Tata Steel Chess 2012

Wijk aan Zee
Free day in Tata Steel Chess tournament. Time to relax, recharge the batteries and move on. And because there are no games to follow today (yes, I know...I also regret that), let's take a tour around, to see where everything happens.

The main street in Wijk.
Impossible not to meet at least a few chess players
everytime you pass by.

You can see in the background the TataSteel
furnaces doing their job.

It's the third year in a row that I am coming to Wijk
and my nonspeaking friends are still here! There is also
a white goat but she was hiding somewhere:)

Typical Wijk aan Zee image, with the steam
being visible day and night. 

The main sponsor of our beautiful tournament.
It looks like intense work and I hope it will remain that way,
for selfish reasons...

Wijk seen from up

You can see on the right the tent I was telling you
before and the multitude of cars: chess fans of course.

Wijk is famous for its beaches. Usually in summer time:)

Nevertheless, this year we had an incredible weather,
warm and sunny. Where's the wind?!

In January, in Wijk, chess can be seen everywhere:
from posters to special events; even on your plate!

As some players would say, this is the place to enjoy
your "comfort food"! Such as: fries, icecream etc...:)

Dutch architecture

Many people rent their places for the chess participants.
The tournament means a lot to us, to the community and
on a larger scale, to chess itself!