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Editor: Dr Tim Harding |
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© Dr Tim Harding
Last modified:
5 December 2023
For more information about chess for over-50s, please see our Seniors news and Seniors introduction pages.
The invitation document for the 2024 World Senior Team Championships is still not available yet, but the PDF for the European Senior Team Championships can be downloaded from a link below. The earlier you enter your team, the less you pay.
The latest additions to this calendar include two tournaments in February. One is in Aarhus, Denmark (thanks to Roger Scowen for the information) which has separate 50+ and 65+ sections. The other is the first Thuringian senior open, at Apolda (near Weimar) . This is for players born in 1974 or earlier but with prizes for players in older age groups.
We encourage overseas readers to consider coming to Ireland next Spring for the Dublin International Festival including a 65+ and (unusually) a 40+ tournament alongside a 7-round international open.
There is also a similar programme of events at the same Dublin venue early in January but those senior events are the usual 50+ and 65+. All these are 7 rounds over 4 days. See below.
Two tournaments next March at Wesel-Undeloh (south of Hamburg) can be seen on the calendar. One of them is for players born 1949 or earlier (i.e., a 75+ tournament) which we shall certainly consider entering. There is unfortunately a clash of dates with the Bad Wörishofen Festival, which as usual includes a seniors tournament.
Also FIDE has now confirmed the venue and July 2024 dates for the next World Senior Team Championships (see below). FIDE announced some time ago a provisional decision about the venue for the 2024 World Senior individual championships (see our news page) but that will not be added to the calendar until the venue and dates are confirmed.
Tournament organisers, please send us your announcements in good time. We know from talking to players at last year's World Seniors that these pages are widely read but we don't have much time to research events.
Newly announced events are added to this page when we find out about them. Please inform us if you know of an international senior tournament that is not mentioned. In our calendar we include only those tournaments which are described as Open and FIDE-rated, and we omit events restricted to players from one country.
For tournaments run on FIDE Senior rules, you do not have to wait for your birthday; you are qualified from 1 January in the year in which you reach the qualifying age.
The qualifying years for the two FIDE age groups in 2023 are 1958 (for 65+ events) and 1973 (for 50+) but some German senior organisers have different rules. Note that the eligibility rules for German-language Senior events vary. It is usually 60+ for men and sometimes 50+ or 55+ for women. Check the particular details for any event that interests you.
The German Senior tournaments calendar can also be consulted. We check it every week. We also regularly search on chess-results.com and sometimes find a few events (mostly in Austria) which we add below if relevant.
Tournaments are usually removed from our listings once their start dates are reached, or soon afterwards.
** A double asterisk in the list below indicates new or recently updated information.
In progress (3-9 December): The 29th Bad Bertricher Winterturnier at Bad Bertrich; this is a municipality in the Cochem-Zell district of the Rhineland-Palatinate. The PDF details show this is a 7-round 50+ tournament; morning play except in the first round. They will also have a summer tournament next June (see below).
10-16 December: 25th Young Seniors Open Bad Griesbach, Bavaria; details in German on the tournament website. We are not clear on the age restrictions, probably 50+?
27 December 2023-4 January 2024: The 34th international chess festival Cracovia 2023 at Krakow, Poland, with a variety of events including Group E for players 60+. There will be 9 rounds: two on 2 January but on New Year's Day just an optional blitz tournament. Information available in English (PDF download) and also see the festival website.
4-7 January 2024: The annual Irish 50+ and 65+ championships (two separate sections) at the Talbot Hotel, Stillorgan, Dublin. Alongside a 7-round FIDE-rated international open and other events. Playing schedule and entry form on the Irish Chess Union website. Overseas visitors can enter but cannot win the titles.
13-20 January 2024: The Marienbad Chess Festival at Marianske Lazne, with many different tournaments, including as usual a 50+ Seniors Open. You can now download the regulations here (English PDF) or check out the Czech Tour website. The venue is the Continental Hotel which we can personally recommend, having stayed there for the 2016 World Seniors. Other accommodation options are available.
** 30 January-8 February 2024: The 40th Berlin Senior Open Championships (65+ only) for players born in 1959 or earlier. Entries are limited to 130 players and their chess-results page shows 76 already. The closing date is 23 January. Regulations (PDF in German).
**12-18 February 2024: The Danish Senior Championship (50+ and 65+) at Aarhus welcomes overseas participants. Details online at the Danish Chess Union website; your browser should translate the Danish text to English. The last round starts at 10am; play on other days is at 1pm. The organiser Steen Juul Mortensen can also be contacted by email at seniorskak@skak.dk.
**16-22 February 2024: The first Thuringia Senior Open (50+) at Apolda, during the Mitropa Cup tournament. 7 rounds with morning play. We think there are separate prizes for 65+ and maybe 75+. Download the tournament invitation (PDF in German) and/or visit the organisers' website..
8-16 March 2024: The 39th international Chess.Org Festival at Bad Worishöfen, including a Seniors tournament for men aged 60 and over, women aged 50 and over. Information download (PDF in German) or go to the organisers' website (English pages). The dates overlap the next event in the calendar.
13-19 March 2024: The 2nd Nestorenturnier (75+) at Wesel-Undeloh, on the Lüneburger Heide, northern Germany. FIDE-rated, 7 rounds with morning play, open to players born in 1949 or earlier. Information (PDF in German). Organiser Martin Sebastian (makuseb@aol.com) tells us that entries from overseas players are welcome for this and the following event, so long as they have a FIDE registration.
13-17 March 2024: The 23rd German Senior Derby at the same venue as the previously listed tournament, is for slightly younger players (Men 60+, Women 55+) and held over a shorter period with some afternoon rounds. A blitz tournament will be held on the evening of the 15th for competitors in either of these events. Information (PDF in German).
29 March-1 April 2024: The first Dublin International 40+ and 65+ championships (two separate sections) at the Talbot Hotel, Stillorgan, Dublin. Note the innovation that there is a 40+ (rather than 50+) section for mature players who are sick of losing rating points to kids! Overseas entrants are welcome. These tournaments will be played alongside a 7-round FIDE-rated international open and other events. No PDF available yet but playing schedule, contact details and and entry form are on the Irish Chess Union website.
** 6-14 April 2024: The 12th International Schach-Senioren-Cup am Tegernsee at Rottach-Egern, a lakeside resort in northern Bavaria. Only limited online information available as yet; no PDF.
22-27 April 2024: The Open Lower Saxony Senior Championships at Sottrum, for men born 1960 or earlier and women born 1969 or earlier. Recently announced on the German calendar. There is no PDF yet, so for information go to the organisers' website.
** The English Senior Championships (50+ and 65+) are likely to be held around the time of the May bank holiday but there are no details as yet. Only players registered as ENG with FIDE can play.
28 April-4 May 2024: The 31st Open Oberlausitzer Senior Championship (7 rounds, 60+) at Großschönau, in the Görlitz region of Saxony, close to the Czech border. Information about this unusual event is now available to download (PDF in German). It says "Das Turnier wird in einer Gruppe mit zwei getrennten Wertungen durchgefuehrt" which we think means that there will be one tournament but with two separate prize funds: for 60+ and 70+ players. The exception is that women who will reach their 55th birthday by the end of 2024 may enter.
Except for round 1, play is in the morning (8.30am start for the last round!). The most convenient airports for international visitors would be Dresden and Prague.
2-11 May 2024: The ACO Super Seniors (65+) at the Atlantica-Belvedere Hotel on the Greek Island of Kos. Followed immediately by the unofficial ACO "World Championships" at the same venue. Details on the organisers' website. Warning: NOT FIDE-rated.
** 6-16 May 2024: The European Senior Team Championships (50+ and 65+) at Terme Catez water park, Brezice, Slovenia. The invitation and regulations document is now available (PDF in English), while there are more details including the entry form on the ECU website. Nine rounds will be played from 7-15 May. These events are for teams of four with an optional reserve. Squads may represent nations, regions or clubs or just groups of friends but all players must be members of the same federation.
Note:
Terme Catez is close to the border with Croatia, so the organisers are offering transport from and to Zagreb airport (not Ljubljana, which is further away) on the 6th (arrival day) and 16th May. By road from Trieste could work; it is less than 100km. Tripadvisor reviews for this venue are somewhat discouraging.
8-16 June 2024: The 34th Bavarian Senior Open at Bergen-Chiemgau. This is an annual 60+ tournament so players born 1964 or earlier will be eligible. We can expect more details to be announced nearer the time.
14-24 June 2024: The 31st Brandenburg Senior Open at
Miedzyzdroje (Poland). This an annual German-organised event held in what until 1945 was East Prussia. Contact details can be found on the German calendar.
21-29 June 2024: The 30th Bad Bertricher Schachtage at Bad Bertrich. Contact details in the Private Tournaments section of the German calendar. The PDF details show this is a 9-round 50+ tournament; morning play except in the first round.
** 21-29 June 2024: The 41st Oberfränkische Senior Open at Bischofsgrün/Fichtelgebirge. Reecently added to the German calendar but no details available yet. There is another tournament at the same venue later in the summer.
**28 June-6 July (??) 2024: The 4th ICCD World Individual Senior Deaf Chess Championships. Briefly announced to start on 28 June on the FIDE Calendar but now deleted. According to the ICCD's own website their various championships will be in Belgrade, Serbia, from 25 June-6 July but the senior tournament is of shorter duration. We do not know the age group(s) or other qualifications. Maybe somebody can inform us when details firm up?
1-12 July 2024: FIDE World Senior Team Championships at Krakow, Poland (50+ and 65+, Open and Women, 9 rounds). The precise details are not known yet; the date span appears to include a free day for rest/outings as was the case this year. The venue is likely to be the Galaxy Hotel, as for the senior event in Krakow just after Christmas.
1-7 July 2024: The 32nd Open Senior Championships of Sachsen-Anhalt (50+ and 65+) at Magdeburg. We have heard good reports of this annual event. More information will doubtless follow in a few months but there is a possibility dates could change because of the clash with the World Senior Teams.
5-13 July 2024: The 9th Open Senior Championships of Baden-Württemberg (60+ for both men and women) at Bad Herrenalb. Contact details available on the German calendar.
** The British Championships (including the 50+ and 65+ championships) are likely to be held in late July or early August but there are no details as yet. Only players registered as ENG with FIDE can play.
** 31 August-8 September 2024: The 2nd North Bavarian SENEM (60+) at Bischofsgrün/Fichtelgebirge. Details (PDF in German).
3-11 September 2024: The 21st Rheinland/Pfalz Senior Open at Altenkirchen/Westerwald. Details for next year will no doubt be published later. Contact details available on the German calendar.
3-11 October 2024: The 18th Schleswig-Holstein Senior Open Championship at Busum. Contact details on the German calendar.
15-23 October 2024: The 32nd Open Saxon Seniors at Dresden. Always a popular event and Dresden is a wonderful place to visit. Details will doubtless be released later. Unfortunately this clashes with the next event listed.
18-29 October 2024: The European Senior Individual Championships (50+ and 65+) at Lignano Sabbiadoro, a resort in north-east Italy, about an hour west of Trieste. The venue is also quite close to Venice. We do not know yet which Italian company is organising this.
** April 2025: The European Chess Union calendar is now showing that the 2025 European Senior Team Championships will be held at Walbrzych, Poland, during this month but as yet there are no precise dates.
The ECU website also announces that the 2025 European Senior individual Championships have been awarded to Porec, Croatia, but there is no indication of dates yet.
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