World Senior Team Championships start in Krakow

by André Schulz
7/2/2024 – The World Team Championships for seniors over 50 and over 65 begin today (2 July) in Krakow, Poland. The USA and England are the top seeds. The first round will be played today at 3 pm.

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The Polish Chess Federation and the Malopolska Chess Federation are organising the World Senior Team Championships from 1 to 12 July. The tournament will be played in the two age groups 50+ plus and 65+. The venue is the Galaxy Hotel in Krakow.

The Old Town of Krakow | Photo: Tournament site

A total of 32 teams have registered for the 50+ tournament. Top seed is team USA, which starts with five grandmasters: Jaan Ehlveest, Igor Novikov, Alexander Shabalov, Alex Yermolinsky and Melikset Kachiyan. But the teams England 1, Iceland and Italy are not much worse. England 1 has five grandmasters in Michael Adams, John Emms, Glenn Fear, Keith Arkell and Nigel Davies. The Icelandic team also has five grandmasters, led by Helgi Olafsson and Johann Hjartarson. Grandmasters David Alberto and Michele Godena play on the first two boards for Italy.

There are 33 teams in the 65+ group. Top seed is England 1, with John Nunn on board one. Second seed is Israel 1, third seed is the team from France Cercle d'Echecs de Strasbourg, which is almost a family team: IM Mehrshad Sharif plays on board one, IM Daniel Roos follows on board two, GM Nikolay Legky on board three, while IMs Louis Roos and Jean-Luc Roos, the brothers of Daniel Roos, play on board four and five.

In addition to the titles of Senior World Team Champion over 50 and over 65, there is also a World Championship title for women's teams. When there are ten teams from at least two continents, FIDE organises a separate tournament. If there are fewer teams, they play in the open tournament. The best teams will be awarded the World Championship title. For the 2024 Senior World Team Championships in Krakow, six women's teams in the 50+ age group and three women's teams in the 65+ age group have registered.

Both tournaments will are 9-round-swiss-tournaments. Round 1 will be played on 2 July. All rounds start daily at 15:00, except for the final round which starts at 10:00. After the sixth round, there will be a rest day on 8 July.

Starting list 50+

No. Team Elo average Group
1 USA 2480
2 England 1 2469
3 Iceland 2439
4 Italy 2431
5 USA Too 2304
6 Slovakia 2282
7 England 2 2268
8 Germany 1 2218
9 Israel Rishon Lezion 2214
10 Canada 2182
11 USA Women 2122 W
12 Germany Lubeck Chess Club 2102
13 Norway Oslo Schakselskap 2098
14 Germany Graal 2065
15 England Women 2064 W
16 England 3 2063
17 Brazil 2059
18 USA 5 Brother 2044
19 Hungary Women 2042 W
20 Poland Caissa 2013
21 Estonia Women 1993 W
22 Ireland 1990
23 Germany Women 1990 W
24 Wales Silures 1976
25 Polish Amateurs 1974
26 Lithuania Women 1960 W
27 Scotland 1948
28 South Africa 1927
29 Guernsey 1920
30 Luxemburg TASM Scheffleng 1904
31 England 4 1903
32 Poland Malopolska Team 1858

Starting list 65+

No. Team Elo average Group
1 England 1 2425
2 Israel 1 2335
3 France Cercle d'Echecs de Strasbourg 2313
4 Slovakia 2291
5 Italy 2274
6 Germany Zaehringen Reloaded 2226
7 England 2 2225
8 Finland 2202
9 Germany Schachfreunde Mitteldeutschland 2189
10 Germany Eppingen 2182
11 Belgium 2099
12 Sweden 2085
13 Germany Rochade Bielefeld 2051
14 Poland Zaglebie 2049
15 Ireland 1 2048
16 Poland Lower Silesia 2037
17 Denmark SK 2012 2030
18 Denmark SK 2024 2021
19 Wales Silures 2003
20 Poland Malopolska VIP 1996
21 Ukraine Kiev 1995
22 Scotland 1981
23 Brazil 1979
24 Latvia Women 1974 W
25 England 4 1946
26 Ireland 2 1923
27 Germany Northern Germany 1922
28 Israel 2 1897
29 England 3 1808
30 Ireland 3 1803
31 Poland Women 1783 W
32 New Zealand 1766
33 USA Women 1547 W

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André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.