The world champion, Magnus Carlsen, starts his 2020 campaign on Saturday when he meets his arch rival Anish Giri in the opening round at Tata Steel Wijk aan Zee, the traditional Dutch tournament which he has dominated ever since he won its C group aged 14. In his past eight Masters appearances there Carlsen has won seven times and placed second once. Tata Steel Wijk is such a reliably classic fixture to launch the chess year that it is easy to forget that its future is not assured. China’s Ju Wenjun, 28, took a 2.5-1.5 lead on Thursday in her women’s world title defence against Russia’s Aleksandra Goryachkina, 21. The women’s match which would attract most interest from chess fans, between the two clearly best players of all time, has never happened except for a single game in the 2012 Gibraltar Open.

Source: The Guardian January 10, 2020 12:00 UTC