Reykjavik Open 2016 round 1 report

The 31st edition of the Reykjavik Open chess tournament started today in the beautiful surroundings of the Harpa concert hall and convention centre situated in the heart of the city overlooking on one side the North Atlantic ocean and the surrounding mountains of Iceland receding in the distance on the other. There were twenty four…

Special offer from Smurstodin Resturant (inside Harpa) during Reykjavik Open:

DISH OF THE DAY 11:30 – 20:00 á 2.500 ISK. Miðvikudagur 9.Mars Smurbrauðstvenna: Graflax með sterku hvannarrótarsinnepi og kalkúnasalat með sveppum og rauðkáli Two open faced sandwiches: Graflax with angelica root mustard and turkey salad with mushrooms and red cabbage Fimmtudagur 10.mars Rauðspretta með remúlaði, kryddjurtarsalati, hafþyrniberjum og brenndri sítrónu Plaice with remoulade, herb sald, sea…

Football!

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…

Backgammon tournament on the 14th

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.…

Shakh is back!

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…

Richard Rapport to play in the 2016 Reykjavik Open!

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…

Norwegian viking invasion

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…

Your accomodation options for the Reykjavik Open

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…

Gabriel Sargissian has confirmed participation

 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…