Javokhir Sindarov will face D Gukesh in the first round of 88th Tata Steel Chess Masters 2026
The first major Classical chess event of the year 2026 is 88th Tata Steel Chess. Five Indians - four in Masters and one in Challengers will be seen in action. Four out of the eight Candidates will battle on the 64 squares. The reigning World Champion, D Gukesh will face the newly crowned FIDE World Cup 2025 winner - Javokhir Sindarov in the first round. The remaining twelve Masters participants are - Vincent Keymer, Arjun Erigaisi, Anish Giri, the defending champion - R Praggnanandhaa, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Hans Niemann, Vladimir Fedoseev, Jorden van Foreest, Aravindh Chithambaram, Matthias Bluebaum, Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus and Thai Dai Van Nguyen. In the Challengers section, IM-elect FM Vedant Panesar is the sole Indian in the field. Round 1 starts today at 2 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST for both Masters and Challengers section. Photo: Shahid Ahmed
Five Indians in action
The 88th edition will witness five Indians in the 'Wimbledon of Chess'. The number of Indians in this event got reduced by two compared to last year - one each in Masters and Challengers section. R Praggnanandhaa is the defending champion. The biggest change in this edition is the time control got changed to same as Candidates and World Championship Match - 120 minutes for the first 40 moves 30 minutes for the rest of the game 30 seconds increment per move, starting from move 41. Since four out of the eight Candidates and the reigning World Champion, D Gukesh are taking part in this event, who knows we might just get a preview of the upcoming World Championship Match.
Players
One of the primary reasons why Tata Steel Chess is an exciting event in the calendar is because the field is a mix of World's best players and the promising talent. It is becoming stronger and younger as the days pass by. The average rating and age in Masters is - 2723/24, for Challengers it is - 2544/25.
Masters: World no.4 - Vincent Keymer (GER), World no.5 - Arjun Erigaisi, World no.6 - Anish Giri (NED), the defending champion and World no.8 - R Praggnanandhaa, reigning World Champion and World no.9 - D Gukesh, World no.12 - Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB), FIDE World Cup 2025 champion and World no.21 - Javokhir Sindarov (UZB), World no.22 - Hans Niemann (USA), World no.30 - Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO), reigning Netherlands champion and World no.31 - Jorden van Foreest, World no.32 - Aravindh Chithambaram, World no.43 - Matthias Bluebaum (GER), World no.56 - Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus (TUR) and winner of Tata Steel Challengers 2025 and World no.59 - Thai Dai Van Nguyen (CZE).
Challengers: Serbia no.2 and World no. 84 - GM Velimir Ivic, Netherlands no.3 and World no.91 - GM Erwin l'Ami, Azerbaijan no.5 and World no.101 - GM Aydin Suleymanli, reigning France champion and France no.5 - GM Marc` Andria Maurizzi, USA no.14 - GM Andy Woodward, former World Rapid and Blitz champion - GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (UKR), Spain no.6 - GM Daniil Yuffa, Netherlands no.7 - GM Max Warmerdam, Argentina no.7 - IM Faustino Oro, reigning three-time World Blitz Women champion - GM Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ), four-time reigning US Women's champion and Tata Steel India Blitz Women 2026 winner - IM Carissa Yip, reigning China Women's champion - IM Miaoyi Lu, winner of Tata Steel Amateur Qualifiers 2025 - FM Vedant Panesar, and World Junior Girls Blitz 2025 Gold medalist and World Blitz Women Bronze medalist - IM Eline Roebers (NED).
Schedule
Starting from Saturday 17th January to 1st February, all round starts at 2 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST, except last round which starts at 12 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Rest days are same for both Masters and Challengers section - 22nd, 26th and 29th January 2026.
Watch Live stream
Round 1 pairings
Masters
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 2658 | GM | Erdogmus, Yagiz Kaan | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | 2751 | 14 | ||||
| 2 | 2 | 2700 | GM | Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr. | GM | Bluebaum, Matthias | 2679 | 13 | ||||
| 3 | 3 | 2725 | GM | Niemann, Hans Moke | GM | Fedoseev, Vladimir | 2705 | 12 | ||||
| 4 | 4 | 2776 | GM | Keymer, Vincent | GM | Giri, Anish | 2760 | 11 | ||||
| 5 | 5 | 2726 | GM | Sindarov, Javokhir | GM | Gukesh, D | 2754 | 10 | ||||
| 6 | 6 | 2703 | GM | Van Foreest, Jorden | GM | Nguyen, Thai Dai Van | 2656 | 9 | ||||
| 7 | 7 | 2775 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | 2758 | 8 |
Challengers
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 2605 | GM | Ivanchuk, Vasyl | IM | Yip, Carissa | 2466 | 14 | ||||
| 2 | 2 | 2611 | GM | Maurizzi, Marcandria | GM | Yuffa, Daniil | 2604 | 13 | ||||
| 3 | 3 | 2638 | GM | Ivic, Velimir | IM | Oro, Faustino | 2516 | 12 | ||||
| 4 | 4 | 2634 | GM | L'ami, Erwin | GM | Suleymanli, Aydin | 2628 | 11 | ||||
| 5 | 5 | 2497 | GM | Assaubayeva, Bibisara | GM | Woodward, Andy | 2608 | 10 | ||||
| 6 | 6 | 2398 | IM | Roebers, Eline | FM | Panesar, Vedant | 2406 | 9 | ||||
| 7 | 7 | 2431 | IM | Lu, Miaoyi | GM | Warmerdam, Max | 2576 | 8 |
Time Control
120 minutes for the first 40 moves 30 minutes for the rest of the game 30 seconds increment per move, starting from move 41
Links