Some interesting new players

Today we got some late additions to the tournament.  In an older news piece on the actual 50 year anniversary day of the first Reykjavik Open we told you about a game Mikhail Tal played against a local master when instead of succumbing to a repetition he sacrificed his queen for two pieces! Well guess…

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Players perspective!

It’s always nice to read what players are thinking about so it’s a pleasure to point you to these two excellent articles on the experience of two different but closely related players. First we offer Gawain Jones’s article. Gawain has now played the Reykjavik Open three times and two seasons in the Icelandic league so…

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Lisa Orlova interviews IM Gretarsson

Lisa Orlova was one of many competitors in they 2013 Reykjavik Open. She has a chess channel on YouTube and did some interviews while she was in Reykjavik. Here is her interview with local IM Hjörvar Steinn Grétarsson who missed a chance at a GM norm in the last round.

Video clip: Gawain Jones

An interview with England’s 5th grandmaster Gawain Jones, who participated in the London Chess Classic in December and “learnt a lot”, then won the Hastings open and then finished his Reykjavik Open with the same score. [vsw id=”Y7UIpbsQxCA” source=”youtube” width=”560″ height=”315″ autoplay=”no”]

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Baseem joins the leaders

With some games still to be finished the final result of the tournament is clear. Pavel Eljanov and Wesley so finish on top with 8 points after their mutual draw but Amin Baseem managed to catch up with his last round victory. Therefore we have the 3 winners from 3 continents. Eljanov has the best…

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Video clip: Bassem Amin

An interview with Egypt’s number one chess player Bassem Amin, who beat the strong Czech grandmaster David Navara in round 9 of the Reykjavik Open. Amin is a doctor and will spend his next year between hospitals and tournament halls! [vsw id=”TTzhYEYUQig” source=”youtube” width=”560″ height=”315″ autoplay=”no”]

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Will Wesley say “SO?” tomorrow?

It’s clear that one of the winners of Reykjavik Open 2013 will be named Wesley So or Pavel Eljanov. If one of them wins, that same player is a clear winner. If they draw some people can catch up. So the question is, if Eljanov gives the early offer “I offer a draw” will Wesley reply…

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