A new recent tradition has been built up in recent Reykjavik Opens. A soccer match is played between the Icelandic chessplayers and a team of foreign guests. The plan is to keep this new tradition this year. Last year we had many players participate, including World Champion Magnus Carlsen! Last year we formed a four…
Dear Friends! For those arriving tomorrow (Monday) to Reykjavik (or already arrived) it’s ideal to go to the opening party which will be held at the official bar of the tournament, Sky Lounge and Bar which is situated at Hotel Arnarhvoll which is straight across from Harpa and only about a minute walk away or…
MONDAY 14TH OF MARCH Reykjavik International Backgammon Tournament On monday evening the 14th of March, the Icelandic Backgammon Federation will organize a special backgammon-tournament for chess players. The system of play will be single elimination, matches to 7 points. For the players who lose their first match, there will be a second chance tournament, for 25% of the tournament budget.…
The Reykjavik Open is very pleased to welcome back Shakhriyar Mamedyarov to the Reykjavik Open. Shakh needs virtually no introduction as he has been in and around the elite tournaments for a long long time now despite the relatively young age of 30. Mamedyarov is the current Azeri #1 and has many tournament victories under…
The Reykjavik Open now has a new #1 seed for the 2016 edition. The very aggressive, inventive and exciting Hungarian Richard Rapport (2715) will be playing. The female part of the player pool also gets a sizeable boost as his Serbian WGM girlfriend, Jovana Vojinovic (2352) will also be playing. They both won an invitation…
With registered participants already over 100 the Reykjavik Open is yet again getting an invasion from our Nordic viking friends in Norway. The countries share a history going hundreds of years back with some of the first settlers in Iceland coming from Norway around the year 860! It seems like they still like coming here…
Dear Chess friends! With the 2016 Reykjavik Open approaching we thought we’d give you a little help in finding a play to stay. Here is a short overview of some hotels that are offering deals to chess players. Center Hotels Please check out: http://www.centerhotels.com/reykjavikopen for Hotel deals for the 2016 Reykjavik Open be quick though since offers…
It is a great pleasure for the organisation of the Reykjavik Open to welcome the participation of Armenian legend Gabriel Sargissian. Sargissian just recently won a board medal at the 2015 European Team Championship and has been a very important part of a successful Armenian team over the years. Sargissian seems to do well on…
If you are looking to plan your vacation in 2016 we can tell you that we have just reached an agreement with the great venue Harpan once again and we will be playing March 8th-16th in 2016! 2015 was a great success and ran incredibly smoothly. We keep getting praise for the organisation and we…
And this year’s Reykjavik Open is done and dusted… Erwin l’Ami absolutely stole the show as he stormed to an incredible 8.5/9 after winning a 6-hour marathon game that had everyone on the edge of their seats against Melkumyan. The Dutchman thus won the Reykjavik Open with a round to go- a simply amazing…
