World's Oldest Grandmasters

[Hans Jung]

https://en.chessbase.com/post/the-ol...g-grandmasters and they keep getting older. Interestingly, Duckstein from Austria is now the oldest, he just recently received the honorary grandmaster title.

[John Coleman]

I wonder who is the oldest ACTIVE grandmaster.

[Hans Jung]

Well John, depends if you include team play as being active. Europe has many chess leagues and seniors championships. Duckstein and Spassky are not active. I guess you would have to research the others on an individual basis.

[Jason Manley]

I was curious, so I checked the FIDE profiles of all of the names on the list. GM Hecht is still active, having played in an Austrian league in January and a rapid tournament just a couple of weeks ago. The next most recent results I found were for GM Kraidman, who was playing league games as recently as 2019, with GM Panno having one blitz game in 2019 as well.

[Fred Henderson]

It would also be interesting to know who were the oldest players to become grandmaster. I know only of Jonathan Tisdall, who gained the GM title in his 40s, and documented his effort in the book "Improve your Chess Now"

[Olga Mushtaler]

I think it's never too late for anything. You should watch this movie called Nyad. It's a biography of swimmer Diane Nyad who swam across from Cuba to US at the age of 64.

[Hans Jung]

I think the one who set the bar for becoming a grandmaster at the age of 60 was Larry Kaufman, who won the World Seniors in 2008. He has written many books on his efforts and did it mainly through extensive computer work. His son Raymond is an international master and has lived in Canada for many years.

[Paul Leblanc]

Yes, Ray Kaufman is quite active in the BC chess scene. He often plays for BC in the annual BC vs Washington and BC vs Alberta matches.

[Fred Henderson]

I think the one who set the bar for becoming a grandmaster at the age of 60 was Larry Kaufman, who won the World Seniors in 2008. He has written many books on his efforts and did it mainly through extensive computer work. His son Raymond is an international master and has lived in Canada for many years.

Thanks for a good tip. I'll be sure to check it out.