IM Jens Kristiansen and WGM Galina Strutinskaya are World Senior Chess Champions 2012
IM Jens Kristiansen and WGM Galina Strutinskaya are 2012 FIDE World Senior Chess Champions, after they won the most prestigious senior title in the world at the WSCC in the 5 star Galini Hotel in Kamena Vourla, Greece.
IM Kristiansen finished with 9,0/11, half a point ahead of his closest competitors – silver medalist GM Anntoly Vassier and the bronze medalist GM Evgeny Sveshnikov. IM Kristiansen started as 9th seeded in the competition and was held to a draw right from the start in round 1. He quickly recovered and gained speed to achieve 7 wins in the next 9 games, drawing only with the two rating favorites GM Evgeny Sveshnikov in round 5 and GM Anatoly Vaisser in round 9.
This left him at the leader’s position for the last 4 rounds, and a draw in the final game against GM Miso Cebalo was enough to confirm the dominance of the Danish player.
Final standings Open section / Replay all games on the top boards
WGM Galina Strutinskaya got a dramatic title from the World Senior Chess Championship for ladies. She finished with 7,5/11, the same points as the silver medalist WGM Tamar Khmiadashvili and the bronze medalist WGM Elena Fatalibekova, but a better tiebreak brought her the gold medal. WGM Galina Strutinskaya had a rough start after a draw and loss in the 2nd and 3rd round. She quickly recovered with three consecutive, in round 6 she defeated the rating favorite GM Nona Gaprindashvili, however right after that she lost with white her round 7 game against WIM Titorenko. A final sprint of 3,0/4, WGM Galina Strutinskaya caught the leaders and surpassed them on tiebreak.
Final standings women section / Replay all games on the top boards
Nicely done.