Senior Worlds: Gaprindashvili Half a Point Back in the Women 65+

The 2026 FIDE World Senior Chess Championships are running in Vrnjačka Banja, Serbia, from 3 to 14 November, and after three rounds each of the four sections already has perfect scores at the top. A total of 385 players from 65 federations are at the Hotel Zepter, including 44 grandmasters and eight women’s grandmasters.

There are four world titles, split between the 50+ and 65+ age groups, each with an open and a women’s section. All four are 11-round Swiss events at 90 minutes for 40 moves, then 30 more minutes, with a 30-second increment from move one.

Open 50+: the favorites are not alone

Five players sit on 3/3: GM Petr Kostenko (rated 2345), GM Mikheil Kekelidze (2381), GM Pavel Kotsur (2484), GM Suat Atalik (2400) and GM Kiril Georgiev (2512). Kostenko is on top by tiebreak, ahead of Kekelidze and Kotsur.

Top seed Murtas Kazhgaleyev of Kazakhstan (2532) has 2.5, as does Jean-Marc Degraeve of France (2485). Both are half a point back in a 124-player field.

The biggest rating mover in the top 15 is FM Dmitriy Volkov, rated 2180, who has 2.5 and is gaining 23.4 points so far.

Women 50+: Cramling a half point back

WGM Inga Khurtsilava of Georgia (2172) leads the 27-player section with 3/3. Pia Cramling, the top seed at 2374, has 2.5 and sits third on tiebreak, behind WIM Sopio Tereladze (2172), also on 2.5.

Second seed Inna Gaponenko of Ukraine (2314) has stumbled slightly, with 2 points. So has Maritza Arribas Robaina of Cuba (2247). Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant of Scotland has 2.5.

Open 65+: seven on 3/3

Top seed Zurab Sturua (2488) has 3/3 in the 205-player field. He is joined by GM Keith Arkell (2372), GM Alexander Raetsky (2283), FM Eric Boulard (2262), GM Ruslan Pogorelov (2276), GM Rainer Knaak (2389) and IM Branimir Maksimovic (2141).

Igor Glek of Belgium (2433) and Silvio Danailov, who plays under the FIDE flag (2425), both have 2.5. Maksimovic stands out for his rating: he is 2141 and has gained 15.4 points already.

Women 65+: Gaprindashvili in the chasing group

Galina Strutinskaia has the only perfect score in the 29-player section, with 3/3. Nona Gaprindashvili, the Georgian who held the women’s world title from 1962 to 1978, has 2.5 as top seed at 2168.

She is level with WIM Bagyashree Thipsay, WIM Elena Krasenkowa and WIM Ingrid Lauterbach. Lauterbach, rated 1948, is gaining 26.2 points.

What comes next

With eight rounds left, perfect scores will begin to disappear as the Swiss pairings put the leaders against one another. The tournament has one round a day, with a rest day on Sunday 8 November, and games start at 15.00 local time. The final round, on Saturday 14 November, starts an hour earlier.

The total prize fund is €50,000, with special prizes for players aged 75 and over.