Mark Ginsburg Ties For First at FIDE World Senior Championships

Arizona’s IM Mark Ginsburg is a World Senior Co-Champion. The 2025 FIDE World Senior Championships were held Oct. 21 through Nov. 1 in Gallipoli, Italy, and featured 433 participants from 62 federations across four sections (Over-65 and Over-50 categories for both Open and Women) competing for a share of the €50,000 prize fund.

Open Over-65 Podium (Photo courtesy FIDE)

Ginsburg finished with 8½/11 in the Over-65 Open, putting him in a six-way tie for first, finishing fifth on tiebreaks. Ginsburg earned a GM norm for his performance. Ukrainian IM Alexander Reprintsev finished first on tiebreaks, earning the direct GM title.

Ginsburg had a strong showing through the first eight rounds, entering the day as part of a group of 13 players a half-point behind the two co-leaders. His Round 6 win over a grandmaster is below:

But a loss to French IM Gerard Welling (his only loss of the tournament) dropped him down to Board 15 with only three rounds to go. From there, Ginsburg finished 3/3 to catch the co-leaders after a number of draws on top boards in the final few rounds.

Open Over-50 Podium (Photo courtesy FIDE)

In the Over-50 Open, four Americans significantly outperformed their seeding. Vladimir Bugayev (seeded 70th) and IM William Paschall (32nd) finished tied for fifth with 7½/11 scores, with the former picking up almost 90 rating points for his performance (including four wins over IMs, two of which are below) and the latter gaining nine points and producing a number of entertaining attacks.

IM Ali Farhat (26th) finished in a tie for 13th with 7/11, and FM Alexander Betaneli (55th) tied for 26^th with 6½/11.

Israeli GM Victor Mikhalevki took clear first with an impressive 9½/11 score, including a last-round victory over Paschall. Paschall could have tied for third with a draw or second with a win.

Women's Over-50 Podium (Photo courtesy FIDE)

In the Over-50 Women’s, reigning U.S. Women’s Senior Champion WFM Natalya Tsodikova was the only American in the field. Tsodikova finished tied for 10th out of 31 players with a 6/11 score. With fewer DGT boards allotted to the Women’s sections, four of her wins were not broadcast, but her fifth victory is shared below along with one of several draws where she had significant winning chances.

Scottish GM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant took clear first with 8½/11, ahead of Swedish GM Pia Cramling and Cuban WGM Maritza Arribas Robaina, who finished second and third, respectively, on tiebreaks with 7½/11 scores.

Women's Over-65 Podium (Photo courtesy FIDE)

No Americans competed in the Over-65 Women’s, which was won by Russian WGM Galina Strutinskaia with a near-perfect 10½/11 score.

In the Blitz, Russian IM Oleg Kozlov won with a 7½/8 score. Farhat and Paschall were the top American finishers, tying for fifth and seventh places, respectively, with 5½/8 and 5/8 scores. All broadcasted games can be replayed on Lichess. Read more about the event in FIDE’s official report.