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Editor: Dr Tim Harding |
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Editor: Dr Tim Harding |
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© Dr Tim Harding
Last modified:
2 Mayl 2024
For more information about chess for over-50s, please see our Seniors news and Seniors introduction pages.
In the past few days we have added several events that have recently been announced for late 2024 and early 2025. These include some just posted on the German Senior tournaments calendar, which we check weekly, but we see that they still have the wrong dates for the individual European Seniors championships.
New or updated tournament announcements are indicated, as usual, by ** at the start of the listing.
We concentrate on European events, but also note that the U.S. Chess Federation has announced details of their Open and Closed senior championships, both to be held in July (see below) just after the World Senior Team Championships conclude. Both the U.S. events are 50+; we have no details of 65+ tournaments (if any) in America.
Tournament organisers, please send us your announcements in good time. We know 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.
Always check the particular details for any event that interests you.
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.
28 April-4 May: 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: 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: strictly a holiday. NOT FIDE-rated and their "titles" have no official standing.
5-11 May: The 7-round annual Bodensee Seniors at Bregenz, Austria, alongside the 9-round international Open (4-12 May), is always popular. Their chess-results page shows entries already passed 100. It is open to men born in 1964 or earlier and to women born 1969 or earlier. The English PDF invitation is available here. Versions in German, French and Italian can be found on the organisers' website.
6-16 May: The European Senior Team Championships (50+ and 65+, open and women, 9 rounds) at Terme Catez water park, Brezice, Slovenia (9 rounds). We have the invitation and regulations document, while there are more details including the entry form on the ECU website. The venue is close to the border with Croatia. See our news page for a link to the entry lists on chess-results.com.
18-19 May: 2nd Bavarian Seniors Blitz and Rapid European Championships at Ingolstadt. Contact details on the German calendar.
18-20 May: Five-round weekend seniors (50+) tournament at Nancy, France. Details (in French) on the organisers' website. Thanks to Brian Hewson for telling us about this. Normally we do not include such short events but for some people it might fit into a broader holiday programme.
24-28 May: The English Senior Championships (50+ and 65+) at the Holiday Inn, Kenilworth, Warwickshire, over the "Spring bank holiday" weekend. Only players registered as ENG with FIDE can play. Entries are open at the English Chess Federation website.
25 May-1 June: The 19th Open Slovak 65+ Championship at Tatranské Matliare as part of Tatrafest. Details in English (PDF file). There will also be a blitz tournament on 30 May. Brian Hewson made some enquiries and discovered that games are played in the evenings after dinner; this will not suit most people, we think. Entry list at chess results.
28 May-5 June: The 34th Bavarian Senior Open at Bergen-Chiemgau. This is an annual 60+ tournament so players born 1964 or earlier will be eligible. Please note the corrected dates. Details are now published (PDF in German) and the entry list is up on chess-results.
8-16 June: The Scaccomattissimo congress in Acqui Terme, Italy (50+ and 65+ tournaments alongside an international open); 9 rounds. Organised by Cristina Rigo who, like the venue, will be known to many readers. Full details in the invitation document (PDF in English).
10-16 June: Thanks to Michael Ernst for sending details of the Austrian Senior Championships in Vienna (50+ and 65+, 7 rounds). Full details in the invitation document (PDF in German) which includes hotel offers. There are prizes for women in both sections and a 75+ prize too. Michael says there is also a rapid tournament on the 9th.
14-24 June: The 31st Brandenburg Senior Open at Miedzyzdroje (Poland). This an annual German-organised event held in what until 1945 was East Prussia. Details (PDF in German).
21-29 June: 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: The 41st Oberfränkische Senior Open at Bischofsgrün/Fichtelgebirge. The invitation document (PDF in German) can be downloaded now and the website of organisers chessorg.de have a page in English about the tournament. There is also a chess-results page already. There will be another tournament at the same venue later in the summer.
** 28 June-5 July: The 4th ICCD World Individual Senior Deaf Chess Championships. 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 or other qualifications. There is now a chess-results page for this event.
1-12 July: FIDE World Senior Team Championships at Krakow, Poland (50+ and 65+, Open and Women, 9 rounds). Full details can now be downloaded (PDF in English); entries close on the 10th of May. You can also visit the official tournament website. Team eligibility as for the European Team event above: 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.
1-7 July: 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: The 9th Open Senior Championships of Baden-Württemberg (60+ for both men and women) at Bad Herrenalb. Contact details available on the German calendar.
** 12-14 July: The (official) U.S. Open Senior Championships (50+) in two sections, at the Hilton Chicago/Northbrook, Illinois, over 6 rounds. The Reserve section (US-rated only) is for players below 1500. Guaranteed prize fund of $13,000 including $2000 for women. Information on the website of the organisers. Entrants must reach their 50th birthday not later than the start date of the event.
** 16-25 July: The U.S. Senior Championship (50+) at Saint Louis Chess Club, Missouri. This has just been registered with FIDE and will be as usual a closed round-robin event for 10 players who will probably be GMs and IMs. It is likely to be broadcast online. We have no information about how the invitees are decided or whether a 65+ championship might be held somewhere else later in the year.
27 July-4 August: The 10th Arber Senior Cup at Bodenmais, Bavaria, Germany, alongside an Open. Surprisingly this festival is not showing on the German calendar but we found it listed at chess-results and the organisers' website (English language page). They do not say what the age qualification is for the tournament but judging by the birth years of the past two winners it is a 50+ event.
29 July-4 August: The British Senior Championships (separate 7-round 50+ and 65+ tournament) will be held at Hull City Hall over 7 rounds, alongside the main championship which begins a few days earlier. There is no PDF but details and an entry form can now be found at the British Championships website. Unlike the English Championships, these are open to players registered as ENG, SCO, WLS, IRL, and Channel Islands, and to other long-term UK residents.
9-17 August: Senior tournaments (both 50+ and 65+) at the 25th Olomouc Chess Summer festival in Moravia, Czech Republic, alongside a large variety of other tournaments. Details (PDF in English). Website of the organisers Ave Chess.
10-16 August: Senior tournament (unusually, 55+) in Bruges, Belgium, to be played over 7 rounds, alongside a 9-round Open, an under-1800 tournament and a closed GM event. Two rounds will be played on the 12th and trhe 14th. Information flyer (PDF in english); organisers' website.
The closed German Senior Championships (50+ and 65+ and blitz championships) will be held at Bad Wildungen from 23-31 August. The German regional senior team championships will be played at Bad Soden/Salmünster from 22-28 September. We won't say more about these here. Go to the German calendar for details if these events are relevant to you.
31 August-8 September: The 2nd North Bavarian SENEM (60+) at Bischofsgrün/Fichtelgebirge. Details (PDF in German).
** 3-11 September: The 21st Rheinland Pfalz Senior Open at Altenkirchen/Westerwald. For men born 1964 or earlier and women born 1969 and earlier. Full information is now available for download (PDF in German).
1-10 October: The ACO 2024 "World Seniors Championship" (50+) at the Fodele Beach resort on the Greek Island of Crete. Various sections based on rating. Details on the organisers' website. Warning: strictly a holiday. NOT FIDE-rated and their "titles" have no official standing.
** 3-11 October: The 18th Schleswig-Holstein Senior Open Championship at Busum. For women born in 1969 or earlier, men in 1964 or earlier. Contact details on the German calendar.
** 12-19 October: The (60+) Lower Austrian Championship at Spitz an der Donau, 7 rounds. In the World Heritage area of Wachau. Michael Ernst writes: "There is no invitation available at the moment (a very lovely tournament with a great landscape near the river Danube)."
15-23 October: The 32nd Open Saxon Seniors at Dresden. Always a popular event and Dresden is a wonderful place to visit. Details are available as a Microsoft Word docx file, unfortunately not as PDF. The dates clash with the previous and next events listed.
24 October-3 November (confirmed dates): The European Senior Individual Championships (50+ and 65+) at Lignano Sabbiadoro, a resort in north-east Italy. Transfers are offered from Venice (Marco Polo) airport. The venue is also quite close to Trieste. Download the invitation document (PDF). The Italian organisers are the same as that of last year's individual senior world championships.
** 8-15 November: 2nd Cap Negret International Open for Seniors 50+ and 65+ at Altea, Spain. Some English people who played last year enjoyed the event but recommend arranging a taxi from Alicante airport as the bus transfer was slow. Information (only in Spanish so far) on the organisers' website.
** 9-17 November: Ü65/Nestoren Cup im Spessart. "In Bad Soden Salmünster, a tournament for over-65s / Nestors will take place in November in the historic cultural hall." Details are now available (PDF in German). Limited to 64 players. The mention of "Nestors" usually means special prizes for 75+ (which, this year, means people born in 1949 or earlier). The PDF says, however, that the list of special prizes will depend on entries and will only be announced after the fourth round which is not really satisfactory.
** 24 November-7 December (PROVISIONAL ONLY): The 2024 FIDE Individual World Senior Championships may be held in Peniche, Portugal, but at this stage it is only a bid to host and nobody should make travel arrangements until FIDE makes a definite announcement.
** 27 November-5 December: The 24th Open Senior Championships of Mecklenburg-Vorpommen which as usual will be at Binz on the Baltic island of Rügen. Information (in German) on the organisers' website.
** 2-5 January 2025 (PROVISIONAL) in Dublin: These are the dates planned for the 2025 Irish Seniors Championships (50+ and 65+) but details will not be released until September at least. Overseas entries are allowed but only IRL-registered players can win the titles.
The Marienbad Chess Festival at Marianske Lazne, Czech Republic (including a senior tournament), is usually held in late January but has not yet been announced.
** 19-25 March 2025: 3rd Nestoren tournament (for players 75+) at Undeloh on the Luneburger Heide, south of Hamburg.
** 21-29 March 2025: These are the dates for the next annual Bad Wörishofen chess festival including a Seniors tournament (Men 60+, Women 50+). There is a slight overlap of dates with the next listed event but as they are in the same region maybe it would be possible to play both.
** 29 March-6 April 2025: The 13th International Schach-Senioren-Cup am Tegernsee at Rottach-Egern, Bavaria. For information, check the organisers' website.
** 7-12 April 2025: The 57th Open Lower Saxony Senior Championships at Sottrum, Germany. If they follow the rules for the 2024 congress (which just ended), this will be for men born 1961 or earlier and women born 1970 or earlier. Full information can be expected late this year or early in 2025.
April 2025: The European Chess Union calendar shows that the 2025 European Senior Team Championships will be held at Walbrzych, Poland, during this month but as yet there are no precise dates. Note that Easter Sunday will be 20 April 2025.
The ECU website also says that the 2025 European Senior individual Championships have been awarded to Porec, Croatia, but there is still no indication of which month this will be held.
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