World Chess Championship seniors +50

GM Igor Glek and FIDE Master Rudolf Meessen were convincing

From November 16 to 29, the World Championships for Seniors 50+ took place on the Portuguese peninsula of Porto Santo and the Royal Chess Club Rochade Eupen was represented in this category by Grandmaster Igor Glek and FIDE Master Rudolf Meessen.

There were 80 players from 31 nations at the start. The tournament was played according to the Swiss system in 11 rounds.

The pace of play was based on the FIDE rules: 90 minutes for the first 40 moves plus 30 minutes, plus 30 seconds per move from the first move.

In the 3rd round, both Rochade players were very surprised when they looked at the pairing table and saw that they had to play against each other. After a few moves, they agreed on a draw.

GM Igor Glek (2417Elopoints) achieved an excellent 10th place and improved by 2 places in the ranking and his record is impressive: 4 wins, 6 draws and only 1 defeat. Nevertheless, he was not completely satisfied, as he had expected a little more.

FIDE CHAMPION Rudolf Meessen (2234 rating points) He was in great form and took 12th place, moving up 17 places. His record is impressive.

Rudolf Meessen had to play against 4 grandmasters and won against GM Novik Maxim (2411Elo) from Lithuania and played 3 draws against his club friend Igor Glek (2417) and Olvechkin Roman FIDE. Shabalov Alexander (2447) from the USA. He lost against Kekelidze Mihail (2353) from Georgia. His record is impressive: 5 wins, 4 draws and only 2 defeats. The club can be very proud of both players for achieving such results at a world championship and a fortnight ago Daniel Dharda took an excellent 2nd place at the European Championship in rapid chess (5 minutes thinking time).

IM Jan Rooze (2183 rating points) from TSM Mechelen played in the +65 category. Unfortunately, he was unable to defend his 24th starting place and ended up in 45th place, a midfield position out of 89 starters. His record was 4 wins, 3 draws and 4 defeats. Report GD + Photos: Private +Google