A brief interview with Ding Liren, the reigning champion of China and one of many players from his country participating in the tournament this year. He had to settle for a draw in the first round against a much lower rated opponent, and we think a jetlag might have been the main reason… [vsw id=”n93qykca0nc”…
DetailsThis time around in the Reykjavik Open we will be giving out prizes for the game of the day. Our friends in the “12 Tónar” music store will be giving a CD each day for the best game. We have a small commitee which decides on the game of the day. The game of the…
DetailsHere’s a brief interview with GM Ivan Cheparinov of Bulgaria, who returned to Reykjavik after playing the open last year:
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Three Icelanders have joined the foreign guns at the top of the table with 2 out of 2 after the first round of the day, they are Throstur Thorhallsson, Hjörvar Steinn Grétarsson and Guðmundur Kjartansson. Today is the dreaded double-round day and many players used the opportunity to take the one bye that is allowed…
DetailsWe wish Sigurdur Steindorsson a happy birthday. Siggi Palli as we call him in Iceland hasn’t played much chess for a while but decided to enter the Reykjavik Open this year. He was the first to pay the entry fee, the first to draw somebody 600 elo points below him and the first to lose…
DetailsThe 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…
DetailsSome upsets in round 1. We already had a 1900 player beating a 2478 but there was also an upset when the Icelandic Ingibjörg Edda Birgisdóttir (1783) beat the Dutch IM David Miedema. Some draws as well. Tinna Kristín Finnbogadóttir, another Icelandic female player drew against German IM Martin Zumzande(2419). Sigurður Páll Steindórsson (2235) allowed…
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Soren Jensen rated 1909 beat IM Frode Urkedal 2473 in only 21 moves using the Muzio in the King’s Gambit!!! Now that’s kicking it oldschool!
Reykjavik Open has in some ways “loyal customers”. Many players come here over and over and I’ve been shaking many hands today during the 1st round. One of them was Ivan Sokolov to whom I said “ahhh Ivan….another thousand years!!” to which he replied….”amazing…seems everybody has seen this” By “this” he of course means by…
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