Chess protest
When I first read that protesters had delayed the start of the annual elite chess tournament at Wijk aan Zee in Holland, my initial response was one of puzzled curiosity. One naturally assumes that a disturbance at such an event must arise from some internal heresy within the game itself. Perhaps, I thought, the sponsors were contemplating a shift toward the abhorrent contrivance known as Freestyle Chess, and that a band of purists had assembled to defend orthodoxy. Or possibly the devotees of the Nimzo Indian Defence—1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4—had taken alarm at the growing popularity of the King’s Indian—1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7—and decided to make their stand at the gates.
None of this, it turned out, had anything to do with the matter. The reality was both simpler and more incongruous. This was the protestors’ manifesto:
Today we are blocking the entrance to the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee. Rebels dump 2025 kilos of coal, use lock-ons and hang a banner: No Chess on a Dead Planet. 2025 is the year in which Tata Steel should have been climate neutral. Tata Steel hosts chess grandmasters while causing brain damage in children. The company is the largest lead emitter in the Netherlands. Children in Wijk aan Zee grow up under toxic smoke. Lead is always harmful. Tata Steel emits 11.3 megatons of CO₂ annually, 8 percent of Dutch emissions. Actual emissions are higher than the company reports. Societal damage: more than one billion euros per year. Life expectancy in Wijk aan Zee: 2.5 months shorter. This tournament is sportswashing. While staff has to make sacrifices, the management pockets millions. XR accepts no fossil fuel sponsorship. This action is part of Stop Fossil Advertising. Stop coal. Stop Tata Steel. Live on https://xrtv.nl .
On Saturday January 17, the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee was delayed after activists from Extinction Rebellion blocked the venue and dumped coal at its entrance. The tournament had been scheduled to begin at 2pm in the community centre De Moriaan. Extinction Rebellion confirmed that protesters had obstructed the entrance and deposited precisely 2,025 kilograms of coal.
According to a spokesperson for the tournament, demonstrators blocked the entrances, though police had restored access by 2:20pm. “We have good hope that we can start later today,” the spokesperson said, adding that organisers had previously urged the activists not to disrupt the event.
The protesters themselves explained that the action was intended as a symbolic rejection of fossil fuel sponsorship, citing Tata Steel’s alleged lack of progress toward climate neutrality. A spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion summed up the position with the slogan, “No chess on a dead planet.” Footage from the scene showed activists beating drums at the entrance, an addition that appeared designed to underline their seriousness, though it did little to clarify the connection between climate policy and a chess tournament.
Organisers, for their part, expressed concern for both participants and spectators. “We hope the protesters take responsibility and act respectfully,” they said, drawing attention in particular to “the hundreds of amateur players, emerging talents, and grandmasters competing, as well as the thousands of spectators.”
The irony is that the Tata Steel Chess Tournament is itself a monument to continuity and quiet persistence. It began in 1938 as an internal company event for steelworkers and has since grown into one of the most prestigious competitions on the international chess calendar. Often described as the “Wimbledon of Chess,” it attracts the world’s finest grandmasters, emerging top talents, and thousands of amateur players, along with live visitors and online spectators from across the globe. In 2026, the tournament will celebrate its 88th year.
During those 88 years, much history has been made. The tournament has witnessed the rise and dominance of figures such as Norway’s Magnus Carlsen, India’s Viswanathan Anand, and Russia’s Gary Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov. Since 1938 there has been a long list of famous winners. Magnus Carlsen holds the record for most victories at the tournament, with eight titles to his name. Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu was the winner of the 87th edition in 2025.
It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that an event devoted to patient thought, long memory, and the slow accumulation of tradition makes an odd stage for theatrical protest. Chess, after all, is a game in which consequences are worked out move by move, often over many hours, and where disorder is punished not by noise but by logic. To interrupt such a game with drums and coal is to miss its character entirely—and perhaps, in doing so, to illustrate the very impatience that the game exists to restrain.
(Note: the tournament did go ahead and is due to end on February 1. At the halfway stage the leader is Nodirbek Abdusattorov with 4.5 points out of 6.)
Arjun Erigaisi vs. Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa
Tata Steel Masters, Wijk aan Zee, 2026, round 1
- d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 e5 4. Nf3 exd4 5. Bxc4 Nc6 6. Qb3
White demonstrates his attacking intent in opting for this theoretical sideline. A typical mainline was seen at the turn of the year, when after 6. O-O Be6 7. Bxe6 (also interesting is 7. Bb5 Bc5 8. b4 Bb6 9. a4) 7… fxe6 8. Qb3 Qd7 9. Qxb7 Rb8 10. Qa6 Nf6 11. Nbd2 Bd6 [Firouzja-Abdusattorov, London, 2025], Black was able to force a draw despite his worse pawn structure.
6… Bb4+ 7. Nbd2 Qf6 8. O-O Nge7 9. e5 Qg6 10. Nh4
In an unusual variation, this is an uncommon continuation. After 10. Bd3 Be6 11. Nc4 Qh5 12. a3 [Dreev-Rublevsky, Poikovsky, 2007], the game was abandoned as a draw.
10… Qh5 11. Ndf3 Ba5?
This unwise continuation takes an unusual variation in an unsound direction. Black should prefer 11… a5, threatening 12… a4, disrupting the a2-g8 battery and the attack on f7.
- h3 d3
Less damaging is 12… h6, when Black can deal with the threat of 13. g4? sacrificially, as after 13… Bxg4 14. hxg4 Qxg4+ 15. Kh2 O-O-O, Black has some compensation for the bishop.
- Qxd3!
Much stronger than 13. g4, which after 13… Bxg4 14. Qxg4+ permits Black full equality.
13… Nxe5 14. Nxe5 Qxe5 15. Nf3 Qd6 16. Qb3?!
Understandably renewing the battery, but even stronger is 16. Qe2 Be6 17. Bxe6 fxe6 18. Rd1 Qa6 19. Qe4 Qc6 20. Qe5 Nd5 21. Nd4 Qd6 22. Qxd6 cxd6 23. Nxe6 with a crushing endgame for White.
16… Be6?
Developed prematurely when 16… O-O!? gets the king out of the centre and 17. Rd1 Qb4 18. Bxf7+ Kh8 (18… Rxf7?? 19. Rd8#) 19. Bd2 Qxb3 20. Bxb3 Bxd2 21. Rxd2 produces an endgame where White has activated pieces and Black is uncomfortable, but relatively safe.
- Bxe6 fxe6 18. Rd1 Qb6 19. Qa4+ c6 20. Qe4 Qb5
If now, 20… O-O, the fact that the black queen is completely out of play becomes a conspicuous factor after, 21. Qxe6+ Rf7 22. Rd7 Re8 23. Be3 Qxb2 24. Bd4 Qc2 25. Ne5 when the f7-rook must fall.
- Qxe6?!
Although White maintains an advantage after the move played, an even stronger option is 21. Bg5 Qf5 22. Qd4 O-O (22… Ng6 23. Qxg7 Qf7 24. Qxf7+ Kxf7 25. Rd7+ Ke8 26. Rxb7; 22… e5 23. Qc5 Ng6 24. Qxa5 O-O; are both telling) 23. Bxe7 Rf7 24. Bh4 when White enjoys a substantial advantage. However, this is rhetorical, and White manages to prosecute his ensuing attack on the isolated black king with ferocious venom.
21… Qf5 22. Qe2 Rf8 23. Rd3 Bb6 24. Bg5 Rf7 25. g4 Qg6 26. Re1 Bxf2+ 27. Kxf2 Qxg5 28. Kg2 Qc5 29. Ne5 Rf4 30. Nd7! Qg5 31. Qe6 O-O-O
If instead, 31… Re7 (the threat was 32. Qg8#), then 32. Ne5 Rf6 33. Qd7+ Kf8 34. Qd8 Rxd8 35. Rxd8#.
- Nf6+ Black resigns 1-0
Ray’s 206th book, “ Chess in the Year of the King ”, written in collaboration with Adam Black, and his 207th, “ Napoleon and Goethe: The Touchstone of Genius ” (which discusses their relationship with chess) can be ordered from both Amazon and Blackwell’s. His 208th, the world record for chess books, written jointly with the late chess playing artist, Barry Martin, Chess through the Looking Glass , is now also available from Amazon.
A Message from TheArticle
We are the only publication that’s committed to covering every angle. We have an important contribution to make, one that’s needed now more than ever, and we need your help to continue publishing throughout these hard economic times. So please, make a donation.
