The Reykjavik Open is more than just a tournament; it should be called a chess festival. In the last few days there have been quite a lot of side events, such as a pub quiz, a blitz tournament and a soccer football match! It’s not easy to be modest and at the same time write about something you…
There is almost no time to do nothing here in Reykjavik…..because of all the fun! When we are not playing the tournament or watching/following/commenting we are doing some fun side events. On Friday we had the 5th edition of the Pub Quiz. This year the questions were very hard and the winners were chess journalists…
“There was a man of the North, Ingólfr, who is truly said to be the first leave it for Iceland, in the time when Haraldr the Fair-Haired was sixteen winters of age (…), he settled south in Reykjavík.” This is taken from Íslendingabók, the Book of Icelanders, written in the 12th century by an Icelandic priest.…
As Oscar Wilde once quipped, the Icelanders are very smart people. “They discovered America and kept quiet about it!” This quote was one of many little stories that were told by our tour guide on Friday, when over fifty chess players went on the famous Golden Circle tour, which visits Iceland’s main touristic attractions. In…
by Ian Rogers Around a decade ago the Reykjavik Open moved to the impressive Reykjavik Town Hall, with views of icy waters shared by large numbers of ducks and swans. In those days Iceland was the rich uncle of Europe and the fine playing conditions for the biennial Open were not surprising. Returning many years…
Chessdom has some coverage on US players: http://usa.chessdom.com/gm-yuri-shulman-among-leaders-in-reykjavik-open/ The Philippines are watching their man closely: http://philboxing.com/news/story-80618.html ChessVibes with link to all the interviews so far: http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/reykjavik-open-rounds-2-3-harpacoustics Chessdom: http://www.chessdom.com/the-real-action-begins-at-reykjavik/ Susan Polgar: http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2013/02/tough-battles-begin-in-reykjavik.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter chess.com with lots of comments: http://www.chess.com/news/reykjavik-open-2013-7015
As you probably know, the Reykjavik Open is held – this year for the second time – in Harpa. Harpa is both a concert hall (it is the official home of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and the Icelandic Opera) and a conference centre, and it has quickly become a famous landmark, located next to Reykjavik’s harbour, from…
The earliest settlers in Iceland probably weren’t planning to visit the country at all. In fact they had never heard of it, it wasn’t a country yet and it certainly wasn’t called Iceland yet! We’re talking about the 9th century, and brave men listening to names such as Naddoddr (a sailor from Norway) and Gardar…
As players can take a bye in round 2-7 it has been decided that Median Bucholz Cut 1 will be used for tiebreaks. This means that the worst performing opponent will be cut for those playing all games and for those taking a bye of course that “opponent” is cut meaning the bye will not…
Today, Iceland’s first and oldest Grandmaster announced his participation in the Reykjavik Open. Yes, the legendary Fridrik Olafsson will play! Olafsson shouldn’t need to be introduced, especially not to local fans. He became Iceland’s first Grandmaster in 1958. He participated in the first edition of Reykjavik Open back in 1964 and he is a three…
