Tata for now

Wei Yi had just won a riveting game in round 11 of the Tata Steel Masters event (see puzzle no. 786). His post-game interview ended with the question: ‘With two rounds to go, do you still have energy?’

‘No,’ replied Wei, smiling. And yet China’s second strongest grandmaster (after the world champion Ding Liren), somehow rallied himself to win the final two games. His opponents must have been running on empty too. I was present in the playing hall on the final day, when apart from the matter at hand, the players also had to contend with a persistent tooting noise made by climate change protestors outside the playing hall. They were objecting to the tournament’s sponsorship by Tata Steel, which owns an enormous steel plant in Wijk aan Zee, the village on the north coast of Holland where the event is held.

It is chilly and windswept there, but also rather homely, and the Wijk aan Zee event has a grand tradition dating back to the 1930s.