World Senior Team Championships - Dresden

[Alan Borwell]

There are always numerous German club teams for these events in Dresden. Calling it a World Seniors Team Championship is really a misnoma, with few "national" teams and hardly any from outside Europe. Also the decision by FIDE to reduce the age eligibility to 50+ was highly controversial as few countries would designate players age 50+ as "senior". These events were popular for real seniors ie 65+ or 60+ but were not designed for "professional" teams. Both FIDE and ECU will need to review arrangements for future senior team events. Of course, rich federations or those having generous sponsors, will persuade more leading 50+ players to play. The venue in Dresden is not really very suitable for large numbers of teams as main playing room(s) are small with the hotel also having limited number of rooms and located a long way from Dresden centre or other hotels.
Many thanks to all CS friends who have sent kind messages - I am feeling better after 3 weeks in hospital :-)