Team USA Leads World Senior Team Championship After Six Rounds

After six rounds of the 2023 FIDE World Senior Team Championships, team USA leads the 50-and-over section with five wins and one draw, while German team Germany Lasker Schachstiftung GK leads the 65-and-over section with a perfect 6–0–0 score.

Standings for the 50+ section

The final three rounds resume after today's rest day, with games taking place at 8:00 a.m. CDT. Full standings are available here for the 50+ and here for the 65+ sections. Games can be followed live on LiChess and Chess.com.

(Left-to-right): GMs Gregory Kaidanov, Jaan Ehlvest, Alexander Shabalov, Alex Yermolinsky, and Igor Novikov (photo courtesy Valeria Kaidanov)

After winning the first two rounds with dominant 3½–½ performances and several games sure to be featured in future Wednesday Workouts, the Americans hit a road block in round three against the hosting N. Macedonian team.

Jaan Ehlvest cannot be faulted for his ambitious play against N. Macedonia (courtesy Mark Livshitz/FIDE)

With draws on boards one and three, a promising and topical gambit from GM Jaan Ehlvest backfired on board two.

It was up to "Yermo" on board four to hold the draw for the match, which he did by refuting a dubious sacrifice and holding on despite his opponent's crushing attack and one moment of mutual oversight.

The Americans then had back-to-back dates with England, defeating England 2 3–1 in round four and England 1 2½–1½ in round five.

A familiar "Super-GM," Michael Adams, plays top board for England 1, but Shabalov was able to "hold serve" in their fifth round encounter (courtesy Mark Livshitz/FIDE)

Against England 1 (a team full of authors including GMs Michael Adams, John Emms, Glenn Flear, and Nigel Davies), Kaidanov pushed Emms into a corner (literally) in a theoretical rook endgame.

This victory ended up being the difference-maker, with the other three boards all ending in draws.

Kaidanov came out on top of a tense endgame battle to clinch the match against England 1 (courtesy Mark Livshitz/FIDE)

The Americans then won their sixth round match with the same score, thanks to Ehlvest's handling of the transition into the second time control.

After the rest day, the U.S. team plays an Italian team that, as reader Scot Henderson observed, began the tournament with a trip to England by playing the Women's team, England 2, and England 1 in consecutive matches. Going undefeated after the 2½–1½ loss to England 1, Italy is now in clear second place, meaning that the U.S. will be able to separate from the pack with a victory.