Here is your trivia question for today: Who is the first chess player to simultaneously be #1 on both the USCF’s list of top players 50 and older and the list of top players over 65?
Need a little hint? Okay, here it is.
Although Larry Christiansen has had an incredible career, I think that he may still be a little bit underappreciated. He has been #1 on the 50-and-older list almost continuously since its inception in June 2014. This year, when he finally reached age 65, he of course moved into the top spot on that list, as well. As I said in the caption, this makes him the champion not only of his own generation, but also the next generation, too. Pretty impressive!
But actually, he has a pursuer who might well become the second player to top both lists. Gregory Kaidanov, who is now 62 years old, will soon reach the age of 65. They have had a pretty amazing battle rating-wise over the years, with Christiansen usually leading Kaidanov but not by much. This year, Kaidanov closed the difference between them to 1 rating point! In the December rating list, Christiansen was rated 2649 and Kaidanov was 2648. (This was before the 2021 U.S. Masters was rated and Kaidanov fell back to 2636.) I’m sure that they will continue to be neck and neck three years from now, which may set up an interesting battle for supremacy in both age groups in 2024.
I took the photo of Christiansen above at the 2009 U.S. Senior Open, which of course Larry won. I wish I could tell you some good stories about him or even show you my favorite game of his, but I have only played through a handful of his games. So I’ll have to ask you, my readers. What game do you consider to be the “Christiansen immortal”? Or are there too many to pick just one?
By the way, looking at the top-100 lists gave me a new incentive to get back in the arena. Over the last year I’ve started to think about my chess career in the past tense. When I did my retrospective series on my 50 years in chess, I had intended to finish with a game from my first tournament back from the pandemic.
Alas, that didn’t happen. I was all set to play in a tournament in October, but I started having some annoying health issues — insomnia and vertigo, if you must know. The insomnia was especially troubling, because chess tournaments are absolutely a recipe for insomnia. You come back to your hotel room at midnight, and you’ve either just come back from a thrilling victory or a heartbreaking defeat. Either way, your heart is pounding and you’re replaying the game over and over in your mind, and it’s hard to get to sleep.
Fortunately I’m starting to figure out why I was having trouble with my sleep earlier this year, and (knock on wood) I might be able to manage it in the future. But I think that I might have to take half-point byes henceforth in any evening rounds. Or else look for tournaments that don’t have evening rounds, but good luck with that.
If I can play two more years without losing rating points, then I have a pretty good shot at making the top-100 list for players 65 and over. Currently, a 2100 rating will get you onto the top 100 list, and a rating above 2200 will get you into the top 50. There’s a 29-way tie for 48th place, with 29 “floored masters” rated exactly 2200. They are a virtual who’s who of American chess: names like John Curdo (at age 90, he’s the oldest), Ed Formanek, Viktors Pupols, Andrew Karklins, Brian Wall, Joel Johnson. Many of them were rated 200 or 300 points higher in their prime. It would be an incredible honor to see my name in their company.
But first I’ve got to get back into action! This past year has made me more respectful of every single person on the 65-and-older list, because the older you get, the harder it becomes just to show up and play.
