Magnus Carlsen versus the young guns at Wijk starts on Saturday, when the opening round (of 13) of the “chess Wimbledon” at Tata Steel Wijk aan Zee gets under way at the windswept Dutch village. Carlsen, 32, the triple world champion at classical, rapid and blitz, takes on a grandmaster field which includes five teenagers – three from India, one each from Germany and Uzbekistan – all with dreams of dethroning the Norwegian.
Carlsen’s own top priorities are to win Wijk for a record ninth time, see off the challenge from Generation Z, and hopefully to kickstart another attempt to scale his own elusive chess Everest of a 2900 rating, a target which he has twice missed by fewer than 20 points. A clear victory would confirm his current fine form in speed and online events, and justify his decision to renounce his classical crown along with its associated burden of months of pre-match work.
