The 30th edition of the FIDE World Senior Chess Championship in Assisi (Italy) ended on Saturday, November 26, after a hard fight until the last minute.
The first player to become Senior World Chess Champion 2022 was legendary Nona Gaprindashvili (GEO).
After nearly one hour of play with IM Jean-Luc Roos (FRA), the opponents agreed on a draw. With this result, Nona scored 7 points and got the best tiebreaks among all female players in the Open 65+ section to claim gold. It is Nona’s eighth Senior World Championship title, an extraordinary achievement by the “Grand Dame of Chess”.
WGM Galina Strutinskaia (FID) finished on 7 points as well (winning her last game) and took silver. The bronze medal goes to WFM Larisa Khropova (FID).
GM John Nunn (ENG) emerged as the winner and Senior World Chess Champion in section Open 65+. Coming into the final round, a half point behind Jens Kristiansen (DEN), he notched up a crucial victory over IM Valentin Bogdanov (UKR) and finished on 9 points.
Meanwhile, his main rival and leader, Kristiansen, suffered a defeat at the hands of GM Jose Luis Fernandez Garcia (ESP). As a result, they tied for second place GM Nikolay Legky (FRA) and IM Nils-Gustaf Renman (SWE), all on 8½ points. In accordance with Buchholz (second tiebreaker), Fernandez Garcia won silver, and Legky took bronze.
Final standings 65+:
| 1 | GM | Nunn, John | ENG | 2580 | 9 |
| 2 | GM | Fernandez Garcia, Jose | ESP | 2358 | 8½ |
| 3 | GM | Legky, Nikolay | FRA | 2350 | 8½ |
| 4 | GM | Kristiansen, Jens | DEN | 2353 | 8½ |
| 5 | IM | Renman, Nils-Gustaf | SWE | 2320 | 8½ |
| 6 | IM | Hebert, Jean | CAN | 2333 | 8 |
| 7 | GM | Knaak, Rainer | GER | 2457 | 8 |
| 8 | GM | Jansa, Vlastimil | CZE | 2390 | 8 |
| 9 | IM | Pomes, Marcet Joan | ESP | 2197 | 8 |
| 10 | IM | Maryasin, Boris | ISR | 2258 | 7½ |
It all came down to the wire in the Open 50+ as well. In the final eleventh round, GM Maxim Novik (LTU) won against one of two leaders GM Fernandez Ivan Morovic (CHI), whereas GM Zurab Sturua (GEO) made a quick draw with GM Vladislav Nevednichy (ROU).
Both Sturua and Novik finished on 8½ 11 and tied for the first place without playing each other. The Buchholz favoured the Georgian player who claimed his second title after the triumph in Katerini, Greece, back in 2014. Novik came second, and Morovic finished third (8 points).
Although Elvira Berend (LUX) was the first to finish her final-round game, she had to sweat it to the very end. Eventually, her quick draw was enough to become the Women’s World Champion in the section Open 50+. It was nearly like a Hitchcock trailer: WGM Elvira Berend (LUX) and WIM Sopio Tereladze (GEO) both finished on 7½ points, with a paper-thin Buchholz advantage for Berend. IM Angela Borsuk (ISR) came third.
Final standings 50+:
| 1 | GM | Sturua, Zurab | GEO | 2522 | 8½ |
| 2 | GM | Novik, Maxim | LTU | 2412 | 8½ |
| 3 | GM | Morovic Fernandez, Ivan | CHI | 2480 | 8 |
| 4 | GM | Nevednichy, Vladislav | ROU | 2499 | 8 |
| 5 | GM | Bischoff, Klaus | GER | 2479 | 8 |
| 6 | IM | Bellia, Fabrizio | ITA | 2398 | 8 |
| 7 | GM | Pavlovic, Milos | SRB | 2447 | 7½ |
| 8 | GM | Holzke, Frank | GER | 2476 | 7½ |
| 9 | GM | Antonio, Rogelio | PHI | 2397 | 7½ |
| 10 | IM | Vinter-Schou, Uffe | DEN | 2375 | 7½ |
Official Website: scaccomattissimo.com/assisi-2022-en/
Complete results and final stadings:
chess-results.com/tnr691291.aspx?lan=1&art=0&flag=30
