The World Senior Chess Championship is an annual

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

tournament established in 1991 by

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...

, the World Chess Federation.

Overview

Originally, the minimum age was 60 years for men, and 50 for women. Since 2014, the Senior Championship is split in two different age categories, 50+ and 65+, with separate open and women-only tournaments. Participants must reach the age of 50 or 65 years by December 31 of the year of the event. The championship is organized as an eleven-round Swiss system tournament. It is an open tournament, and each FIDE member federation may send as many players as desired. A separate women's tournament is held only if there are enough participants (at least 10 women from four different FIDE zones). The winners of the open tournaments (both age categories) are awarded the title of Grandmaster if they do not already have it; winners of the women's tournaments (both age categories) receive the

Woman Grandmaster FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

title if they do not already hold it. So far one

World Chess Champion The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who has held the title since 2013. The first event recognized as a world championship was the 1886 match ...

Vasily Smyslov Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov ( rus, Васи́лий Васи́льевич Смысло́в, Vasíliy Vasíl'yevich Smyslóv; 24 March 1921 – 27 March 2010) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, who was World Chess Champion from 1957 to ...

, has gone on to win the World Senior Championship as well, winning the first such championship aged 70 in 1991.

Nona Gaprindashvili Nona Gaprindashvili ( ka, ნონა გაფრინდაშვილი; born 3 May 1941) is a former Soviet and Georgian chess player, and the first woman ever to be awarded the FIDE title Grandmaster in 1978. She was the fifth women's ...

is the only

Women's World Chess Champion The Women's World Chess Championship (WWCC) is played to determine the world champion in women's chess. Like the World Chess Championship, it is administered by FIDE. Unlike with most sports recognized by the International Olympic Committee, wh ...

to obtain the women's World Senior title as well. The oldest World Senior Champion, male or female – before the split in two different age categories was made – was

Viktor Korchnoi Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi ( rus, Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й, p=vʲiktər lʲvovʲɪtɕ kɐrtɕˈnoj; 23 March 1931 – 6 June 2016) was a Soviet (before 1976) and Swiss (after 1980) chess grandmaster (GM) and chess writer. H ...

, who won the title at the age of 75 and a half (in 2006, his only participation).

Vlastimil Jansa Vlastimil Jansa (born November 27, 1942) is a Czech chess player. He was awarded the titles of International Master, in 1965, and Grandmaster, in 1974, by FIDE. He learned chess while in hospital at the age of eight and at fourteen, became the ...

then won the 65+ section at the age of 76 in 2018 (his first gold medal), Gaprindashvili won the same year in the women's group 65+ at the age of 77. Julio Ernesto Granda Zuniga of Peru (born in 1967) is the youngest Senior World Chess Champion, section 50+, at the age of 50 in 2017. For comparison, the oldest reigning World Chess Champion ever was

Wilhelm Steinitz William Steinitz (born Wilhelm Steinitz; May 14, 1836 – August 12, 1900) was an Austrian and, later, American chess player. From 1886 to 1894, he was the first official World Chess Champion. He was also a highly influential writer and c ...

, who held the title until the age of 58 years, 10 days. The oldest reigning classical World Chess Champion since the inception of the World Senior Chess championship in 1991 was

Viswanathan Anand Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster and a former five-time World Chess Champion. He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and is one of the few players to have surpassed an Elo rating of ...

, who held the title until age 43.Born Dec. 1969, lost against Carlsen in Nov. 2013. Since 2022 there is a new category, 75+ with open-only tournament.

History

The 8th World Senior Championship was held 9–23 November 1998 in

Grieskirchen Grieskirchen is a town in Austria. It is capital of the Grieskirchen district of Upper Austria Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria border ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Vladimir Bagirov Vladimir Konstantinovich Bagirov ( rus, Влади́мир Константи́нович Баги́ров; lv, Vladimirs Bagirovs; August 16, 1936 – July 21, 2000) was a Soviet- Latvian chess player, author, and trainer. He played in ten USS ...

(Latvia) won the 200-player men's section on

tie-break In games and sports, a tiebreaker or tiebreak is used to determine a winner from among players or teams that are tied at the end of a contest, or a set of contests. General operation In matches In some situations, the tiebreaker may cons ...

over

Wolfgang Uhlmann Wolfgang Uhlmann (29 March 193524 August 2020) was a German chess grandmaster. He was East Germany's most successful chess player, reaching the 1971 Candidates Tournament. During his career, Uhlmann played many of the top players of the time a ...

(Germany), both with 8.5/11. Ten players tied a half point behind with 8.0/11, including former World Championship

Candidates A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * t ...

Mark Taimanov Mark Evgenievich Taimanov (russian: Марк Евгеньевич Тайманов; 7 February 1926 – 28 November 2016) was one of the leading Soviet and Russian chess players, among the world's top 20 players from 1946 to 1971. A prolific ch ...

and

Borislav Ivkov Borislav Ivkov (12 November 1933 – 14 February 2022) was a Serbian chess Grandmaster. He was a World championship candidate in 1965, and played in four more Interzonal tournaments, in 1967, 1970, 1973, and 1979. Ivkov was a three-time Yugos ...

, the first ever World Junior Chess Champion. WGM

Tamar Khmiadashvili Tamar Khmiadashvili ( ka, თამარ ხმიადაშვილი; 27 November 1944 – 2019) was a Georgian chess player, who was awarded the title of Woman Grandmaster (WGM) by FIDE in 1998. She won the Georgian Women's Championsh ...

(Georgia) won the 24-player women's section outright with 9.5 points. The 13th World Senior Championship was held 16–29 November 2003 in

Bad Zwischenahn Bad Zwischenahn ( Low German: ''Twüschenahn'') is a town and a municipality in the low-lying Ammerland district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is on Zwischenahner Meer, approximately 15 km northwest of Oldenburg and about 70 km south ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. IM

Yuri Shabanov Yuri Fedorovich Shabanov (russian: Юрий Фёдорович Шабанов, 11 November 1937 Khabarovsk – 30 March 2010, Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian chess Grandmaster (2003), arbiter of the republican category (1997). Two-time world ...

(Russia) won the 272-player men's section 9.0/11 on tie-break over GM Jānis Klovāns (Latvia) and IM Vladimir Bukal (Croatia). Khmiadashvili (Georgia) won the 22-player women's section 7.5/9 on tie-break over WGM Marta Litinskaya-Shul (Ukraine). The 14th World Senior Championship was held 24 October–5 November 2004 in Halle (Saale), Germany. IM Yuri Shabanov (Russia) defended his championship, winning the 215-player men's section on a tie-break with five players scoring 8.5/11. GM

Elena Fatalibekova Elena Abramovna Fatalibekova (russian: Елена Абрамовна Фаталибекова; née Rubtsova; born 4 October 1947, in Moscow) is a Russian chess player holding the title of Woman Grandmaster (WGM) since 1977. She is the daughter ...

(Russia) won the 19-player women's section outright with 8.0/9. The 16th World Senior Chess Championship was held 11–23 September 2006 in

Arvier Arvier ( Valdôtain: ' or '; frp, Arviér); is a town and ''comune'' in the Aosta Valley region of northwestern Italy. Geography Wine The local wine, Enfer d'Arvier, had its own DOC designation before being subsumed into the Valle d'Aosta ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Former

World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who has held the title since 2013. The first event recognized as a world championship was the World Chess ...

challenger and top seed GM

(Switzerland) won the 126-player men's section 9.0/11. Competing in his first and sole Seniors' Championship, Korchnoi won his first four games, drew in the fifth round with Jānis Klovāns, and then won the next three again. Entering the ninth round with a full point lead, Korchnoi drew his final three games to take the € 3000 gold medal. WGM

Ludmila Saunina Ludmila Feodorovna Saunina (born 1952 in Yekaterinburg) is a Russian chess player, and a woman grandmaster. She has won several women's chess championships: the Russian Chess Championship in 1972, the Moldovan Chess Championship in 1976, the Wo ...

(Russia), won the 14-player women's section by a full point, 8.5/11, to earn € 700.

Winners

References

* * * * * * *
Mark Weeks: About World Chess Championship

Official website of the 18th Senior World Championship (2008)

FIDE Presidential Board meeting 1st quarter 2009
– containing the decision to declare Kaufman and Suba co-winners.
Gaprindashvili and Cebalo become World Senior Champions

Tamar Khmiadashvili and Anatoly Vaisser are World Senior Champions
{{Chess Senior 1991 in chess Recurring events established in 1991 Senior sports competitions

Overview

History

Winners

See also

References