The 31st edition of the FIDE World Senior Championship kicked off in Terrasini, Italy on October 25, 2023. Italy has already hosted this tournament eight times, and this year, the event is taking place on the beautiful island of Sicily. 

Organized by FIDE and the Italian Chess Federation together with UniChess and Accademia Scacchistica Monrealese, the competition brought together 271 players from 53 different national federations battling for the title of the World Senior Champion in the categories Open 50+, Open 65+ and Women.  

FIDE Events Commission decided to merge the Women 50+ and 65+ categories into a single 11-round Swiss tournament as proposed by the organizing committee. Prizes will be awarded separately to the best players in the Women 50+ and Women 65+ categories according to the final standings.  

The prize fund for this year's championship hit a record high of €42,500.  

The first day started with a technical meeting, followed by a brief opening ceremony held by IA Ashot Vardapetyan, FIDE Delegate and ECU Vicepresident Eva Repkova and GM Roberto Mogranzini. After WGM and IM Eva Repkova made the first ceremonial move on the first board in the game between GM Gaprindashvili Nona (GEO) and WFM Kierzek Mira (GER) in the women's category, the competition went underway. 

The tournament is officiated by the chief arbiter, IA Ashot Vardapetyan (ARM). All rounds will be broadcast live and can be watched online. 

The top-rated participants are GM Michael Adams (ENG, 2670) in the Open 50+ category, GM Jhon Nunn (ENG, 2560) in the Open 65+ category and GM Nona Gaprindashvili (GEO, 2267) in the Women category. 

Official website: worldseniorchess2023.com/  

Complete results: https://chess-results.com/tnr832133.aspx?lan=16

Photos: Patricia Claros Aguilar