Nigel Short, the 1993 world title challenger, will head to the Antarctic for his next tournament as the 61-year-old, formerly of Bolton but resident for many decades in Greece, attempts to become the first chess player to win tournaments on seven continents.
There is history for the very strongest grandmasters successfully defying the ravages of time: Emanuel Lasker in his mid-60s at Moscow 1935 and 1936, Viktor Korchnoi in his 70s, and, most impressive of all, Vasily Smyslov reaching the 1984 Candidates final against Garry Kasparov at 63.
