Golden Island’s late summer has heated up the boards at the World Senior Championship. In Porto Santo, the tournaments have entered their second half and the favourites are closing in on their respective bids for the titles.
In the 50+ age group, grandmasters Alexander Shabalov (USA) and Michal Kransekow (Poland) share the lead with 5 points from 6 rounds. The two have only conceded two draws, one of which came in their duel on matchday five. In that game, Shabalov, in black, looked in good shape to win a rook ending, but the Pole made a miraculous save to force the draw.
Half a point behind the leaders are eight players, all with a chance of fighting for the final podium.
As for the Portuguese, international master Sérgio Rocha and FIDE master Fernando Ribeiro have 3 points and share 33rd place with 12 other chess players.
Among the 65+ age group, there are five grandmasters at the top of the leaderboard. They are Brazilian Jaime Sunye Neto, German Rainer Knaak, Georgian Zurab Sturua, Slovakian Lubomir Ftacnik and Colombian Alonso Zapata. They all have 5 points and have already started this competitive tournament at the top of the rankings.
International master Fernando Silva is having a good tournament, in 14th place with 4 points, the same as the 10th-placed player. FIDE master António Pereira dos Santos is also playing on positive ground, with 3.5 points.
Equally balanced is the women’s tournament, which brings together players in the +50 and +65 age categories. Women’s international master Sopio Tereladze (Georgia) and absolute international master Masha Klimova (Israel) drew their match on the sixth round and now have 4.5 points, joined at the helm by international master Silvia Alexieva (France).
Madalena Silva, the Portuguese representative in this competition, has 2 points and is in 27th place.
The Veterans World Cup runs until 28 November and there are five rounds to go. Saturday 23rd is reserved for a well-deserved rest and many of the players are sure to take the opportunity to get to know the natural paradise that is the island of Porto Santo.
For those wishing to return to the chessboard, there will be a semi-fast tournament, one of the parallel activities planned for these World Championships at the Vila Baleira Hotel.
Another activity took place on 19 November, World Chess Day, and included an masterclass by grandmaster Michael Gurevich.
