World Senior Team Chess Championships reports

— from Nigel Povah

England fielded an unprecedented nine teams in the World Senior Team Chess Championship which started today (2^nd July) in Krakow, Poland. The team lineups were as follows:

50+ 1: Mickey Adams, John Emms, Glenn Flear, Keith Arkell, Nigel Davies
50+ 2: Graeme Buckley, Steve Dishman, Gary Clark, Chris Duncan, Paul Townsend
50+ 3: Phil Crocker, Martin Burrows, Jeremy Fraser-Mitchell, Bob Noyce
50+ 4: Stephen Homer, Haran Rasalingam, Edgar Wilson, Kevin Winter, Andy Proudfoot
50+ Women: Sue Lalic, Ingrid Lauterbach, Natasha Regan, Sheila Jackson, Petra Nunn
65+ 1: John Nunn, Tony Kosten, Jonathan Mestel, Paul Littlewood, Terry Chapman
65+ 2: John Pigott, Chris Baker, Tony Stebbings, Nigel Povah, Chris Beaumont
65+ 3: John Quinn, Stephen Orton, Brian Hewson, Jon Freeman
65+ 4: Richard Freeman, Peter R Wood, Stewart Reuben, Bob Kane, Roger Scowen

You can find round-by-round photo albums here – https://www.flickr.com/photos/fide/albums/

Round 1 – Tuesday 2nd July

The 50+ 1st team are 2nd seeds and they comfortably beat the 18th seeds USA 5 brothers (they really are 5 brothers!) 4-0. The 50+ 2nd team (7th seeds) beat Germany Women (23rd seeds) by 3½-½, whilst the 50+ 3rd team beat Poland Malopolska by 3-1, thanks to wins from debutant Martin Burrows and Bob Noyce. There was more of a battle between England’s 50+ Women and the 50+ 4th team, which ended 2½-1½ to the women, thanks to wins from Sue Lalic and Petra Nunn.

The 65+ 1st team are top seeds and they beat Denmark SK 2012 convincingly by 4-0, which included a fine win by Seniors debutant GM Jonathan Mestel, which was all the more impressive after many years of inactivity. The 65+ 2nd team (7th seeds) beat Brazil (23rd seeds) by 2½-1½ thanks to the solitary win by John Pigott, making his debut in Seniors Team chess on top board. The 65+ 3rd team beat Germany Rochade Bielefeld by the same score, courtesy of a top board victory from John Quinn and the 65+ 4th team lost 4-0 to Germany Schachfreunde Mitteldeutschland.

Round 2 – Wednesday 3rd July

The 50+ 1st team continued their good start beating USA Women by 3½-½, whilst the 50+ 2nd team beat the 50+ 3rd team by the same score, with Phil Crocker securing the draw on top board against Graeme Buckley. The 50+ 4th team lost 2½-1½ to Ireland.

Meanwhile the 50+ Women had a fantastic 2½-1½ win against a strong Slovakian team led by GM Martin Mrva, who was held to a draw by Sue Lalic, with Sheila Jackson producing the solitary win on board 3.

The 65+ 1st team beat Germany Eppingen by 3½-½ to maintain their momentum and the 65+ 2nd team won 4-0 against Poland Lower Silesia. The 65+ 3rd team lost 2½-1½ to Finland with John Quinn getting a creditable draw against GM Heikki Westerinen on top board and the 65+ 4th team also achieved a creditable 2-2 draw against higher rated Denmark SK 2024, thanks to a win from Peter Wood to offset Bob Kane’s defeat.

Round 3 – Thursday 4th July

The battle between the 50+ 1st and 2nd teams ended in a 3-1 victory for the 1st team with wins from Mickey Adams and Nigel Davies. The 50+ 3rd team drew 2-2 with Lithuania Women and the 50+ 4th team lost 3½-½ to South Africa.

The 50+ Women’s team had another excellent result, only losing to 4th seeded Italy who fielded 3GMs and an IM by 2½-1½, thanks to Sue Lalic drawing on top board against GM Alberto David and Natasha Regan beating GM Lexy Ortega.

The 65+1st team managed to beat Germany Zaehringen Reloaded by 2½-1½, thanks to a solitary win from Terry Chapman on bottom board. The 65+ 2nd team slipped up against 4th seeds Slovakia by 2½-1½, with John Pigott winning an impressive game against GM Lubomir Ftacnik on top board. The 65+ 3rd team won by 3½-½ against New Zealand and the 65+ 4th team beat Ireland 2 by 2½-1½, thanks to a win from Richard Freeman on top board with all other games drawn.

Round 4 – Friday 4th July

Having reached the serious stage of the event, today saw the 50+ 1st team face third seeded Iceland and this resulted in a 2-2 draw with Michael Adams’ win cancelling out Keith Arkell’s loss. The 50+ 2nd team beat Germany Lubeck Chess Club by 3-1, with two nice wins on the top two boards from Steve Dishman and Gary Clark. The 50+ 3rd team drew 2-2 with Polish Amateurs, whilst the 50+ 4th team drew their bottom of the table clash with Luxemburg TASM Scheffleng 2-2.

The 50+ Women’s team couldn’t maintain their impressive form to date and sadly lost 4-0 to 9th seeds Israel Rishon Lezion.

The 65+ 1st team beat Slovakia by 2½-1½, thanks to a win from Tony Kosten. The 65+ 2nd team beat Ukraine Kiev 4-0 and the 65+ 3rd team beat Belgium 3-1 thanks to wins from Brain Hewson and Jon Freeman. The 65+ 4th team lost to Latvia Women by 2½-1½.

The standings after 4 rounds are as follows:

50+
The top seeds USA were beaten today by Italy, so the top placings are:
1st Italy 8 match points; 2nd England & Iceland 7 match points; 3rd Slovakia, USA Too, Israel Rishon Lezion, England 2, Canada and USA all on 6 points.

50+ Women
1st Estonia, USA, Lithuania and England Women all on 4 match points; 2nd Hungary Women on 3 match points; 3rd Germany Women on 1 match point

65+
1st France and England 8 match points; 2nd England 2, Germany Zaehringen Reloaded, Israel 1, England 3, Finland and Slovakia, all on 6 match points

Round 5 – Saturday 5th July

Sadly, not a good day for England but at least we won in the Euros at Football!

The 50+ 1st team lost 2½-1½ to the USA in a closely fought match, when Glenn Flear couldn’t hold his position. However, the 50+ 2nd team got revenge by beating USA Too by the same score, thanks to a fine win by Paul Townsend on bottom board. The 50+ 3rd team went down 4-0 to Germany 1 and the 50+ 4th team lost 3-1 to Germany Women.

The 50+ Women’s team drew 2-2 with Estonia Women with all four games being drawn.

The 65+ 1st team drew 2-2 with France, whilst the 65+ 2nd team lost 2½-1½ to Israel 1. The 65+ 3rd team drew 2-2 with Germany Zaehringen Reloaded and the 65+ 4th team lost 2½-1½ to Germany Rochade Bielefeld.

Round 6 – Sunday 7th July

The 50+ 1st team beat USA Too by 2½-1½ in yet another transatlantic battle, thanks to a win from Mickey Adams, whilst the 50+ 2nd team lost their transatlantic battle with the USA by 3-1. The 50+ 3rd team drew 2-2 with Brazil and the 50+ 4th team registered their first victory with a 3½-½ win over Guernsey.

The 50+ Women’s team beat Germany Grall by 2½-1½ thanks to a solitary win from Ingrid Lauterbach.

The 65+ 1st team had a disappointing 2-2 draw with Israel 1, when John Nunn’s victory was offset by Jonathan Mestel’s defeat. Meanwhile the 65+ 2nd team beat the 65+ 3rd team by 3-1 with wins from Tony Stebbings and Chris Beaumont. The 65+ 4th team also drew 2-2 with Israel 2.

Round 7 – Monday 9th July

Sadly the 50+ 1st team could only manage a 2-2 draw with Italy. The 50+ 2nd team beat the 50+ Women’s team by 2½-1½, with the latter putting up stern resistance against their higher rated opponents. The 50+ 3rd team crushed Hungary Women by 3½-½ and the 50+ 4th team did likewise against Poland Malopolska.

The 65+ 1st team beat Italy by 2½-1½, thanks to a win from Terry Chapman on board 4 and the 65+ 2nd team did the first team a huge favour by beating the leaders, France Cercle d’Echecs de Strasbourg, by the same score, courtesy of a win from Tony Stebbings on board 3. The 65+ 3rd team drew 2-2 with Denmark SK2012 and the 65+ 4th team beat Scotland by 2½-1½.

The standings with two rounds to go are:

50+
1st USA 12 match points; 2nd = Iceland and Italy 11; 4th = Slovakia, England 1, Slovakia, Israel Rishon Lezion and England 2, all on 10.

50+ Women
1st = Estonia and England on 7 match points; 3rd = USA and Lithuania on 6 match points

65+
1st England 1on 12 match points; 2nd France and Israel on 11 match points; 4th = England 2 and Germany Eppingen on 10 match points.

Round 8 – Wednesday 10th July

The 50+ 1st beat Germany 1 by 3½-½, to keep their medal hopes alive. The 50+ 2nd team lost 3-1 to Italy. The 50+ 3rd team drew 2-2 with the 50+ Women’s team, with all four games drawn. The 50+ 4th team lost 2½-1½ against Poland Caissa.

The 65+ 1st team beat the 65+ 2nd team by 3-1 thanks to wins from Terry Chapman and Tony Kosten. The 65+ 3rd team lost to Italy by 3½-½ and the 65+ 4th team lost 3-1 to Poland Zaglebie.

So, with one round to go, the 50+ 1st team have a chance of the Bronze medal and the 50+ Women are joint first with Estonia Women with all to play for in the final round, with the England Women having the easier opposition. The 65+ 1st team are sole leaders and need to win their last match against Finland to secure the World title

Round 9 – Thursday 11th July

The 50+ 1st beat Israel Rishon Lezion by 3-1, to secure the Bronze medal. The 50+ 2nd team beat Norway Oslo Scakselskap by 4-0 and secured 5th place. The 50+ 3rd team lost 3-1 to Germany Lubeck Chess Club and the 50+ 4th team drew 2-2 against Hungary Women.

The 50+ Women’s team drew 2-2 with Poland Caissa and they too secured the Bronze medal.

The 65+ 1st team beat Finland by 3½-½ to capture the Gold medal. The 65+ 2nd team beat Ireland by 3½-½ and secured 4th place. The 65+ 3rd team beat Denmark SK 2024 3-1, whilst the 65+ 4th team had the bye.