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Corus Chess Tournament

The Corus Chess Tournament is an international event held annually in the village of Wijk aan Zee, which is located in the district of North Holland, Netherlands, on the North Sea coast. Apart from being the venue of this prestigious tournament, Wijk aan Zee is also a prime tourist destination, and the tourist industry forms the backbone of its economy. However, it retains a traditional, relaxing countryside feel, which only adds to its charm. It is typified by its exciting community life and rich cultural heritage, to the extent that it proclaimed itself Cultural Village of Europe in 1999. It is a member of the Cultural Village Network, represented by villages in Greece, France, Hungary, England, Germany, Spain, Italy and many other countries. This network has the chief aim to promote development of small communities.

The chess tournament itself dates back to 1938. It was held in Beverwijk, another city in the region, until 1967. Prior to 1999 it was known as the Hoogovens Tournament after Koninklijke Hoogovens, a Dutch aluminium and steel manufacturer. This enterprise merged into the Corus Group with British Steel, and this group has sponsored the chess tournament since 2000. An interest fact - Corus is the embodiment of the northwest wind in Roman mythology.

The tournament missed an edition in 1945, the year WWII ended. It marked its 67th edition in 2005.

It is scheduled to take place from January 13 to January 29 in 2006, at the De Moriaan Community Centre in Wijk aan Zee. Commentators on the Groups A, B and C Grandmaster matches will be positioned at the nearby Corus Chess Pavilion. Each player in the upcoming C group matches is a famous, international chess champion with many titles. The participants are John van der Wiel, Jan Werle, Karel van der Weide, Harmen Jonkman, Yge Visser, Pieter Hopman and Marlies Bensdorp of Holland, Suat Atalik of Turkey, Klaus Bischoff of Germany, Kateryna Atalik-Polovnikova of Russia, Cyril Marcelin of France and Ahmed Adly of Egypt, a grandmaster who is only 18.

The tournament is also open to regular club players. Some highlights in its history are the 1999 edition, when Garry Kasparov achieved a glorious victory against Bulgarian Veselin Topalov. Topalov himself is something of a national hero, and has had schools and community centres in Bulgaria named after him. Kasparov boasts three victories of the A group tournament in a row after the famous one of 1999.

The 2003 edition featured the top female chess player in the world, two former world champions and two current world title-holders, and many other excellent players. The competition format has been a round robin with 14 players for more than two decades, with two exceptions of knockout-type games in 1993 and 1995. Another exception was in 1994, because there were only ten participants. The Dutch are historically a great chess nation. The Netherlands team boasts many great successes, and its top players enjoy international fame. The team tied with England and China in the top ten during the Bled Olympiad of 2002. Other prestigious chess championships are those of Linares and Dortmund.