Participation in the men's event requires that the players are more than 60 years old. To be precise, that their sixtieth birthday be before the 1st of January 2011. Former Ukrainian Champion Okhotnik for example was born in 1950.
The two previous winners met on board two, but a decisive result on board one determined the 2011 champion.
The last round pairings on the top boards:
| Board | Seed | Title | Name | Rating | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Title | Name | Rating | Seed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | GM | Kurajica Bojan | 2532 | 8 | 0 - 1 | 8 | IM | Okhotnik Vladimir | 2427 | 15 |
| 2 | 10 | GM | Cebalo Miso | 2446 | 7½ | ½ - ½ | 7½ | GM | Vaisser Anatoly | 2555 | 1 |
| 3 | 4 | GM | Timoscenko Gennadij | 2483 | 7½ | 1 - 0 | 7½ | IM | Leskovar Mario | 2316 | 36 |
| 4 | 9 | GM | Komljenovic Davorin | 2451 | 7½ | 1 - 0 | 7½ | GM | Kovacevic Vlatko | 2482 | 5 |
| 5 | 19 | GM | Rajkovic Dusan | 2416 | 7 | 1 - 0 | 7 | GM | Rashkovsky Nukhim N | 2517 | 3 |
| 6 | 8 | GM | Suba Mihai | 2458 | 7 | ½ - ½ | 7 | GM | Chernikov Oleg L | 2402 | 23 |
| 7 | 26 | IM | Karasev Vladimir I | 2377 | 7 | 0 - 1 | 7 | GM | Balashov Yuri S | 2443 | 12 |
| 8 | 14 | IM | Zhelnin Vladimir V | 2430 | 7 | ½ - ½ | 7 | IM | Lederman Leon | 2267 | 47 |
| 9 | 18 | FM | Mishuchkov Nikolai M | 2418 | 7 | ½ - ½ | 7 | IM | Pritchett Craig W | 2343 | 30 |
| 10 | 40 | FM | Kelleher William | 2300 | 7 | 0 - 1 | 6½ | GM | Jansa Vlastimil | 2478 | 7 |
The final table demonstrates that IM Vladimir Okhotnik finished ahead of a whole host of GMs. A surprising outcome as the Paris-based Okhotnik was only fifteenth seed.
| Rank | Title | Name | Country | Rating | Points | Tie-break |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IM | Okhotnik Vladimir | FRA | 2427 | 9.0 | 52.5 |
| 2 | GM | Komljenovic Davorin | CRO | 2451 | 8.5 | 54.5 |
| 3 | GM | Timoscenko Gennadij | SVK | 2483 | 8.5 | 52.0 |
| 4 | GM | Vaisser Anatoly | FRA | 2555 | 8.0 | 54.0 |
| 5 | GM | Kurajica Bojan | BIH | 2532 | 8.0 | 51.5 |
| 6 | GM | Cebalo Miso | CRO | 2446 | 8.0 | 49.5 |
| 7 | GM | Rajkovic Dusan | SRB | 2416 | 8.0 | 47.5 |
| 8 | GM | Balashov Yuri S | RUS | 2443 | 8.0 | 47.0 |
In the parallel women's event the participants only need to be 50-years-old (i.e. born before 1/1/1961).
The Russians and Georgians fought it out for the title with Galina Strutinskaya finishing alone on 8.5/11. Two-times winner Nona Gaprindishvili was surprisingly outside the medals.
| Rank | Title | Name | Country | Rating | Pts. | Tie-Break 1 | Tie-Break 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WIM | Strutinskaya Galina N | RUS | 2277 | 8.5 | 0.0 | 49.0 |
| 2 | WFM | Melashvili Nino | GEO | 2106 | 8.0 | 1.0 | 48.0 |
| 3 | WGM | Saunina Ludmila | RUS | 2274 | 8.0 | 0.0 | 51.5 |
| 4 | GM | Gaprindashvili Nona | GEO | 2360 | 7.5 | 0.5 | 48.5 |
| 5 | WIM | Thipsay Bagyashree Sathe | IND | 2152 | 7.5 | 0.5 | 45.5 |
The table of previous winners (Wikipedia) makes interesting reading:
The vast majority of winners learnt their chess in the former Soviet Union.
This is also true of both French winners Anatoly Vaisser and Vladimir Okhotnik.
The Bosnian (formerly part of Yugoslavia) Bojan Kurajica has the particularity of being World Junior Champion in 1965. A surprising last round loss cost him the chance to be the first player to be both Junior and Senior World champions!
More from the official site: http://www.rijekachess.com/
