Hard-fought title wins at World Senior Championship 2023

The 31st Edition of the World Senior Chess Championship ended on Sunday, 5th November after exciting eleven rounds of play. 

WGM Calzetta Ruiz Monica (Spain; pictured below) clinched the title Women 50+ section after making a short eight-move draw in her last-round game against WIM Burchardt Brigitte (Germany) and scoring 8½ points total. 

WGM Galina Strutinskaia (FIDE; pictured below) also drew in the final round with WGM Tatiana Bogumil (FIDE) and netted 8 points to finish second and secure gold in the Women 65+ section.

The Women 50+ and 65+ categories were merged into a single 11-round Swiss tournament as proposed by the organizing committee. Prizes were awarded separately to the best players in both sections according to the final standings.

Final standings Women’s Section: 

The  Open 65+ competition was a very close race, with John Nunn (England) and Daniel Campora (Argentina) leading most of the tournament. In the decisive final round, Nunn pulled off a crucial victory against Martins Wagner Madeira, while Campora, who was a half point ahead, fell to Lubomir Ftacnik.

As a result, Nunn and Ftacnik tied for the first place, with the former claiming gold thanks to a slightly better Buchholz. As many as five players tied for third place, but tiebreaks favoured Nikolay Legky, who took bronze. 

Final standings Open 65+ Section:

In the Open 50+ category, GM Adams Michael (England)  emerged victorious in a tough contest with GMs Suat Atalik (Serbia), Ivan Morovic Fernandez (Chile) and Maxim Novik (Lithuania). Coming into the final round a half point behind the leader Atalik, Adams beat Martin Mrva (Slovakia) with the black pieces.

Meanwhile, Suat made a quick draw with Michele Godena (Italy) on the white side of the QGD and shared first place with Adams but had to settle for silver due to slightly inferior tiebreaks. There was a tie for third place as well, but the bronze goes to Maxim Novik, again by dint of a better Buchholz over Michele Godena.

Final standings Open 50+ Section: 

Complete results and final standings

Photos: Patricia Claros Aguilar.

Official website: worldseniorchess2023.com