The seniors strike back! Don't rule the old dogs out just yet...
In recent months, I have seen some great games/results from the 'old dogs' (veteran chess players past their prime and now just enjoying the game every now and then). The problem for us old dudes is that we want to keep playing our favorite game/past-time/hobby...whatever, but work commitments and declining energy/health just zaps the energy and concentration span away, especially in the last part of the game when the game is decided by not just speed of thought and nerves, but also reflexes.
Osric Mooi is a veteran from my generation. He has largely been arbitering (he's an International Arbiter), giving math lessons (he helped my school students win Math Olympiad medals before) and playing for fun. During his heydays, he could crush IMs (for example, at Asian Cities and Cairnhill Open) with dazzling speed and ridiculously complex attacks.
There was one Malaysia vs Singapore International Match about 15 years ago where the score stood at 75.5-75.5 and Mooi was the last to finish and he needed to win it for Singapore to clinch the match victory. Yep..he was the hero as he completed the job by beating his IM rival.
But usually he can't be bothered and can be seen dozing off at the board and happy to let the youngsters take him down. But not today...at the Singapore Chess Infinity CNY Rapid event, he mowed down the field to win it by 1 clear point with 7/7!
We move back a month to look at the Australian Open event. 66 year old GM Darryl Johansen, seeded 3rd, expectedly finished among the prize winners (4th overall and top senior player). Nothing surprising really.
But he certainly rolled back the years to create a stunning triple rook sacrifice game in the final round to clinch his prize money deserving! Check this out.
FM Doug Eckert is someone I consult for advice regarding tournament structure, financial decisions and even which GM to invite when organizing an event. He has since retired from his tax accountant job and plays the occasional master events. As mentioned earlier, health and lowering energy levels will not allow one to play optimally as during our young heydays but once in a while, Eckert can pack quite the punch.
Doug has also been honored by the St Louis Chess Club with his own named event - The Doug Eckert Open which ran from 14th February to 16th February and he even played in it.
Lately, I've been watching GM Alexey Shirov rapid games on Youtube. He doesn't exude the flamboyant, devil-may-care attitude, intense demeanor of his heydays in the 90s where he reached World Number 2 but he still packs quite an awesome punch and is certainly still very strong now - rapid chess Elo 2700. It's also interesting how he approaches problems - a very long focused think, burning up lots of time before unleashing the famed attacking pummels to down his opponents.
Here's some of them.
