Magnus Carlsen, the top-ranked player in the world, will compete in the 6th Tata Steel Chess India tournament in Kolkata in November. World No. 1 Norwegian will face some of the best players in India, such as Arjun Erigaisi, R Praggnanandhaa, Vidit Gujrathi, Nihal Sarin, and SL Narayanan.

The sole prominent absence from India’s rising chess team will be Gukesh, who is eighteen and busy honing his skills in preparation for his match against Ding Liren for the global chess title. The Tata Steel Chess India event will be held from November 13 to November 17 at the Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium in Kolkata’s Alipore.

Carlsen, a five-time world champion, will participate in the Kolkata tournament for the second time after winning the title in 2019. In addition to Carlsen and the five Indians, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Wesley So, Vincent Keymer, and Daniil Dubov are the remaining players in the 10-player tournament. Arkady Dvorkovich, the current president of FIDE and a former deputy prime minister of Russia, was seen in the background when Carlsen delivered his acceptance speech at the FIDE 100 Gala.

The Open and Women’s divisions will be held in quick-witted styles this year, much like in previous event editions. The prize money for each category will be equal. Viswanathan Anand, a five-time world champion, will also serve as an ambassador for the competition.

In addition to India’s top-ranked women’s player Koneru Humpy competing in the 10-woman field, the women’s field will feature nearly the whole Indian squad competing at the Budapest Chess Olympiad: Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali R, Divya Deshmukh, and Vantika Agrawal.

I’m looking forward to being back at Tata Steel Chess India, which has become the marquee event in India. This year, it will bring the best of the world, headed by Magnus Carlsen. I am particularly excited that the women’s event will feature the best of Indian chess. This year has been a celebration of Indian chess, and this event will be a fitting tribute, said Indian Grand Master Anand.

Meanwhile, Dutch Grandmaster Loek van Wely has a clear winner for the highly anticipated World Chess Championship contest set to be held between India prodigy Gukesh and China’s Ding Liren in November. If I had any money left, I would put it on Gukesh, Wely admitted.

I really hope that Ding can pull himself together. If we see the data we have, the way Gukesh was playing the Olympiad, and the recent results from Ding’s matches, it’s not looking good. Maybe there’s some wonder doctor in China who can transform Ding Liren into his older self. But Gukesh should be prepared for the worst scenario. He should not think it’s a walk in the park until it’s over, he insisted.

In an exclusive chat with the media, Wely, who recently trained the Triveni Continental Kings, spoke on a variety of topics ranging from the World Championship in Singapore to the rise of Indian grandmasters, his stint with the Triveni Continental Kings, and winning two back-to-back Global Chess League titles.

I would love to have a player like Gukesh or Erigaisi on my team here, but Gukesh was not available because of the preparation for the World Championship match. Erigaisi was possible; he was on the market, but then you have to make a choice: ‘Do I take a strong male player or a strong female player?’ If the prize was right, I would love to take Erigaisi, but even Erigaisi was not performing according to what people may have expected from him. It’s all about getting the right play for the right price, he added.