return back to his former shape.

Seeds #12 to #14

The three players rated under 2700 are not only capable of scoring a couple of upsets, but they are also fully equipped with the chess acumen necessary to go all the way.

Indeed, GM Matthias Blübaum has already done so at the 2025 FIDE Grand Swiss, where he finished in second place with four wins and no losses. 14-year-old GM Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş also did well at that tournament, gaining rating and becoming the highest rated U15 chess player in history. Meanwhile, GM Thai Dai Van Nguyen qualified to the Masters by winning last year's Challenger's section on tiebreaks with 9.5/13.

Lineup (Challengers)

Pairings for Round 1 (Challengers)

#1 Seed: GM Velimir Ivić

GM Velimir Ivić crossed 2600 for the first time in 2021, and ever since, he has been hovering near that rating. Recently, however, Ivić has seen his rating rise, shooting up to 2638 after he tied for first, alongside Praggnanadhaa and GM Ameet K Ghasi, at the 2025 London Chess Classic.

#2 Seed: GM Erwin L'Ami

A regular of the Tata Steel Challengers, GM Erwin L'Ami has been among the top players of the Netherlands for more than two decades. Last year, he did very well at the Challengers, leading the tournament at multiple points, only finishing in third place after a last round loss to GM Vaishali Rameshbabu. He has recently had lukewarm performances, not gaining much rating nor losing a lot either. Some of his recent tournament performances can be found here: 1, 2, and 3.

#3 Seed: GM Aydin Suleymanli

GM Aydin Suleymanli will remember the 2025 Challengers as a bittersweet tournament because he finished on tied first with GM Thai Dai Van Nguyen, who ended up qualifying for the 2026 Masters on tiebreaks. Since then, Suleymanli has seen his rating stabilize in the low 2600's, so he will be looking to not only increase his rating, but also qualify for the coveted Masters tournament.

The Rest of the Field

As usual, the field of the Challengers section is as diverse as ever. The veteran of the field is former world number 2 GM Vasyl Ivanchuk, who is 16 years older than the second oldest player in the field, GM Erwin L'Ami. The youngest in the field is 12-year-old IM Faustino Oro, who also played in the Challengers last year. 16-year-old GM Andy Woodward, who has performed very well recently, is the fifth seed, while the fourth seed in the tournament, GM Marc'Andria Maurizzi, has also noticed a recent surge, mainly due to the same tournament. Also among the U20 players is IM Lu Miaoyi, who is, as of January 2026, the #1 ranked girl in the world. The 20 to 30 crowd includes established Dutch players GM Max Warmerdam (1 and 2) and IM Eline Roebers (1 and 2), who have both been doing well lately. GM Bibisara Assaubayeva received her GM title as recently as 2025 and continues to steadily gaining rating, while IM Carissa Yip has also seen some novel rating gain. Furthermore, 2406-rated FM Vedant Panesar may not be the most well-known player, but he has also been gradually improving and has reached a career high of 2462 not too long ago. Rounding out our list of players is seventh seed GM Daniil Yuffa, who has dropped some rating in the past few months, but has been rated as high as 2657 as of June 2025.

Simulated Predictions

We simulated the tournament outcomes a million times, resulting in the following probabilities of winning the respective tournament and expected scores for each player.

Masters

Challengers