Chess: England fail to win senior team world medals for first time in five years

England finished out of the medals for the first time in five years in this week’s world senior team championships for over-50s and over-65s, played at Durres, Albania, as the US, fielding a largely former USSR squad, retained the over-50 gold medals, while a nominally German team, which also included a former Soviet star, won the over-65s event.

The US victory was clear but had a controversial aspect in the team’s use of package deals, which are forbidden in Olympiads but still allowed in senior events.

In round seven, the US drew with Kazakhstan after an hour’s play by agreeing all four games drawn in a total of 65 moves, including a 10-mover on board one. In the final round, they made sure of the gold medals by a 27-move total against Iceland, including draws of five moves or fewer on all the bottom three boards.

England’s 50+ failure partly reflects a rare form downturn by top board and reigning nine-time British champion Michael Adams in the first half of the event, but also raises questions about general selection policy.

In the past five years England’s record in the age 50+ has been gold in 2022, silver in 2023, bronze in 2024, but only fourth in 2025 and 2026, while in contrast the age 65+ team won gold in 2022, 2024 and 2025 and silver in 2023 before their fourth place in 2026.

4022 Utut Adianto v Vadim Milov, Biel 1994. White to move and win. A test of your skill with a queen and rook. The winning line is a five-move sequence with Black’s replies virtually forced, but some of England’s best juniors once took half an hour to crack it. Can you do better?

That 2022 50+ gold-medal team included a player who has been absent from later teams – Nigel Short, who challenged Garry Kasparov for the world title in 1993 and was a regular in the England squads which won Olympiad silver behind USSR gold in the 1980s.

While England 50+ toiled in Albania, with John Emms on 2498 their best tournament performance rating (TPR) and Adams only on 2464, Short was finishing fourth in the Bangkok Open, scoring an unbeaten 7/9, and ending as top over-50 with a TPR (tournament performance rating) of 2624. Short’s return should therefore be a major aim of English Chess Federation senior selection policy for 2027.

In last year’s world teams 50+, Stuart Conquest was one of the best scorers, and he later confirmed his good form by finishing runner-up to Adams in the British Championships. Conquest declined to play in Durres, Albania, citing concerns about a food poisoning outbreak there at a European Club Championship a few years previously, but he may be available for the World 50+ in 2027.

Danny Gormally, who turns 50 on Monday, was able to make his team debut since Fide counts all birthdates as 1 January. It has been a long wait for the grandmaster, who made his Olympiad debut in Turin 2006 but then suffered from a career-affecting incident. His promising return was highlighted in the final round by the most spectacular two-move tactic of the tournament.

The best England 50+ scorer was the captain John Emms, who was also an inspirational and supportive leader. Emms’s score of 5.5/7 would have won the board four gold medal had one been awarded, but the organisers did not list any individual medals. The ECF should prepare one specially for Emms.

England 65+’s stellar record of three golds and a silver was spoiled when they finished out of the medals in fourth. The decisive match occurred in round six when Germany-Lasker, with two former USSR players, beat England 2.5-1.5. John Nunn, the individual world 65+ champion, has a 2514 Fide rating but played 42 points below that, while Peter Large had a minus score and the team conceded too many draws. Still, the record remains stellar even after this setback.

Following his triumph with a record score in the world title Candidates in Cyprus, Javokhir Sindarov returned home to a hero’s welcome in Tashkent.

He was congratulated at the airport by Uzbekistan’s president, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who said: “Our son Javokhir is the pride and honour of our entire Uzbekistan,” In response, Sindarov offered the Candidates trophy to the president, saying: “God willing, when I bring the crown, I will also give it to you!” Sindarov’s world title match with the holder, India’s Gukesh Dommaraju, is scheduled for November-December, although its venue has yet to be announced.

Uzbekistan is competitive for world chess domination. In mid-September, the 200-country biennial chess Olympiad will be staged in Samarkand, with the hosts likely to be seeded in the top three along with the United States and India.

Meanwhile, Magnus Carlsen remains the world No 1. The 35-year-old Norwegian, who abdicated his world title in 2023 after a 10-year reign, was asked if he would play again for the world championship, and replied: “In several formats, certainly. In classical chess – absolutely not!”

Magnus Carlsen believes his time competing in the classical World Chess Championship is over. Photograph: Petter Arvidson/Bildbyrån/Shutterstock

It seemed last week that a Carlsen v Sindarov mini-match might take place in the online chess.com open, which is a qualifier for the chess section of the esports World Cup in August. This World Cup has a $1.5m (£1.3m) prize fund, even though it lasts only five days and the time limit is a very fast 10 minutes per player per game, with no per-move increment.

Carlsen and Sindarov were on opposite sides of the draw and seeded to meet in Sunday’s final, but the prospect disappeared when Sindarov was defeated 3-0 in the first round by Fide/Russia’s maverick GM Daniil Dubov. The Muscovite won all three games lying on his side in bed.

Perhaps the Uzbek had been over-celebrating the Candidates result, but there is an alternative explanation. The esports World Cup in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with Carlsen as its defending champion and top seed, lasts from 11-15 August and clashes directly with the traditional Sinquefield Cup in St Louis on 10-20 August, which has Sindarov listed as a participant. Hence, diminished motivation.

Carlsen v Sindarov cannot occur at St Louis or Jeddah, so when could they meet in a classical game? Norway Chess in Oslo at the end of May has a full complement of players, but there might be a withdrawal. More likely is the “chess Wimbledon” at Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, in January 2027, by which time Sindarov will either be world champion or a defeated challenger. However, they will probably meet in Hong Kong in June at the World Rapid/Blitz teams, competing over one rapid and two blitz games.

4022 1 Qg2 Re8 2 Qf2! (threat 3 Rg8+ and 4 Qxh4) 2...Re4 (guards the queen) 3 Qf5! Re6 (if 3...Re8 4 Rg4 Qxh2 5 Qxf6+) 4 Qd5 (threats 5 Qd8+ and 5 Qa8+) 4... Re8 5 Qxf7 and wins.