World Senior Team Championships: Iceland and Strasbourg lead

by André Schulz
7/8/2024 – After six rounds, Iceland is leading the 50+ tournament at the World Senior Team Championship in Krakow. In the 65+ tournament, the Chess Club Strasbourg, with the Roos brothers, is in the lead. The French have so far only conceded one team point - against top favourites England. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich opened the 6th round. | Photos: Mark Livshitz

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Six of the nine rounds of the Senior World Team Championships in Krakow have now been played, and the teams leading the 50+ and the 65+ tournaments are not necessarily the ones you would expect.

In the 50+ tournament, the Grandmaster teams USA, England 1, Iceland and Italy are the biggest favourites and these four teams lead after six rounds, but not in the order of the seeding list.

In fact, only Iceland, with grandmasters Helgi Olafsson, Johann Hjartarson, Margeir Petursson, Jon Arnarson and Throstur Thorhallson, are still undefeated and lead the field with five wins and one draw.

The Icelanders started with victories over the Hungarian women's team and the German team from the Lübecker SV. Lübeck's top board Ullrich Krause, the former President of the German Chess Federation, was able to draw against Olafsson, but the other three boards all lost.

In round three, the Icelanders faced their first somewhat tougher opponent, Israel Rishon Lezion, but again came away with a smooth 3:1 victory. The first English team then proved to be the first insurmountable hurdle in round four.

Michael Adams, right

At board one, however, Johann Hjartarson suffered a rather drastic defeat against Michael Adams.

Adams, Michael26701–0Hjartarson, Johann2472
WSTCC-50 2024
Krakow05.07.2024[Schulz,A]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.Nc3 a6 4.g3 d6 5.Bg2 Nf6 5...Nc6 6.d4 cxd4 7.Nxd4 Bd7 leads to the Fianchetto Variation of the Taimanov Sicilian. 6.e5 6.0-0 Be7 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 0-0 9.Be3 leads to a line of the Fianchetto Variation of the Paulsen Sicilian. 6...dxe5 7.Nxe5
This position has not been tried often, but so far White has been rather successful. 7...Qc7 7...Nbd7!? 8.Nxd7 8.Nc4 Rb8 9.a4 b5= 8...Qxd7= 8.Nc4 Bd7 9.d3 Bc6 10.Bf4 Qd8 11.Ne4 Nd5 12.Be5 Nd7 12...f6? 13.Qh5+ g6 14.Qg4 with the idea fxe5 15.Qxe6+ Qe7 16.Ncd6+ Kd8 17.Qc8# 13.0-0 Nxe5 14.Nxe5 Rc8 15.Qh5
15...g6? A serious error in a difficult position. Necessary was 15...Rc7 16.Nxc6 Rxc6 17.Rae1± 16.Nxg6 fxg6 17.Qe5 Qe7 17...Rg8 18.Qxe6++- 18.Qxh8 Kd7 19.d4 19.d4 with the nice idea Bg7 20.Nxc5+ Kc7 21.Qxg7 Qxg7 22.Nxe6+
1–0

With his third win in the third game, Adams was able to enjoy an Elo-perfomance of over 3000. However, Throstur Thorhallson levelled the score by winning against Keith Arkell. In round five, Iceland won the important battle against Italy 2.5:1.5 and in round six they beat Canada, who had celebrated four victories up to that point and had only lost to the US team.

With an average rating of 2480, the USA are the top favourites for the title ahead of England 1. After beating Brazil in the opening round, the US team had a somewhat laboured 2.5:1.5 win against Canada - only Ehlvest was able to win his game - and an equally narrow victory against USA 2. In round four, the "US boys" then suffered a defeat against Italy - Shabalov lost to Godena - and dropped to ninth place in the table. In round five, however, an important 2.5:1.5 victory against England 1 followed, with Melikset Khachiyan winning the match against Glenn Flear. On Sunday, England 2 were defeated with the same result. 

Italy had two wins, but their success against England in the third round was a narrow 2.5-1.5, with Natasha Regan scoring against Lexy Ortega.

The Italians followed that up with a win over the USA before losing to Iceland. In round six they beat Rishon Lezion. Sitting in second place at the moment, Italy are undoubtedly playing for a medal.

65+

The Strasbourg chess club team are somewhat surprisingly leading the senior tournament. The team has won five of the six rounds and drawn only once, in round five against top favourites England 1. The Roos brothers play on three boards for Strasbourg. With 6 points from 6 games, Louis Roos has been particularly impressive. In the match against England 1, John Nunn scored for England against Mershad Sharif. But Louis Roos levelled the score at 2-2 with a win against Paul Littlewood.

With 4.5 out of 6, John Nunn and Anthony Kosten are the most successful players in the England team. In round six, England dropped another team point against Israel 1. However, Nunn showed that he is still a great expert of the Najdorf when he beat Yehuda Gruenfeld on board one.

In the first part of the video series, we will look at White’s four main moves: 6. Bg5, 6. Be3, 6. Be2 and 6. Bc4.

Gruenfeld, Yehuda24000–1Nunn, John D M2552
WSTCC-65 2024
Krakow07.07.2024[Schulz,A]
1.e4 c5 This was not the first duel between Gruenfeld and Nunn: 1...d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Bd3 Na6 7.0-0 c5 8.d5 Rb8 9.Qe1 Nb4 10.a3 Nxd3 11.cxd3 b5 12.Qh4 Ba6 13.e5 dxe5 14.fxe5 Nxd5 15.Ng5 h6 16.Nce4 Qb6 17.Rf3 f5 18.exf6 hxg5 19.Bxg5 c4+ 20.Kh1 Nxf6 21.Rh3 Nh5 22.g4 Bc8 23.gxh5 Bxh3 24.Qxh3 cxd3 25.Rg1 Qc6 26.Qh4 gxh5 27.Bxe7 Rf7 28.Bb4 Re8 0-1 Gruenfeld,Y (2455)-Nunn,J (2515) Olympiad-24 Valetta 1980 (5) 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 Nbd7 Nunn is a great expert of the Najdorf. 7.Bc4 Qb6 8.Nb3 8.Qd2 Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.0-0 e6 11.Bd5 Be7 12.Rfe1 0-0 13.Rb3 Qc5 14.Bxe6 fxe6 15.Nxe6 Qe5 16.Nxf8 Bxf8 17.Bf4 ½-½ Nunn,J (2570) -Ftacnik,L (2457) EU-chT Seniors 65 Swidnica 2023 (3.1) The main line is 8.Bb3 e6 9.Qd2 8...e6 9.Qe2 A few previous games continued with 9.0-0 Be7 10.a4 9...Be7 10.0-0 10.f4 Qc7 11.0-0-0 b5 12.Bxb5 axb5 13.Nxb5 Qb8 14.Rhe1 Ba6 15.a4 Bxb5 16.axb5 e5 17.f5 Ra4 18.c4 Qc7 19.Nd2 0-0 20.g4 Nb6 21.b3 Ra2 22.Bxf6 Bxf6 23.Qe3 Qa7 24.Qc3 Qa3+ 25.Kb1 Na4 0-1 Llanes Luno,P (2103)-Newrkla,K (2210) Aragon-chT Honor GrA 2016 (5.3) 10...h6 11.Bd2 More natural seems 11.Be3 11...0-0 12.a4 Ne5
Black has a solid position and managed to equalise. 13.a5 Qc7 14.Bd3 Nxd3 15.cxd3 b5 16.Rfc1 Qb7 17.Na2 17.f3 with the idea d4 = 17...e5 18.Bb4 Be6 19.Nd2 Rac8 20.Nc3 Rfd8 21.Re1 Nd7 White's play on the kingside is too slow. 22.g3? Das weiße Spiel am Königsflügel ist zu langsam. Better was 22.Nf1 Nb8 23.Ne3 Nc6 24.Ned5 Bg5 with better chances for Black. 22...Nb8 23.f4
23...f6 Threatening to win a piece with 24...Nc6 25.Ba3 b4. 24.Nd5 Bxd5 25.exd5 Qxd5 Black won a central pawn and is clearly better. 26.Nf3 Bf8 26...Nc6!? 27.Bd2 f5-+ 27.Bc3 Nc6 28.Qe4 Qb3 29.Re2 b4 30.Be1 d5 31.Qg6 e4 32.Nh4 Ne7 33.Qg4 Qxd3 34.Rd2 Qe3+ 35.Kg2 f5 36.Qd1 Qc5 37.Bf2 e3 38.Bg1 d4 38...g5!? 39.fxg5 hxg5 40.Nf3 g4 41.Ne1 Nc6+- 39.Rd3 White could have tried 39.Bxe3 e.g. g5 39...dxe3 40.Rxd8 Rxd8 41.Qxd8 g5 42.Qd3 is less clear. 40.fxg5 dxe3 41.Rxd8 Rxd8 42.Qxd8 hxg5 43.Nf3 Qc2+ 44.Kh1 Qe4-+ 39...Qc2+ 40.Qxc2 Rxc2+ 41.Kh1 Rd5 42.Nf3 Rxb2 43.Rxd4 Rxd4 44.Nxd4 Nd5 45.Rc1 e2 46.Re1 b3 47.Nxe2 Bb4 48.Rd1 Rxe2 49.Rxd5 b2
0–1

Standings 50+

Rk. Snr Team Group Matches   +    =    -   Tb1   Tb2   Tb3   Tb4   Tb5 
1 3
Iceland 6 5 1 0 11 19 0 41 46
2 4
Italy 6 5 0 1 10 16,5 0 42 47
3 1
USA 6 5 0 1 10 15,5 0 41 47
4 2
England 1 6 4 1 1 9 16,5 0 41 45
5 6
Slovakia 6 4 0 2 8 18 0 32 36
6 8
Germany 1 6 4 0 2 8 16,5 0 26 29
7 9
Israel Rishon Lezion 6 4 0 2 8 14,5 0 41 45
8 7
England 2 6 4 0 2 8 14,5 0 36 39
9 10
Canada 6 4 0 2 8 13,5 0 37 42
10 21
Estonia Women W 6 3 1 2 7 14 0 28 29
11 15
England Women W 6 3 1 2 7 11 0 39 42
12 5
USA Too 6 3 0 3 6 14,5 0 40 46
13 17
Brazil 6 2 2 2 6 13 0 30 32
14 28
South Africa 6 3 0 3 6 13 0 24 27
15 12
Germany Lubeck Chess Club 6 3 0 3 6 12 0 38 43
16 11
USA Women W 6 3 0 3 6 12 0 34 38
17 14
Germany Graal 6 2 2 2 6 12 0 28 29
18 27
Scotland 6 3 0 3 6 12 0 23 24
19 13
Norway Oslo Schakselskap 6 3 0 3 6 10,5 0 37 39
20 20
Poland Caissa 6 2 1 3 5 10,5 0 31 33
21 26
Lithuania Women W 6 1 3 2 5 10 0 32 37
22 19
Hungary Women W 6 1 3 2 5 9,5 0 33 38
23 16
England 3 6 1 3 2 5 9,5 0 31 34
24 24
Wales Silures 6 2 1 3 5 9 0 35 38
25 22
Ireland 6 2 1 3 5 9 0 28 29
26 25
Polish Amateurs 6 1 2 3 4 11 0 34 39
27 18
USA 5 Brothers 6 2 0 4 4 7,5 0 36 41
28 31
England 4 6 1 1 4 3 10 0 23 24
29 32
Poland Malopolska Team 6 1 1 4 3 10 0 21 22
30 23
Germany Women W 6 1 1 4 3 9 0 30 33
31 29
Guernsey 6 1 0 5 2 6 0 26 29
32 30
Luxemburg TASM Scheffleng 6 0 1 5 1 4,5 0 27 30

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Standings 65+

Rk. Snr Team Group Matches   +    =    -   Tb1   Tb2   Tb3   Tb4   Tb5 
1 3
France Cercle d'Echecs de Strasbourg 6 5 1 0 11 18 0 40 43
2 1
England 1 6 4 2 0 10 16,5 0 43 50
3 2
Israel 1 6 4 1 1 9 15,5 0 43 48
4 7
England 2 6 4 0 2 8 16,5 0 37 43
5 5
Italy 6 3 2 1 8 15,5 0 35 40
6 15
Ireland 1 6 4 0 2 8 15 0 27 30
7 10
Germany Eppingen 6 4 0 2 8 13,5 0 33 37
8 4
Slovakia 6 4 0 2 8 13 0 42 48
9 6
Germany Zaehringen Reloaded 6 3 1 2 7 14 0 39 44
10 29
England 3 6 3 1 2 7 13,5 0 34 37
11 8
Finland 6 3 1 2 7 12,5 0 39 45
12 17
Denmark SK 2012 6 3 1 2 7 12,5 0 31 34
13 16
Poland Lower Silesia 6 2 3 1 7 11,5 0 34 37
14 11
Belgium 6 2 2 2 6 13,5 0 32 35
15 12
Sweden 6 2 2 2 6 13 0 38 42
16 23
Brazil 6 2 2 2 6 13 0 35 38
17 13
Germany Rochade Bielefeld 6 2 2 2 6 12,5 0 30 31
18 9
Germany Schachfreunde Mitteldeutschland 6 2 2 2 6 12 0 35 39
19 20
Poland Malopolska VIP 6 2 2 2 6 11,5 0 35 40
20 24
Latvia Women W 6 2 2 2 6 11,5 0 33 37
21 21
Ukraine Kiev 6 2 2 2 6 10,5 0 34 38
22 14
Poland Zaglebie 6 2 1 3 5 11,5 0 32 35
23 18
Denmark SK 2024 6 2 1 3 5 11 0 28 29
24 27
Germany Northern Germany 6 2 1 3 5 10 0 28 31
25 22
Scotland 6 2 1 3 5 9 0 29 32
26 28
Israel 2 6 1 2 3 4 10 0 27 30
27 25
England 4 6 1 2 3 4 9,5 0 27 31
28 26
Ireland 2 5 1 1 3 4 8 0 23 26
29 31
Poland Women W 5 1 0 4 3 8,5 0 25 26
30 30
Ireland 3 5 1 0 4 3 6,5 0 24 25
31 19
Wales Silures 5 1 0 4 3 6 0 34 37
32 32
New Zealand 5 1 0 4 3 5,5 0 28 29
33 33
USA Women W 5 0 0 5 1 3,5 0 20 21

Games

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  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
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André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.

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