After round three we were approached by a player who expressed that he had symptoms of Covid-19. He went through all the necessary tests and was declared by the doctors as a positive case. As consequence, everyone who was in contact with him was examined by the tracing team of the Icelandic Directorate of health…
Rauf Mamedov seperated himself from the leaders in the 6th round when he managed a nice win against Frenchman Maxime Lagarde. The Azeri veteran employed a rare 7…h6 move in the mainline King’s Indian and his surprise seemed to pay off. He sacrificed a pawn shortly thereafter, despite changing queens, and was very quickly ahead…
There was a shift in the lead in the 5th round as Rauf Mamedov from Azerbaijan managed to defeat the previous leader, Robert Hovhannisyan from Armenia. Joining him in the lead is Frenchman Maxime Lagarde who managed a good win with black versus Russian Mikhail Antipov and another Armenian comes to the rescue as Hovhannes…
Robert Hovhannisyan (2626) from Armenia was the only player on 3 out of 3 that managed to win his game in the 4th round. He, therefore, becomes the sole leader and the only player with a full house after four rounds. Robert managed to hold on to a rather early pawn grab and made the…
Seven players remain with a perfect score after an exciting third round at the Reykjavik Open / European Individual Championship. On the top board, locals had their eyes on the clash between Iceland #1 and German #1 as Hjorvar Steinn Gretarsson (2603) battled with Matthias Bluebaum (2674). A draw was agreed after a dynamic battle…
After the second round, only one player out of the top 10 remains with 2 points out of the 2 games, according to my friend, an expert on free money games. This is Matthias Bluebaum (2674) from Germany who is among 20 players that have won both of their games so far at the European…
The first round of the Reykjavik Open / European Individual produced a very limited amount of upsets. But upsets it did produce! The tournament was opened by the Prime Minister of Iceland, Katrin Jakobsdottir and she was assisted by chair of the city council, Alexandra Briem, and Deputy President of ECU Gunnar Bjornsson. And we're…
With the arrival day behind us, everything is ready for the start of the 2021 European Individual Championship. While most of the participants arrived in Reykjavik, the hosts were busy setting up the playing hall and everything that entails. The drawing of lots was handled at the casual opening party. Chief arbiter Omar Salama administered…
With just about a week until the European Championship starts, the Armenians are already in Reykjavik! Players without a vaccine have had to be subjected to a 5-day quarantine according to the local Covid rules. It seems the Armenians want a few extra days as well to get acclimated. Oher players the need the quarantine…
In about two weeks, several European players will duke it out for the crown of European Individual Champion as well as the top players battling it out for coveted spots at the World Cup. Twenty-three players will book their tickets to the World Cup and given what a spectacle it was this year, the top…
