Shabalov, Knaak, Klinova, Burchardt Winners At World Senior Championships

Four winners were crowned on Thursday at the FIDE World Seniors Championships in Porto Santo, Portugal. GM Alexander Shabalov (U.S.) won the Open 50+ section, GM Rainer Knaak (Germany) came first in the Open 65+ section, IM Masha Klinova (Israel) topped the Women's 50+, and WIM Brigitte Burchardt (Germany) won the Women's 65+.

The world championship for senior players tends to be held in lovely resorts with good weather and good food, and this year wasn't any different. Old friends came together in the four-star Hotel Vila Baleira in Porto Santo, a Portuguese island 43 kilometres (27 miles) northeast of Madeira Island in the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Europe and Africa.

11 rounds were played between 17 and 28 November, with only one rest day on the 23rd. With such a tough schedule it was probably a good thing that no rule against draw offers existed in this tournament as some participants might have decided against embarking on the trip otherwise!

Open 50+

The 50+ section (for which, to his horror, this author is eligible in a year from now) was won by Shabalov, who edged out GM Michal Krasenkow of Poland on tiebreak after both finished on 8.5/11. They shared the €3,000 and €2,500 top prizes. Israel's GM Victor Mikhalevski took bronze and earned €2,000.

Final Standings 50+

Full final standings.

Shabalov (57) had no mercy in the final round against his compatriot GM Greg Kaidanov (65), whom he outplayed with the black pieces. It was a must-win, as Krasenkow was the sole leader going into that round but couldn't win his final game.

Open 65+

The 65+ section saw a clear winner as Knaak was the only player to reach an 8.5/11 score. He won €3,000 while Victor's brother IM Alexander Mikhalevski (Israel) was among the finishers in shared second place alongside GM Lubomir Ftacnik (Slovakia) and IM Christian Maier (Germany). They shared prizes two-four valued at €2,500, €2000, and €1,500, among them.

Final Standings 65+

Full final standings.

Like Shabalov, Knaak (71) remained undefeated with a plus-six score. One of his wins was against Ftacnik (67), like Knaak a renowned opening theoretician back in the day who didn't shy away from playing a Benoni. Meeting 15...f5 with 16.f4! and 17. e4! was an excellent approach from Knaak, who played a model game for the white pieces in this opening.

Women 50+ & 65+

A similar tie as in the 50+ Open happened in the same age group among the women, with Klinova having a slightly better tiebreak than IM Silvia Collas (née Aleksieva) of France. Bronze went to Spain's WGM Tatiana Grabuzova. The highest finisher in the 65+ age group was Burchardt, ahead of the legendary GM Nona Gaprindashvili (silver) and WGM Tatiana Bogumil (bronze).

Final Standings Women 50+ & 65+

Full final standings.

The years are finally starting to count for the absolute legend Gaprindashvili. Now 83, the only GM in the field suffered three losses to finish in 12th place. Against the eventual tournament winner in the 50 category Klinova (56), she tried a Hippopotamus Defense and got quite a playable position, then was lost briefly, missed a remarkable equalizer, and then lost after all.

The 2024 World Seniors was an 11-round Swiss tournament in four categories: 50+, 65+, 50+ Women, and 65+ Women, the latter two playing in a single group. The time control was 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes to finish the game, with a 30-second increment per move. The prize fund was €42,500.