Sturua, Nunn lead at World Seniors

by Frederic Friedel
11/1/2014 – It is an experiment to test if his brain is still working. After winning a series of world problem solving championships, ahead of so many sharp young upstarts, British GM John Nunn decided to take part in the 24th World Senior Chess Championship in Katerini, Greece. After eight years of absence from competitive chess, an at 59 years of age, John is leading the 50+ group. Yep, still working fine!
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The 24th FIDE World Senior Championships are taking place at the Olympus Riviera of Katerini in Greece, with the participation of 163 players from 40 countries and a prize fund of €20.000 for the winners. The first round was on October 24, the final (eleventh) round is on November 4th.

The event is being held under excellent playing conditions in the conference center of the five-star "Mediterranean Village" resort hotel.

Top names playing include famous GMs such as John Nunn (ENG), Nona Gaprindashvili (GEO), Mark Hebden (ENG), Anatoly Vaisser (FRA), Zurab Sturua (GEO), Klaus Bischoff (GER), Karen Movsziszian (ARM), Keith Arkell (ENG), Evgeny Vasiukov (RUS), Yuri Balashov (RUS), Viktor Kupreichik (BLR), Mihai Suba (ROU), Jens Kristiansen (DEN) and many others.

The World Senior Chess Championship is open to all players, regardless of rating and title, who have reached the age of 50 and represent National Chess Federations which are members of FIDE. The Championship is being played in two categories: one for those who shall have reached the age of 50 (category SENIOR 50+), and one for those who have reached the age of 65 (category SENIOR 65+) by December 31st of this year. A separate Women's tournament is being held with 25 players. There are separate prizes for participants who are over 65 and for those over 50. Full technical details can be found here (PDF).

The leader after seven rounds: Georgian GM Zurab Sturua

Testing his brain: GM John Nunn, who lost a game to Sturua but caught him after
seven rounds and is only slightly behind on tiebreak points.

Top standings in the Senior 50+ group after round seven

Rk. SNo Ti. Name FED Rtg Pts.  TB2   TB3 
1 3 GM Sturua Zurab GEO 2523 5.5 28.0 31.5
2 1 GM Nunn John D M ENG 2602 5.5 29.0 32.5
3 2 GM Hebden Mark L ENG 2540 5.0 28.0 31.0
4 8 GM Arkell Keith C ENG 2450 5.0 27.5 30.5
5 4 GM Sveshnikov Evgeny LAT 2517 5.0 27.0 30.5
6 10 GM Kristiansen Jens DEN 2405 5.0 27.0 30.0
7 9 IM Bruno Fabio ITA 2422 4.5 26.5 28.5
8 11 IM Barle Janez SLO 2338 4.5 26.0 29.0
9 5 GM Bischoff Klaus GER 2504 4.5 26.0 29.0
10 13 GM Bouaziz Slim TUN 2321 4.5 24.0 26.5
11 6 GM Movsziszian Karen ARM 2487 4.5 23.0 26.0
12 20   Alexakis Dimitrios GRE 2224 4.5 23.0 24.0
13 27   Yasin Hur TUR 2138 4.5 22.5 25.0
14 7 IM Kalegin Evgenij RUS 2474 4.0 27.5 30.5
15 26 FM Furman Boris RUS 2152 4.0 24.5 27.5
16 16 IM Shevelev Arkady ISR 2295 4.0 23.5 26.0
17 14 FM Chapman Terry P D ENG 2304 4.0 23.0 26.0
18 22 FM Nikolaidis Konstantinos GRE 2178 4.0 22.5 24.0
19 24   Findlay David John SCO 2162 4.0 21.0 22.0

Full results and standings of all 47 players here

Some readers will recognize this player. Hint: a major opening variation is named after him.

Top standings in the Senior 65+ group after round seven

Rk. SNo Ti. Name FED Rtg Pts.  TB2   TB3 
1 1 GM Vaisser Anatoly FRA 2531 6.0 29.5 33.5
2 2 IM Zhelnin Vladimir V RUS 2471 5.5 27.5 31.0
  4 GM Balashov Yuri S RUS 2429 5.5 27.5 31.0
4 6 GM Suba Mihai ROU 2341 5.5 27.0 30.0
5 9 IM Zakharov Alexander RUS 2331 5.5 25.0 28.5
6 5 GM Kupreichik Viktor D BLR 2405 5.0 27.0 30.0
7 17 FM Peretz Malkiel ISR 2240 5.0 24.5 28.0
8 20   Kolbak Jens DEN 2232 5.0 24.0 26.5
  55   Morriss Pete IRL 2032 5.0 24.0 26.5
10 23 FM Gergel Vladimir P UKR 2202 4.5 27.5 30.0
11 11 IM Pritchett Craig W SCO 2315 4.5 27.0 30.0
12 22 FM Singer Hans AUT 2207 4.5 27.0 29.5
13 13 IM Filipenko Alexander V RUS 2292 4.5 27.0 29.0
14 8 IM Van Riemsdijk Herman C. BRA 2339 4.5 26.0 29.5
15 19 IM Lederman Leon ISR 2233 4.5 26.0 28.5
16 26 FM Frumson Yury RUS 2179 4.5 25.0 28.0
17 29 FM Serra Olives Tomas ESP 2156 4.5 24.5 26.5
18 10 IM Klundt Klaus GER 2325 4.5 23.5 27.0
19 15   Malisov Boris ISR 2250 4.5 23.5 26.5
20 7 IM Rooze Jan BEL 2341 4.5 23.0 26.0
21 12 GM Pushkov Nikolai RUS 2306 4.5 23.0 26.0
22 30 IM Skalkotas Nikolaos GRE 2150 4.5 23.0 25.5
23 37   Batakovs Olegs LAT 2098 4.5 22.5 24.0
24 27   Bibilashvili Giorgi GEO 2169 4.5 20.0 22.5

Full results and standings of all 92 players here

Top standings in the Womens Senior 50+ and 65+ group after round seven

Rk. SNo Title Name Typ FED Rtg Pts.  TB2   TB3 
1 11 WGM Ankudinova Yelena S50 KAZ 2121 5.0 26.0 27.5
2 12 WIM Lauterbach Ingrid S50 ENG 2095 5.0 25.0 25.5
3 1 GM Gaprindashvili Nona S65 GEO 2299 4.5 27.5 30.5
4 5 WGM Saunina Ludmila S50 RUS 2190 4.5 26.5 29.5
5 7 WIM Mednikova Svetlana S50 RUS 2154 4.5 25.5 28.0
6 4 WGM Fatalibekova Elena S65 RUS 2215 4.5 25.0 28.0
7 6 WIM Kasoshvili Tsiala S50 GEO 2161 4.5 25.0 27.5
8 9 WIM Melashvili Nino S50 GEO 2135 4.5 24.5 26.0
9 8 WFM Bogumil Tatiana S50 RUS 2149 4.5 21.0 24.0
10 19   Baliuniene Margarita S50 DEN 1961 4.5 20.5 22.0
11 10 WIM Titorenko Natalia I S50 RUS 2123 4.0 22.0 23.5
12 3   Priedite Ingrida S50 LAT 2225 3.5 25.0 28.0
13 2 WGM Strutinskaia Galina S50 RUS 2287 3.5 25.0 26.5
14 15 WFM Khropova Larisa S50 RUS 2026 3.5 21.5 24.0
15 14 WFM Birkholz Olga S50 GER 2067 3.5 21.5 23.0
16 20   Kabanova Irina S65 RUS 1933 3.5 20.5 22.0
17 18   Abdikasova Panu S65 KAZ 1981 3.5 20.5 21.0
18 16 WFM Ungure Liga S50 LAT 1997 3.0 23.5 26.0
19 13 WGM Khmiadashvili Tamar S65 GEO 2090 3.0 23.5 25.0
20 22   Sand Rosemarie S50 GER 1651 3.0 20.5 22.0
21 17   Sinchurina Tatiana S50 RUS 1985 3.0 20.5 21.0
22 25   Yagunova Zinaida S65 KAZ 0 3.0 20.0 20.5
23 23   Pelias Marilyn S50 USA 1613 2.0 21.5 22.0
24 21   Hoose Hannelore S65 GER 1757 2.0 20.0 20.5
25 24   Berezovskaya Vera S65 RUS 0 1.0 18.0 19.5

Full results and standings of all 25 players here

Links

The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.
Editor-in-Chief emeritus of the ChessBase News page. Studied Philosophy and Linguistics at the University of Hamburg and Oxford, graduating with a thesis on speech act theory and moral language. He started a university career but switched to science journalism, producing documentaries for German TV. In 1986 he co-founded ChessBase.

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