Strutinskaya Perfect on 5/5 at Senior Worlds, Cramling Unbeaten in Women 50+

Five rounds are done at the FIDE World Senior Chess Championships 2026 in Vrnjačka Banja, Serbia, and only one player has a perfect score: WGM Galina Strutinskaya. The final round is scheduled for November 14 at Hotel Zepter, so six rounds remain. Four titles are being decided, and the shape of each race is quite different.

Women 65+: a full point clear

Strutinskaya, playing under the FIDE flag, has won all five games. WGM Irina Chelushkina of Serbia and WIM Larisa Khropova (FIDE) are next on 4/5.

Three players follow on 3.5: Elena Krasenkowa of Poland, Bagyashree Sathe Thipsay of India and Ingrid Lauterbach of Germany. A full-point cushion with six games left is useful but not decisive.

Top seed GM Nona Gaprindashvili, the former Women’s World Champion from Georgia, has 3/5. She is also playing for the special Women 75+ title. Our round-three report had her half a point off the lead, so the last two rounds have cost her ground.

Women 50+: Calzetta Ruiz ahead of Cramling

WGM Monica Calzetta Ruiz of Spain leads with 4.5/5. Swedish GM Pia Cramling, the top seed, is half a point back on 4 and unbeaten.

Six players share 3.5: IM Inna Gaponenko (Ukraine), WGM Maritza Arribas Robaina (Cuba), WIM Sopio Tereladze and WGM Inga Khurtsilava (Georgia), GM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant (Scotland) and Yelena Gaichenya (Kazakhstan). That is a deep pack, so the medals are far from settled.

Open 50+: three grandmasters on 4.5

GMs Petr Kostenko and Kiril Georgiev both won their first four games, then drew each other in round five to reach 4.5. GM Pavel Kotsur joined them after drawing with GM Ramil Hasangatin.

Georgiev, a former World Junior Champion, is among the most distinguished Bulgarian grandmasters. Half a point back are Hasangatin, Victor Mikhalevski, Hannes Stefansson, Suat Atalik and Mikheil Kekelidze.

Top seed GM Murtas Kazhgaleyev of Kazakhstan suffered an earlier setback but recovered with a fifth-round win. He stands on 3.5, a full point off the lead.

Open 65+: a five-way tie

Five players share first on 4.5. Top seed GM Zurab Sturua of Georgia drew with England’s GM Keith Arkell, so both stay on that score.

GM Rainer Knaak of Germany beat Dominique Guigonis, and Serbia’s GM Branko Damljanović beat IM David Cummings. IM Oleg Kozlov completed the group by defeating IM Vladimir Bogdanov.

Because the leaders play each other as the Swiss pairings tighten, the tie should shrink fast. Draws among the top boards, like Sturua against Arkell, are what keep a field this bunched. For the tiebreak mechanics that may matter at the finish, see our Swiss system explainer.

Vrnjačka Banja Trophy rapid

Alongside the championship, the Vrnjačka Banja Trophy 2026 open rapid was held on November 8, with 293 players from 40 countries, including 17 grandmasters. Many Senior Worlds participants played.

GM Mikhail Bryakin of Serbia won with 8/9. IM Miodrag Perunović (Serbia) and GM Evgeny Vorobiov also scored 8 and were separated on tie-breaks. IM Danila Sutormin (Serbia) took fourth on 7.5, with GM Rogelio Antonio Jr. (Philippines) and GM Goran Todorović (Serbia) also on 7.5.