The European Senior Chess Championship 2026 commenced last week in Acqui Terme, Italy, and takes place at the Acqui Terme conference center from 1-11 June, 2026.
Five rounds were already played at the Championship which is played in two age categories: 50+ and 65+, open and women’s sections separately, and gathers nearly 250 players coming from 34 European federations, including some of the sport’s most legendary names.
After five played rounds, three players tie for the top in the Open 50+ tournament scoring 4.5/5 points each: GM Jean-Marc Degraeve (FRA, 2494), GM Henrik Danielsen (ISL, 2466), and IM Frend Berend (LUX, 2208), and they are followed by a group of six players with 4/5 points (each).
IM Joan Pomes Marcet (ESP, 2178) is the sole leader of the Open 65+ championship as the only player with the perfect score of 5/5 points, and he is followed by IM Victor Manuel Vehi Bach (ESP, 2179) and GM Zurab Sturua (GEo, 2484) who score 4.5 points each.
IM Silvia Alexieva (FRA, 2195) emerged as the sole leader of the Women’s 50+ competition with the score of 4.5/5 points, a full point ahead of WGM Elvira Berend (LUX, 2239) and WGM Elena-Luminita Cosma (ROU, 2234).
WIM Elena Krasenkowa (POL, 2006) leads in the Women’s 65+ category with 4.5/5 points, and WIM Ligia-Letitia Jicman (ROU, 2091) follows with 3.5 points. As many as three players score 3/5 points each: WFM Mira Kierzek (GER, 1965), Aureliana-Eugenia Pancu (ROU, 1920) and WFM Margarita Baliuniene (LTU, 1974), while legendary GM Nona Gaprindashvili (GEO, 2185) is in the group of players with the score of 2.5 points.
All results, rankings and pairings can be found here.
Live broadcast of all games can be followed here.
Detailed information about the event are available through the official tournament webpage.
Photos by Melih Cickek/ Photo gallery can be found on the ECU Flickr page.
