Viswanathan Anand in mentor's role in 2021 Tata Steel Chess India Rapid & Blitz

This is the third edition of the competition.

This is the first international over-the-board tournament being held in India since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The tournament has been a game-changer since its inaugural edition in 2018.

"I had a long commitment to Chess. I like to keep reminding people that my first Tata chess tournament was right here in Kolkata back in 1986. So it was a long relationship," said Viswanathan ahead of the five-day tournament.

The elite Grandmasters who will be seen in action at Kolkata this year are Levon Aronian, Le Quang Liem, Sam Shankland, Vidit Gujrathi, Adhiban Baskaran and Harika Dronavalli,among others. Leading India’s young brigade are Nihal Sarin, R. Praggnanandhaa, Karthikeyan Murali, D. Gukesh, Raunak Sadhwani, Arjun Erigaisi and R. Vaishali – all rising stars on the international chess scene. This is the first time that women players are participating in the tournament.

Chanakya Chaudhary, vice president, Corporate Services, Tata Steel, said, "Tata Steel has a long-standing association with chess. We intend to make Tata Steel Chess India a world-class and highly sought-after professional chess event in the years to come.

"Kolkata has been the nerve centre of chess and we are happy to bring back the biggest chess tournament of the country to the city. We hope that this tournament will inspire many more people to take up chess in India. We are particularly happy that Viswanathan Anand has joined us this year as the Tournament Ambassador and look forward to strengthening this event as we go ahead."