Prize winners at the 2026 Reykjavik Open

At the prize-giving ceremony of the Reykjavík Chess Tournament yesterday, prizes were awarded in various rating categories in addition to the main prizes of the event. The players were rewarded for their efforts, and some even got lucky in a raffle when they won a free trip to a chess tournament in Tunisia!

A total of four norms toward the International Master title were achieved this time. None of them were Icelandic players, but the following earned norms at the tournament:

• FM Tamas Christian-Arrydan (2287) from Romania
• WGM Liya Kurmangaliyeva (2319) from Kazakhstan
• FM Sergey Sklokin (2414) from Armenia
• Liu Bei (1963) from China

Next, surprise prizes were awarded — these were raffle prizes, and not small ones: travel, accommodation, and free entry to the Djerba tournament held annually in Tunisia, next taking place in February 2027. Björn Þorfinnsson attended it not long ago and spoke very highly of it! Asmund Gilsson from Norway and Jón Trausti Harðarson were the lucky winners! Mohammed Abdou from the Djerba Festival presented the prizes.

Best performance relative to rating:

It probably came as no surprise that Liu Bei (1963) topped this category! He performed 500 rating points above his expected level — not bad!

1. Liu Bei (1963) China – 517 points above rating
2. Eito Nishida (1587) Japan – 372 points above rating
3. Toma Niori (1639) Japan – 322 points above rating

 

Best performance (players rated 0–2000):

Once again, Liu Bei (1963) had to come up on stage, and it was great to see Óskar Víking receive a prize — though he certainly won’t be in this rating category at the next Reykjavík Open!

1. Toma Matsunaga (1900) – 6 points
2. Liu Bei (1963) China – 5.5 points
3. Óskar Víkingur Davíðsson (1933) Iceland – 5.5 points

Best performance (players rated 2001–2200):

1. Krishay Jain (2097) India – 6.5 points
2. FM Iren Lyutsinger (2182) FIDE – 6 points
3. WIM Zhang Xiao (2164) China – 6 points

Best performance (players rated 2201–2400):

1. IM Krishna Ajay (2354) India – 6.5 points
2. FM Ethan Guo (2364) USA – 6.5 points
3. WGM Liya Kurmangaliyeva (2319) Kazakhstan – 6.5 points

No photo of this prize was included in the media package, and in the picture you can see Ingvar pointing this out to Tómas Tandri… hopefully he doesn’t mind the request!Best performance (players over 65):

Here we had an Icelandic winner!

1. IM Áskell Örn Kárason (2109) Iceland – 5.5 points
2. Jan T’sas (1906) Belgium – 5 points
3. Matthijs Dijkstra (2032) Netherlands – 5 points

Best performance (players under 16):

1. FM Ethan Guo (2364) USA – 6.5 points
2. Krishay Jain (2097) India – 6.5 points
3. FM Sergey Sklokin (2414) Armenia – 6 points

Best female performance:

The women’s section was very strong and competitive this year, reflecting the tournament’s long-standing goal of maintaining a diverse field. Four prizes were awarded in this category:

1. GM Nino Batsiashvili (2472) Georgia – 6.5 points
2. WGM Liya Kurmangaliyeva (2097) Kazakhstan – 6.5 points
3. IM Narva Mai (2413) Estonia – 6 points
4. IM Stavroula Tsolakidou (2479) Greece – 6 points

Main prizes, places 4–10.

Players in these places were called on stage and received their prizes.

Ivanchuk had already departed for his next tournament but finished in 3rd place with 7 points and the best tiebreak score.

Jianchao Zhou was also not present but finished in 2nd place with 7.5 points.

Last on stage was the winner of the 2026 edition, Amin Tabatabaei, with an incredible score of 8 out of 9!!

All results, rating changes, and more can be found on chess-results.

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