Tuesday 14 April 2015

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be

With Senior chess events becoming increasingly popular, it is no surprise that some 'nostalgia' matches are being organised. In the past these have often been between retired or semi-retired GM's (Korchnoi - Uhlmann springs to mind), but the St Louis Chess Club is hosting some slightly younger players. GM Nigel Short (still a very active player) is playing former World Champion Garry Kasparov, in an echo of their 1993 World Championship match. In this case it will be a two day event, consisting of 2 Rapid games and 4 Blitz games. While I normally shy away from matches of this type, I think this one will be interesting, just to see if Short's activity overcomes Kasparov's ability. The two previously played a similar match in 2011, with Kasparov winning 4.5-3.5.
Another Senior event starting shortly is the 2015 Oceania Seniors Championship, being hosted by the New Zealand Chess Centre in Devonport. While the field is overwhelmingly New Zealand (only 1 Australian entrant), it is a very strong event, with 5 players rated over 2200, including one IM, 3 FM's and one GM (of the CC variety). The tournament starts Thursday, and results can be seen here.

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