World Team Championship Seniors

by Johannes Fischer
7/1/2016 – After five of nine rounds Armenia and Germany I lead the World Team Championship 50+ that takes place from 26th June to 4th July in Radebeul, Germany. In the Championship 65+ the Russian team dominates. Radebeul is the place where Karl May, one of Germany's most successful and popular authors, died. But the heroes of his popular novels are still very much alive.

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The World Team Championships 50+, 65+ take place from 26th June to 4th July in the Radisson Blu Hotel, Radebeul, near Dresden, Germany. Organiser is the ZMDI Schachfestival Dresden. The tournament is a 9 round swiss open with teams consisting of four players. Teams from all FIDE federations have the right to participate and they may represent or any regional structure of a national federation. But all players must come from the same federation.

The winning team obtains the title "World Team Champion 2016 (50+ or 65+). The best placed women's team obtains the title "FIDE Woman Team Champion 2016".

A wide variety of teams take part in the event. National teams such as England, Iceland, Armenia, Germany, Scotland or Finland compete with regional or club teams such as SK Norderstedt or SK Kaltenkirchen. But there also teams named "Störtebeker" (a famous German pirate who lived from about 1360 to 1401) or the team "Dettmann" which starts with Armin Waschk on top board and Gerd, Holger, Uwe and Jürgen Dettmann on boards two to five.

But who is the guy who executes the first move in the game
Arthur Jussupow vs Johann Hjartarson in the match between Iceland
and the Emanuel Lasker Gesellschaft?

The World Senior Championships take place in Radebeul, and this is the place where Karl May, one of the most successful and influential German writers died on 30th March 1912. May is particularly well-known for his adventure novels set in the "Wild West" - and the guy in the picture seems to be an impersonation of one of May's most famous heroes, "Old Shatterhand".

According to the Wikipedia May "is one of the best-selling German writers of all time with about 200 million copies worldwide".

Karl May (25. February 1842 - 30. March 1912) (Photo: Wikipedia)

Later in his life May was a wealthy and successful author but he was born into a poor family and as a young man turned to stealing and other petty crimes. He served several prison sentences for theft and vagrancy, the last one from 1870 to 1874. After his release he focused on writing and became a prolific author of colportage, adventure and travel novels.

May wrote his most successful novels as a first-person-narrator and though they were pure fiction he later in life claimed to have lived through all the adventures of his heroes himself, claiming "I am Old Shatterhand".

His novels about "Winnetou" and "Old Shatterhand" in which he painted an idealized, romanticized version of the "Wild West" and Native Americans while indulging in phantasies of good, great heroes with clear moral values were extremely popular and widely read. Arguably May had a deep and lasting influence on German culture with admirers ranging from Albert Einstein to Adolf Hitler.

Incidentally, May also has a connection to chess. Lothar Schmid, Grandmaster, chess collector and arbiter was born on 10th May 1928 in Radebeul into the family which owned the Karl May Verlag and the rights to the books of May. Later, Schmid inherited and led the Karl May Verlag.

But the modern version of Old Shatterhand did not bring much luck to the team of the Emanual Lasker Gesellschaft, which lost its match against Iceland 1.5-2.5. But in round five Iceland in turn lost against Armenia and after five rounds the Armenians share the lead with the team of Germany I, which defeated England 2.5-1.5.

In the England vs Germany match Klaus Bischoff won
a crucial game against Jon Speelman

Standings after five rounds

Pl. Team ELO Man.Pkt. Brt.Pkt. SoBerg
1.   Armenia   10:0 16.5 93.5
1.   Rafael A Vaganian 2577 4.5:0.5 11 9
2.   Ashot Anastasian 2532 3.5:1.5 12.5 7.25
3.   Karen Movsziszian 2488 4:1 13 10.75
4.   Norayr Kalantaryan 2378 3:0 13.5 7
5.   Sergey Galdunts 2415 1.5:0.5 12.5 5.25
2.   Germany 1   10:0 16.5 85
1.   Uwe Bönsch 2545 4:1 14 10.5
2.   Klaus Bischoff 2500 5:0 10.5 10.5
3.   Karsten Volke 2478 3:2 13 7.5
4.   Raj Tischbierek 2439 4:0 12.5 9.5
5.   Gernot Gauglitz 2396 0.5:0.5 10.5 1.5
3.   England 1   8:2 15.5 68.5
1.   John D M Nunn 2597 4:1 11.5 8
2.   Jon S Speelman 2523 2.5:1.5 13 5
3.   Mark L Hebden 2510 4.5:0.5 12.5 11.5
4.   Keith C Arkell 2453 3:0 13.5 9
5.   Glenn C Flear 2450 1.5:1.5 13 2.25
4.   Emanuel-Lasker-Gesellschaft   8:2 14.5 73
1.   Artur Jussupow 2596 2.5:1.5 13 6.75
2.   Alexander Graf 2561 3.5:0.5 12.5 9
3.   Jakob Meister 2456 3.5:0.5 13 8.75
4.   Dr. Gerhard Köhler 2201 2.5:2.5 14 7.5
5.   Thomas Pähtz 2361 2.5:0.5 12.5 6.5
5.   Iceland   8:2 13 68.5
1.   Johann Hjartarson 2547 2:2 15 6.75
2.   Helgi Olafsson 2543 3:2 13.5 7.5
3.   Margeir Petursson 2509 3:1 14.5 10.5
4.   Jon L Arnason 2490 3.5:1.5 12 8.25
5.   Fridrik Olafsson 2377 1.5:0.5 12 3
6.   Canada   8:2 13 57.5
1.   Jean Hebert 2370 2:2 15.5 4.75
2.   Deen Hergott 2385 3.5:0.5 12.5 8.75
3.   Tom O'Donnell 2354 2:2 13 5.5
4.   David Ross 2296 3:1 10.5 6.75
5.   Paul Ross 2282 2.5:1.5 14 8.25
7.   Stiftung BSW / DBAG II   8:2 13 43
1.   Michael Müller 2244 2.5:1.5 12.5 6.5
2.   Detlev Kuhne 2085 2:2 11 3.75
3.   Ralf-Peter Stahr 2018 5:0 6.5 6.5
4.   Wolfgang Tichatschke 1975 2:2 11.5 4.25
5.   Karl-Heinz Schneider 1975 1.5:1.5 11.5 3.5
8.   Thüringen   7:3 14 67.5
1.   Peter Enders 2448 3.5:1.5 12.5 8.75
2.   Thomas Casper 2377 3.5:1.5 13 7.75
3.   Joachim Brüggemann 2304 3:2 10.5 6.5
4.   Gunter Sandner 2267 1:0 11 1.5
5.   Lutz Espig 2263 3:1 13 9
9.   England 2   7:3 12.5 53.5
1.   H James Plaskett 2445 4.5:0.5 10.5 9.5
2.   Andrew P Lewis 2269 2:2 12.5 5.25
3.   Ingrid Lauterbach 2107 2:2 13 5.75
4.   Mark E Page 2080 3:1 12.5 7.75
5.   Kevin Bowmer 2071 1:2 11.5 3
10.   Russia Women   7:3 12 64.5
1.   Galina Strutinskaia 2237 3:2 12 7
2.   Svetlana Mednikova 2180 2:2 14 5.75
3.   Valentina Kozlovskaya 2218 3:2 11.5 7
4.   Elena Fatalibekova 2227 2.5:1.5 11.5 4.75
5.   Elena N Sazonova 2176 1.5:0.5 11 3.75

All results 50+...

Elisabeth Pähtz opens the round in the women's tournament

65+ Seniors

In group 65+ the team "Russia 65+" dominates the event and has won all of their five matches.

Vadim Z. Faibisovich (left) plays against Evgeny Sveshnikov.
GM Nikolai Pushkov waits for his opponent.

All results 65+...

Standings after round five

Pl. Team ELO Man.Pkt. Brt.Pkt. SoBerg
1.   Russia 65+   10:0 15.5 82.5
1.   Evgeny Sveshnikov 2509 3:1 13.5 7.5
2.   Evgeni Vasiukov 2403 2:0 13.5 6
3.   Yuri S Balashov 2408 3:1 14 10
4.   Vladimir V Zhelnin 2455 3.5:1.5 13 8.25
5.   Nikolai Pushkov 2315 4:1 11.5 8.25
2.   Sankt-Petersburg   8:2 15 93
1.   Vadim Z Faibisovich 2348 4:1 12.5 8.75
2.   Nikolai M Mishuchkov 2306 4:1 12 8.5
3.   Vladimir I Karasev 2347 4.5:0.5 11 9.5
4.   Igor Blechzin 2349 2.5:2.5 12.5 7.25
3.   Belgium 1   8:2 14 66
1.   Jan Rooze 2322 5:0 8.5 8.5
2.   Marcel Van Herck 2155 3:2 13.5 7.75
3.   Robert Schuermans 2128 3.5:1.5 10 6.5
4.   Valeer Maes 2084 2.5:2.5 13 7.25
4.   Schachfreunde Leipzig   8:2 13 54.5
1.   Manfred Böhnisch 2302 2.5:2.5 12.5 5.5
2.   Thomas Schubert 2362 3.5:1.5 12 8.25
3.   Manfred Schöneberg 2245 2:1 13 5.25
4.   Dr. Gottfried Braun 2240 2.5:1.5 10 5.75
5.   Robert Beltz 2121 2.5:0.5 12 6.25
5.   England 1   8:2 12.5 57
1.   Anthony J Stebbings 2292 2:2 11.5 4.5
2.   Geoffrey H James 2203 2:2 10.5 4
3.   Michael Stokes 2187 3.5:0.5 13.5 8.25
4.   John M Quinn 2152 2.5:1.5 14.5 6.75
5.   Julian T Farrand 2048 2.5:1.5 13.5 8.5
6.   USV TU Dresden   8:2 10.5 37.5
1.   Gerhard Schmidt 2203 3:2 11.5 7
2.   Wolfgang Lenk 2213 2:3 13.5 4
3.   Peter Kahn 2097 2.5:2.5 13.5 6.5
4.   Prof. Dr. Hans Petzold 2092 3:2 10.5 6.75
7.   Moldova   7:3 12.5 57.5
1.   Victor Romcovici 2122 4.5:0.5 9 9
2.   Boris M Nevednichy 2122 3.5:1.5 8.5 6.5
3.   Albert Scovitin 2209 3:2 13.5 7.75
4.   Nicolai Seredneac 1395 0:1 9 0
5.   Viktor Gyrlea 2384 1.5:2.5 11 3.25
8.   Stiftung BSW / DBAG I   7:3 12 52
1.   Karl-Heinz Lehmann 2108 1.5:2.5 12 3
2.   Werner Kugelmann 2144 2.5:2.5 12 6
3.   Dr. Friedrich Baumbach 2193 4.5:0.5 11 9.25
4.   Hans-Jürgen Fleuch 2078 2.5:1.5 11.5 6
5.   Dr. Valerij Goldberg 2123 1:1 12 3
9.   Germany 2   7:3 11.5 58.5
1.   Jefim Rotstein 2332 1.5:3.5 14.5 4
2.   Boris Khanukov 2323 3:2 12 8.25
3.   Sergej Salov 2198 3.5:1.5 13.5 9.25
4.   Boris Gruzmann 2202 3.5:1.5 13 9
10.   Sachsen-Anhalt   7:3 10.5 35.5
1.   Heinz Liebert 2182 2:3 11.5 4.75
2.   Karl-Heinz Bondick 2055 2.5:2.5 11 4.5
3.   Dieter Bocionek 1956 3:2 10.5 5
4.   Roland Rümmler 1952 3:2 9.5 5.75
11.   Hessen 1   6:4 13 47.5
1.   Georg Haubt 2132 4:1 11 7.75
2.   Dr. Reinhard Zunker 2134 3.5:1.5 11 6.25
3.   Dr. Helmut Biller 2082 2.5:2.5 10 5.75
4.   Horst Müller 2165 3:2 10.5 7.25

Games (Rds 1 to 4)

 

 

Photos: Karsten Wieland

Tournament page...


Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".

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