GM Harikrishna to be part of Tata Steel Chess

CHENNAI:

Grandmaster P Harikrishna

will be the only Indian to feature in the 83rd edition of the

Tata Steel chess Masters

which starts at Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands from January 16. The world no. 22 replaces Shakhryar Mamedyarov who informed the organisers about his inability to be part of the over-the-board event.

This will not be the first over-the-board event for the 34-year-old in the ongoing covid-19 pandemic. He was part of the

Biel chess festival

in July last year and also played at the Polish League in August-September.

"I am looking forward to playing in the prestigious Tata steel chess. In the current situation, players are happy to get a chance to play over-the-board events and I am no different," Harikrishna told TOI. Harikrishna, who resides in Prague, will take a lot of confidence from his performances in those events. He finished second overall at Biel and followed that up by helping his side ---

Polonia Wroclaw

--- clinch the Polish team championships.

Harikrishna, who last played at the Tata Steel

chess

back in 2017, is ready to battle it out against the likes of world champion Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana and others in the tournament. "I played in this event several times. I am focusing on playing good games and staying fresh," he said.

With regards to the difference in preparation between an online and over-the-board event, Harikrishna said, "I have been preparing for over-the-board events time to time. Preparations for online events are different due to different time control." Harikrishna will be in action at the Airthings Masters later this month.