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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:
15 September 2026
For more information about chess for over-50s, please see our Seniors calendar. Newcomers to 50+ chess should read our Seniors introduction page. We also have pages for specific British Seniors and Irish Seniors news.
National senior team organisers and regular competitors in FIDE's annual senior team competitions would like to see definite and accurate information about the venues and dates for the 2027 World and European Senior Team Championships.
Moreover, we would all like to see proper coordination established in future between the FIDE Events Commission and the ECU to avoid the clashes and delays over announcements that seem to arise nearly every year.
Some readers may remember that for a long time Rhodes in March was announced for the 2026 European Senior Teams Championships but eventually the event was moved to Crete at the end of the summer, and the change may have been part of the reason why the entry was disappointingly low.
The ECU, on its own calendar, is saying that the 2027 version of that event will be played in Acqui Terme, Italy, from 23rd April to 3rd May, while the FIDE calendar says the same venue but with the dates originally announced 14-24 May.
The FIDE Calendar says nothing about the 2027 World Senior Team Championships, which is usually the larger event. The FIDE Events Commission site shows no decision but still list the bids from Brazil and Germany with their originally submitted dates, which were respectively 3-13 May and 31 January-11 February. Clearly if the Brazilian bid is accepted, the European version of the event can hardly start immediately afterwards and even the May dates would be too soon.
To complicate matters, the German Chess Federation (which celebrates its 150th anniversary next year) was told several months ago (by whom?) that its bid to host the World event in Magdeburg was accepted, but with the dates 31st March to 11 April 2027.
We posted a link to their press release with a translation back in May. If you look at that page now, the announcement is still there but with the warning: "Der Beitrag ist älter als 4 Monate und der Inhalt möglicherweise nicht mehr aktuell!" which means "The post is over 4 months old and the content might not be up to date!"
So it seems that even the Germans are now not sure whether their bid is accepted.
This situation is totally unacceptable for several reasons. If the Germans were misinformed about the acceptance of their bid, who was responsible?
When and where is the 2027 World Senior Team Championships going to be held? The prospective organisers need certainty and if the venue is after all going to be Brazil, then players and federations need more time to plan than would be the case if the chsmpionships are going to be held in Europe.
Whatever decision FIDE makes, it needs to be made now - at the FIDE Congress in Samarkand - and communicated definitively to everyone.
Once there is certainty over the World event, the European Chess Union must move its own Team Championships to later in the year, and preferably to a new venue because Acqui Terme has already been the venue for too many senior championships over the past dozen years.
Also, the ECU and the FIDE Events Commission need to establish protocols to ensure this kind of mess never happens again.
The individual World Senior Championships will be played during November in Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia. Entry lists are now available on chess-results. So far we see 97 entries for the Open 50+, 23 for the Women's 50+, 164 for the Open 65+ and 27 for the Women's 65+.
The British Senior Championships were played early in August in Coventry. GM Keith Arkell is the new 65+ champion and FM Stephen Dishman won the 50+. For details see our British Seniors page.
The inaugural European Rapid and Blitz Championships will be played at the Novotel in Monaco from 10-14 Januay 2027 with a good prize fund for both the 50+ and 65+ with separate women's sections is the entry is large enough. See also our calendar page for links.
The rapid championship will be played on the 11th and 12th of January over 11 rounds with the rate of play 15 minutes plus 10 seconds increments. The blitz, on the 13th, will also be over 11 rounds at the rate of 5 minutes plus 3 second increment. (The 3/2 rate, which is understandably less appropriate for seniors, was shown on the website but the orgamisers have confirmed the slower rate is correct.)
The total entry is restricted to 150 players. There is no restriction on the number of entries from any federation but male entrants must have a FIDE rating of at least 1800 in one of its categories (classical, rapid or blitz). There is no rating restriction for women.
This is potentially a popular event with the potential to be an annual competition. For stronger senior competitors, this could be a good chance to meet and even play some famous masters without having to spend ten days away from home. We understand that many entries ahve already been submitted so don't delay toolong if this interests you.
There seems to be a contradiction in the document which needs to be clarified. It says that the registration deadline is 20th December, but it also states that: "Entry fees and accommodation payments shall reach the below bank account no later than 1st December 2026. After this we don’t guarantee the rates of the hotels."
Monaco is of course expensive but it is also possible to commute there by train quite easily from Nice or other towns in south-east France and Nice is the most convenient airport.
The German senior individual championships were played in Dresden in late July. GM Rainer Knaak is the new 65+ champion, scoring 8/9 in a field of 230 competitors. The 50+ tournament had a field of 75. Untitled Dieter Kaiser and IM Cliff Wichmann scored 7/9 with Kaiser taking the title on tiebreak. IM Klaus Klundt won the 65+ blitz and FM Karsten Schulz had the best tiebreak of the top four finishers in the 50+ blitz. The German regional team championships are currently in progress.
The only bid listed to host the 2027 World Senior individual championships is from Italy (1-17 October) proposing Orosei on the east coast of Sardinia as the venue. The ECU calendar says that its 2027 European individual senior championships are scheduled for Chotowa in southern Poland at unspecified dates in July. (The nearest international airport is Katowice, about 36km).
Back to our Seniors introduction page