24th World Senior Chess Championship

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

In Greece these days

50+
Ilia Bluvshtein and Andre Zybura

65+
William Doubleday

http://worldseniors2014.fide.com

[Hugh Brodie]

Re: 24th World Senior Chess Championship

Also in the 65+ is former Torontonian Slobodan Krstic (he's been in Australia for some years).

[Wayne Komer]

Re: 24th World Senior Chess Championship

24th World Senior Chess Championship

The schedule for the Grand Prix Tournaments has 11 rounds for each with a break after the first four, and then the second four rounds.

The World Seniors has six rounds and a break and then the remaining five rounds.

Presumably the seniors are less apt to tire than the youngsters in the Grand Prixes.

After five rounds Nona Gaprindashvilli of Georgia leads the Women’s.

In the Men’s Senior 50 +

Nunn, John ENG 4.5
Arkell, Keith ENG 4
Hebden, Mark ENG 4
Stura, Zurab GEO 4
Sveshnikov, Evgeny LAT 4
Kristiansen, Jens DEN 3.5
Movszisian, Karen ARM 3.5
Barie, Janez SLO 3.5

In the Men’s Senior 65+

Vaisser, Anatoly FRA 4.5
Zheinin, Vladimir RUS 4
Suba, Mihal ROU 4
Gergei, Vladimir UKR 4
Van Riemsdijk, Herman BRA 4
Balashov, Yuri RUS 4
Kupreichik, Viktor BLR 4

Balashov was one of the top 25 players of the 1970s and was Boris Spassky’s second in Yugoslavia during Fischer-Spassky 1992.

John Nunn takes time off from writing books and participating in solving championships to play in the 50+. His game from Round Five against the Dane:

World Senior Championship S50
Katerini, Greece
2014.10.28
Round 5
Nunn, John D M - Kristiansen, Jens
B81 Sicilian, Scheveningen, Keres Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.g4 h6 7.h4 Be7 8.Qf3 Nc6 9.Nxc6 bxc6 10.g5 Nd7 11.Rg1 hxg5 12.Bxg5 Nf6 13.O-O-O d5 14.Be2 Bb7 15.Qg3 g6 16.f4 Qc7 17.Qe3 Qb6 18.Qh3 Rd8 19.e5 Nh5 20.Bxh5 Rxh5 21.Na4 Qb4 22.Qb3 Rc8 23.Bxe7 Qxe7 24.Rg4 c5 25.Nc3 Bc6 26.Qa3 Rxh4 27.Rxh4 Qxh4 28.Qxc5 Qxf4+ 29.Kb1 Qxe5 30.Nb5 Qe2 31.Rh1 Bxb5 32.Qxc8+ Ke7 33.a4 Bd7 34.Qc5+ Kf6 35.Qxa7 Qf3 36.Rh2 Qg3 37.Rf2+ Kg7 38.a5 e5 39.a6 Be6 40.Rf1 d4 41.Qc5 d3 42.a7 Qg2 43.Qf2 dxc2+ 44.Kc1 Qb7 45.Qf6+ Kh7 46.Qh4+ Kg7 47.Rh1 Qa8 48.Qh7+ Kf6 49.Qh8+ 1-0

[Wayne Komer]

Re: 24th World Senior Chess Championship

24th World Senior Chess Championship 2014

Chess.com has a story by Peter Doggers today on John Nunn.

http://www.chess.com/news/john-nunn-...d-seniors-2325

It says that John played his last official game of chess in August 2006 but shows him at the World Seniors in Katerini, Greece. Everything was going well until the Sixth Round game:

World Senior 50+ 2014
Katerini, Greece
Round 6
Oct. 29, 2014
Sturua, Zurab – Nunn, John
E60 King’s Indian, 3. Nf3

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 c6 5.Bg2 d5 6.Qb3 O-O 7.O-O Qb6 8.Nc3 Na6 9.Qxb6 axb6 10.Na4 Nd7 11.cxd5 cxd5 12.Bd2 e6 13.Rfc1 b5 14.Nc3 b4 15.Nb5 Nb6 16.b3 Rd8 17.Ne5 Bf8 18.Nd3 Bd7 19.Nc7 Rac8 20.Bg5 1-0

Peter gives an interview with John from 2006 and these comments from one viewer:

Nunn is/was a prodigy - if I recall correctly, he was one of the youngest undergraduates to attend Oxford to read Maths for 400 or 450 years.

I also remember reading a flattering assessment of Nunn from none other than the incumbent world champion, Carlsen who said something along the lines of "Nunn could have been world champion, but he was too clever to win it”.

Round 6 Standings 50+ Group

Sturua, Zurab (GEO) 5
Nunn, John (ENG) 4.5
Hebden, Mark (ENG) 4.5
Sveshnikov, Evgeny (LAT) 4.5
Kristiansen, Jens (DEN) 4.5
Barle, Janez (SLO) 4.5

[Laurentiu Grigorescu]

Re: 24th World Senior Chess Championship

Glad to see John Nunn in action. One of my favorites players and one of the greatest players of KID/Benoni ever. His win with black against Belijavski in 1985 in a KID is considered his immortal. Despite the poor game against Sturua, he may win this tournament.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: 24th World Senior Chess Championship

"Chess 100" Presentation

Chess-100 In the evening of Wednesday, October 29th, participants of the 2014 World Senior Championships were treated to a presentation about a new variant of chess, "Chess 100".

This new variant is based on the decimal system, in contrast to the established version of chess ("Chess 64"), which is based on the binary one. The chessboard's dimensions are 10x10 (100 squares) and the two sides have additional pawns and a new piece (the "princess").

The presentation was delivered by Mr. Alexandr Kochergin and was enjoyed by several spectators.

See: http://worldseniors2014.fide.com/en/...q-presentation

[Tom O'Donnell]

Re: 24th World Senior Chess Championship

Glad to see John Nunn in action. One of my favorites players and one of the greatest players of KID/Benoni ever. His win with black against Belijavski in 1985 in a KID is considered his immortal. Despite the poor game against Sturua, he may win this tournament.

Back in the late 90s I was asked by Carleton University to be the chess consultant to their production of "Chess: The Musical". They wanted to make the game appear real to the chess players and so I chose that one for the players to play. It was a stage production and so it wasn't easy to see the board but when I went to opening night with IM Deen Hergott, he said to me "Hey, that's Beliavsky v Nunn." I think he was the only person (chess player or not) who noticed.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: 24th World Senior Chess Championship

24th World Senior Chess Championship

Standings after Round Ten

Senior 50+

Sturua, Zurab (GEO) 8
Arkell, Keith (ENG) 8
Nunn, John (ENG) 7
Sveshnikov, Evgeny (LAT) 6.5
Bischoff, Klaus (GER) 6.5
Barle, Janez (SLO) 6.5
Bruno, Fabio (ITA) 6.5
Yasin, Hur (TUR) 6.5
Movsziszian, Karen (ARM) 6.5

Senior 65+

Kupreichik, Viktor (BLR) 7.5
Balashov, Yuri (RUS) 7.5
Zakharov, Alexander (RUS) 7.5
Vaisser, Anatoly (FRA) 7
Zheinin, Vladimir (RUS) 7
Van Riemsdijk, Herman (BRA) 7
Lederman, Leon (ISR) 7
Malisov, Boris (ISR) 7
Wahlborn, Magnus (SWE) 7

Women 50+ & 65+

Mednikova, Svetlana (RUS) 7.5
Gaprindashvili, Nona (GEO) 7
Ankudinova, Yelena (KAZ) 7
Melashvili, Nino (GEO) 7
Fatalibeova, Elena (RUS) 6.5
Kasoshvili, Tsiala (GEO) 6.5

Round 11 Pairings Senior 50+

Sturua, Zurab – Bischoff, Klaus
Arkell, Keith – Barle, Janez
Yasin, Hur – Nunn, John
Movsziszian, Karen – Sveshnikov, Evgeny

Round 11 Pairings Senior 65+

Kupreichik, Viktor – Balashov, Yuri
Van Riemsdijk, Herman – Zakharov, Alexander
Wahlborn, Magnus – Vaisser, Anatoly
Zheinin, Vladimir – Lederman, Leon
Malisov, Boris – Rooze, Jan

Round 11 Pairings Women

Saunina, Ludmila – Mednikova, Svetlana
Strutinskaia, Galina – Gaprindashvili, Nona
Kabanova, Irina – Melashvili, Nino
Ankudinova, Yelena – Khmiadashvili, Tamar

[Wayne Komer]

Re: 24th World Senior Chess Championship

24th World Senior Chess Championship

Eleventh Round
November 4, 2014

The tournament is over and the final standings are:

Men Senior 50+

1. Sturua, Zurab (GEO) 8.5
2. Arkell, Keith (ENG) 8.5
3. Nunn, John D (ENG) 8
4. Bruno, Fabio (ITA) 7.5
5. Movsziszian, Karen (ARM) 7.5
6. Sveshnikov, Evgeny (LAT) 6.5

Ilia Bluvshtein (CAN) and Andre Zybura (CAN) stood 30th and 35th respectively with 5.5 and 5 points.

________

Men Senior 65+

1. Vaisser, Anatoly (FRA) 8
2. Balashov, Yuri (RUS) 8
3. Kupreichik, Viktor (BLR) 8
4. Van Riemsdijk, Herman (BRA) 8
5. Zheinin, Vladimir (RUS) 7.5
6. Zakharov, Alexander (RUS) 7.5
7. Pritchett, Craig (SCO) 7.5

Tim Harding (IRL) was 23rd with 6.5 points and William G. Doubleday (CAN) was 36th with 6.
___________

Women 50+ & 65+

1. Mednikova, Svetlana (RUS) 8.5
2. Gaprindashvili, Nona (GEO) 8
3. Ankudinova, Yelena (KAZ) 8
4. Melashvili, Nino (GEO) 8
5. Kasoshvili, Tsiala (GEO) 7.5

[Wayne Komer]

Re: 24th World Senior Chess Championship

24th World Senior Chess Championship

ChessBase has a report on the tournament today:

http://en.chessbase.com/post/world-s...s-back-legends

illustrated with lots of games and photos. My favorite is of John Nunn squished in a “chorus line” of young ladies.

GM Mihai Suba is mentioned as one of the most famous grandmasters of Romania, his book Dynamic Chess Strategy being a wonderful contribution to chess literature.

I do not have this book and the simple praise for it above has me scanning the used book lists for a copy!

There is an appreciation of Nona Gaprindashvili. She won five world championship matches and eleven Chess Olympiads. She is considered the greatest sportswoman in Georgia in the 20th century.

[Laurentiu Grigorescu]

Re: 24th World Senior Chess Championship

Suba is one of the most famous grandmasters from Romania. His style is unique and I would say non-Romanian. He fled to England in the mid '80s but returned in the early '90s. He peaked in the early 80s when he won Dortmund and played two Interzonals, with Las Palmas being his best result, 3rd place ahead of Petrosian, Timman, Larsen, and Miles.

I bought his book as a present for a chess friend from Romania on my visit last year. The book is as the author, and reflects his view of chess. More for the active player looking for something else than Berlin and Slav Defense :-)