The over-65s have been world champions three times in four years, but the over-50s finished out of the medals as USA claimed another title. England over-65s and over-50s had contrasting experiences this week at the World Senior Team Championships in Prague. The over-65s, led by the individual world champion, John Nunn, and with a virtuoso 7/8 performance by Peter Large, led throughout and were unbeaten with 16/18 match points, seven wins and two draws. Two German teams, Lasker Germany and Saxonia, took silver and bronze.
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England over-50s also led for much of the way despite a round four loss to Italy, but faltered in the final round crunch matches against USA, which they lost for the third year in a row, and Kazakhstan, where they drew. England actually had the best game points total of all the 50+ teams, and four of their five players finished in gold or silver medal positions, but it was match points that mattered. USA won gold, Italy silver, and Kazakhstan bronze, with England fourth and England’s second team fifth.
Contrary to normal practice, the organisers only awarded individual gold medals, not silver or bronze. Michael Adams and Mark Hebden won gold in the 50+, as did Sheila Jackson in the women’s 50+ (incorporated in the open event) and Large in the 65+.
Had there been silver and bronze, Stuart Conquest and John Emms (50+), Petra Fink-Nunn and Helen Frostick (women’s 50+), Nunn and Ian Snape (65+) would have achieved silver, and Paul Littlewood (65+) bronze. The English Chess Federation should consider recognising their achievements by awarding its own medals to the excluded seven.
In the 65+, Epsom’s Peter Large was the outstanding England individual performer. The retired solicitor, who has played over 80,000 games on chess.com, hit the form of his life in Prague, where his performance rating of 2494 was the second best of the competition and close to grandmaster level.
Large plays in the vintage style of the golden 1980s age of English chess, with Grand Prix Attacks, Harry the h-pawn pushes, Queen’s Indian counterattacks and tactical shots all featuring prominently. In his best game at Prague, he overwhelmed an Israeli IM.
John Nunn, England’s 65+ top board, is still a high class grandmaster as well as an eminent chess author and problem solver. The King’s Indian 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 has been his favourite defence for decades. When France’s GM Anatoly Vaisser tried to surprise him by the sharp Four Pawns Attack 4 e4 d6 5 f4, Nunn was ready with his own offbeat response 5…0-0 6 Nf3 c5 7 dxc5 Na6!? and swept to a stylish victory where his rooks trapped the white king on the h file.
Nunn and Large were well supported by Tony Kosten, the France-based author of many opening books as well as 101 Tips to Improve Your Chess; and by the team captain, Glenn Flear, whose performance at London 1986 is still the stuff of legend. He was a last-minute replacement, got married on the tournament rest day, was the bottom seed, but won first prize ahead of the global elite headed by Boris Spassky.
Fifth board Terry Chapman also has a unique place in chess history through his narrow 1.5-2.5 defeat in his 2001 two pawn odds match against Garry Kasparov, then at the height of his powers. For the England 50+ team and its selectors, the result in Prague was a contrasting disappointment. Statistically, they were unlucky.
Michael Adams is a top class grandmaster who won elegantly in the final round at Prague, while Stuart Conquest, Mark Hebden and John Emms were all in good form. All four finished in gold or silver medal positions with just a solitary defeat each caused by a blunder in a near-even position, yet each of those dropped points led to a lost or drawn match.
The controversial selector decision to omit the popular Keith Arkell rebounded as his replacement, Peter Wells, was out of form. However, the problems run deeper than that. The victorious USA squad, which has now won the 50+ title three years in a row, has two major assets: they are almost all not just Americans, but also grandmasters who learnt their skills in the former USSR. This team are therefore the sole remaining guardians of the historic Soviet 20th century chess supremacy, and they are zealous in its defence.
Second, Senior chess in the US benefits substantially from Rex Sinquefield’s largesse. The prize fund for the 2024 all-play-all US Seniors at St Louis was $75,000. which was more than 100 times the money for the 2024 British Over-50 Championship at Hull.
It gets worse. The winner of the 2024 US Senior, Vladimir Akopian, was an Olympic gold medallist in his prime, No 2 for Armenia behind Levon Aronian. He did not compete in Prague, but is likely to be available next year. Another active 2600+ grandmaster, Alexander Onischuk, turns 50 this year, so that the US team is likely to be stronger still in 2026.
