2025 World Senior

[Hans Jung]

Thanks Michael. You are doing a great job of reporting this event for us Canadians (and followers of chesstalk).

[Michael]

It was a mixed bag in the 50+ section today for the Canadians with 1 win, 1 loss and 2 draws. Unfortunately, Victor lost a game that was back and forth with some missteps by both players in the two time scrambles (players get an extra 30 minutes after 40 moves). Marcel Milat had the only Canadian win of the round, which brings him to 5.5 points after 9 rounds, tied with Victor.

In the 65+ section, the Canadians had 2 wins and 2 draws in the 5 games. This was especially impressive since 4 of the 5 players had the black pieces. Alex Szatmary has gained 85 rating points so far in the tournament.

[Victor Plotkin]

Just eyeballing his opponent's ratings, I believe that a draw is good enough for a norm, but I haven't done a detailed calculation and I haven't looked at the rules for an 11 round tournament for a while, so I could be mistaken.

Yes, a draw yesterday would have given me IM norm. After bad opening, I was able to equalize and even got slightly better position around move 30, but made many weak moves in time trouble.

Now I need 2 wins in last 2 rounds, probably against higher rated players, which is highly unlikely.

[Victor Plotkin]

Its nice to see so many Canadians at the World Seniors. For many years there were just a few and in some years in the last ten years only Leon Piasetski. Hopefully one of these years I will make it.

I was playing every Senior Championship since 2018, as I became senior.

2018 - total 11 players from Canada, including 7 in 50+ section. E.Porper - D.Cummings - V.Plotkin - I Findlay - M.Dougherty - D.Haessel - S.Peter
2019 - total 6 players, 3 in 50+ section. Plotkin - Haessel - D.Filipovich
2022 - total 9 players, 7 in 50+ section. Cummings - Plotkin - Y.Morin - Dougherty - Haessel - Filipovich - M.Soskic
2023 - total 9 players, 7 in 50+ section. Cummings - Plotkin - M.Milat - Morin - T.Duong - Haessel - Filipovich
2024 - total 6 players, 4 in 50+ section. Cummings - Plotkin - Morin - Filipovich
2025 - total 10 players, 4 in 50+ section. Plotkin - Milat - Duong - Dougherty.

Generally speaking, the tournament is growing and we have about 440 players this year (in all 4 sections). FIDE does a good job here increasing prize fund almost every year and choosing interesting locations. Highly recommended for chess tourists.

[Hans Jung]

Thanks Victor for the details.

[Aris Marghetis]

I was playing every Senior Championship since 2018, as I became senior.

2018 - total 11 players from Canada, including 7 in 50+ section. E.Porper - D.Cummings - V.Plotkin - I Findlay - M.Dougherty - D.Haessel - S.Peter
2019 - total 6 players, 3 in 50+ section. Plotkin - Haessel - D.Filipovich
2022 - total 9 players, 7 in 50+ section. Cummings - Plotkin - Y.Morin - Dougherty - Haessel - Filipovich - M.Soskic
2023 - total 9 players, 7 in 50+ section. Cummings - Plotkin - M.Milat - Morin - T.Duong - Haessel - Filipovich
2024 - total 6 players, 4 in 50+ section. Cummings - Plotkin - Morin - Filipovich
2025 - total 10 players, 4 in 50+ section. Plotkin - Milat - Duong - Dougherty.

Generally speaking, the tournament is growing and we have about 440 players this year (in all 4 sections). FIDE does a good job here increasing prize fund almost every year and choosing interesting locations. Highly recommended for chess tourists.

Thanks for the reports Victor. I'm always happy to read about how you and the other Canadians enjoy these events!

[Michael]

Two wins and a draw in todays games for the Canadians in the 50+ section. It was almost all 4 games without a loss, but one of our players missed a tactic in a tricky, but drawn, queen and pawn end game. Victor Plotkin was the player with the draw against a higher rated player. He won't get a norm, but he will leave with a nice rating bump. The 3 Canadians remaining in the field all have 6 points after 10 games and all are paired up against IMs in the final round of the tournament.

It was another good day for the Canadians in the 65+ section, with the 5 remaining players combining for 2 wins and 2 draws. Ian Findlay and Sergey Malakhovets pulled of the victories while Benjamin Fradkin and Alex Szatmary continued their unbeaten streaks. Alex has gone 6 games without a loss and Benjamin has gone 5. All of the games by Alex and Benjamin have been against higher rated players.

[Michael]

The last round of the tournament often leads to a lot of draws with the players ready to go home. Today is no exception with Michael and Duong settling for quick draws in the 50+ section. Victor is continuing to fight.