World Senior Championship 2024 kicked off on Sunday, November 17, on the premises of the Hotel Vila Baleira, in Porto Santo, Portugal. Around two hundred players are competing for the titles in the Open +50, Open +65, Women +50, and Women +65 sections, sharing a prize fund of €42,500.

In the women's competition, the organizers, FIDE, and the Portuguese Chess Federation (FPX) decided to merge the two categories into a single event, featuring 33 female players.

Leading the women's event is the legendary Nona Gaprindashvili, Women’s World Champion from 1962 to 1978, and the first female player to receive the GM title.

Kiril Georgiev (BUL, 2553) and Zurab Sturua (GEO, 2502) top the starting lists for the Open +50 and Open +65, respectively.

All three tournaments are 11-round Swiss events with classical time control.

FPX is streaming 40 games, which can be followed on Lichess, and is providing live footage from the tournament room via YouTube and Twitch.

The opening round brought some surprising results. In the women's tournament, Nona Gaprindashvili was held to a draw by German FIDE Master Olga Birkholz (1875), who was undaunted by the Georgian legend's formidable record and secured half a point.

In the 50+ category, featuring 15 GMs, there were also a few unexpected outcomes. Second seed GM Gregory Kaidanov (USA, 2534) drew with Portuguese FM Fernando Ribeiro (2125) from Casa do Povo de Mangualde, while Germany’s Klaus Bischoff (2445) was unable to overcome the resistance of Scotland’s Alan Minnican (2071).

In the +65 section, second seed German GM Rainer Knaak (2458) split the point with Argentinian FM Marcelo Ibar (2044). However, the highlight of the day was Israeli Abir Har-Even’s victory over IM Vladislav Nasybullin (2374) of Kazakhstan on the sixth board.

Photos: Federação Portuguesa de Xadrez

Official website: worldsenior.fpx.pt/