GM Larry Kaufman reports from the scene of the 2010 World Senior
Championship in Arco, Italy. Kaufman, the 2008 champ, is ranked #17.
Other American participants include Jude Acers, Nicholas Kleszczewski,
Duane Catania and Leonid Bondar. Stay up to date on results on chessresults.com and see more information on the official website. The World Senior Championship started today in Arco, Italy, not far from last year's site but Arco is a larger town and this time the hotels are within walking distance. Attendance at 245 is way up from last year, as is the strength, with 16 GMs in the men's event and one in the women's. I am seeded 17th, the same as I was two years ago when I won, but with my rating about 20 points higher it shows that the event is gaining in strength.
Most of the GMs are repeats from last year, including Didyshko and Timoshenko. GM Tscheshkovsky is again the top seed. One sad absence is three-time champion Latvian GM Janis Klovans, who died a few weeks ago (see the chessvibes obituary here). There are seven Americans playing in the men's group, unfortunately no one is representing the U.S. in the women's.
I won my first game rather easily against fellow American Duane Catalonia. The only other American over 2200 is Jude Acers, who unfortunately was losing his round one game when I left. I spent a couple days in Venice before the event, primarily to get over jet lag. I think this is essential for Americans traveling to Europe if they hope to do their best. I'm going to try my best for a medal finish, though obviously the odds are against me based on my seeding. But I'm in good condition and pretty well prepared.
Stay up to date on results on chessresults.com and see more information on the official website.