Hoogovens Beverwijk The early tournaments were very small, starting with groups of four in 1938, and entry restricted to Dutch players. The first four tournaments continued this way, until 1942, when it was expanded to six players, and in 1943 to eight players. No tournament was held in 1945 due to
World War II. The first international tournament was held in 1946, with the field expanded to ten, and invitations to
Alberic O'Kelly de Galway (Belgium) and
Gösta Stoltz (Sweden) along with a Dutch contingent of eight. The tournament field was increased to twelve in 1953, and an international women's tournament was also held. In 1954, the tournament field was returned to ten players, but the strength of the competitions increased. The field was greatly enlarged to 18 in 1963, and although it reduced to 16 in 1964, the event had become the strongest international chess tournament in the world. As the tournament grew in stature, it began to offer lower groups such as a B-group (sometimes called "Challengers" in contrast to group-A or "Masters"), and occasionally a C-group. There also began a tradition to operate a year on year policy of inviting the winner of the B-group to the A-group. :
Hoogovens Wijk aan Zee , pictured at Hoogovens 1973, which he went on to win|alt=Tal sitted on a table, just before or after a game , a 2 time winner vs GM
Paul van der Sterren, pictured at Hoogovens 1988; Karpov went on to win|alt=Karpov updates his movesheet, while Sterren thinks , a 2 time winner vs WCC
Garry Kasparov, a 3 time winner, pictured at Hoogovens 1999; Kasparov went on to win|alt=Timman thinks while Kasparov makes a move The tournament was moved to the Dutch seaside town
Wijk aan Zee in 1968. Starting from 1982, the tournament mostly settled to its present number of 14 players. The winners of the top group were: :
Corus tournament pictured at Hoogovens 1998; she came 2nd in the 2003 edition–the highest position by a woman in the tournament|alt=Polgar thinks on a move , who is also a 5 time winner, pictured at Corus 2010|alt=Anand making a move From 2000, the formal name for the tournament was changed to the "Corus Chess Tournament". The winners of the A-group were: :
Tata Steel tournament , who is also an 8 time winner, pictured at Tata Steel 2013, which he went on to win|alt=Carlsen makes a move vs former WCC
Viswanathan Anand, pictured at Tata Steel 2019, which Carlsen went on to win|alt=Carlsen thinks on a move, while Anand looks away (sitting center) and eventual winner
R Praggnanandhaa (sitting, 2nd from right)|alt=7 GMs sitting on chairs in a row, 7 standing behind them From 2011, the formal name changed to the "Tata Steel Chess Tournament". The winners of the Masters section were: : ==Multiple winners==