20-year-old IM Vignir Vatnar Stefánsson won his first Icelandic championship title in a close and exciting competition that came down to the wire.

Like many previous editions, the 2023 Icelandic Championship was a 12-player round-robin tournament with classical time control that took place from May 15–25 in Hafnarfjordur, Iceland.

As tournament fate would have it, as many as three participants – Gudmundur Kjartansson, Vignir Vatnar Stefánsson and Hannes Stefansson – scored 8.5/11 and tied for first place. In the final round, the leaders Vignir and Hannes drew their game (although the former was very close to a victory) while Gudmundur beat Lenka Ptacnikova and caught up with them.

To determine the champion, a blitz double round robin (5 min + 5 sec increment) was played. Vignir Vatnar Stefánsson defeated Gudmundur Kjartansson and then escaped with a draw against Hannes Stefansson, while Kjartansson made quick work of Hannes Stefansson to score a full point.

The competition culminated in the fourth-round game between Gudmundur Kjartansson and Vignir Vatnar Stefánsson. Playing with White, Gudmundur achieved a slightly better position but made a fatal error on move 28, allowing his opponent to launch a deadly attack.

Now Vignir needed just a draw with the white pieces in the duel between Stefanssons. Although he was in danger at some point, Vignir (pictured below, left) managed to trade most of the pieces and reached a draw that secured his maiden national title.

Final standings:

Official website: https://skak.is/frettir/

Photos: official website

GM Nils Grandelius emerged as the winner of the 2023 Reykjavik Open. A tournament regular, the Swedish GM won this event on his 11th attempt! The 9-round Swiss tournament supported by the FIDE Aid Package took place from 29 March to 4 April 2023 in the capital of Iceland.

With many strong GMs participating, it was a very close competition that came down to the wire. Suffice it to say that only after Round 5 there was the sole leader in the event – Abhijeet Gupta of India, who scored 5/5.

Coming into the final round, as many as five players shared the first place on 6.5/8, but only Grandelius pulled out a so-much-needed victory over IM Quentin Loiseau to finish clear first as all other leaders drew their games.

A large group of participants tied for second place, with GMs Mustafa Yilmaz and Abhijeet Gupta taking second and third prizes, respectively, thanks to superior Buchholz.

Final standings:

The prizes were also awarded in the following categories: 0-2000, 2001-2200, 2201-2400, Seniors 65+, Juniors U16 and Women (pictured below).

L-R: WGM Sarah Papp (2), IM Irene Kharisma Sukandar (1) and Nisha Mohota (3)

The top eight finishers of the Reykjavik Open 2023 earned FIDE Circuit race points based on the final standings:

The following norms were completed at the tournament.

• GM norm  – Sidhant Mohaptra
• IM norm  – Sahithi Varshini and Patryk Cieslak

Photo: Hallfríður Sigurðardóttir and official website

Official website: reykjavikopen.com/

Hjörvar Steinn Grétarsson defended his title of Icelandic champion with flying colours, winning his second straight national championship with a round to spare. The rating favourite delivered a commanding performance of 7½/9, conceding his opponents just three draws.

The 2022 Icelandic Championship, a 10-player round-robin tournament (Elite), took place from April 22 to May 1 in Reykjavik.

Despite suffering two defeats, the second-rated Hannes Stefansson (pictured above) scored 6/9 and claimed silver – a great improvement compared to the 2021 edition of this event.

There was a three-way tie for the third place, but bronze goes to Gudmundur Kjartansson, thanks to the best result in the direct encounters with his opponents. 

Alongside the Elite round-robin, a 25-player Candidates tournament (Swiss system) was held. Aleksandr Domalchuk-Jonasson (pictured below) emerged as the winner of this side event.

Final standings Elite:

Final standings Candidates:

Official website: skak.is/skakthing

Photo: IEB, Íslenskir skákmenn

Rameshbabu Pragganandhaa emerged as the winner of 2022 Reykjavik Open after dramatic turn of events in the final round. The Indian youngster scored 7½/9 and finished a half-point ahead of Max Warmerdam, Mads Andersen, Hjorvar Steinn Gretarsson and Abhimanyu Mishra.  

The 2022 Reykjavik Open, a nine-round Swiss tournament with classical time control (90 min for 40 moves followed by 30 min to the end of the game, plus a 30-second increment starting from move one), took place in Harpa Music and Conference from April 6-12 with a double-round day on April 10. The sponsors of the event with a total prize fund of €15,000 were Kvika, Reykjavik City, and FIDE, which supported the tournament via the FIDE Aid package.

Max Warmerdam, Mads Andersen, and Rameshbabu Pragganandhaa were heading into the final, ninth round as joint leaders on 6½ each, with a large group of players trailing them by half-point. After Mads and Max (pictured below) made a quick draw, it looked like the door was wide open for several players to join them. Indeed, Gukesh had a considerable advantage in the game against his compatriot Pragganandhaa, while young Abhimanyu Mishra and local favourite GM Hjörvar Steinn Grétarsson grabbed the initiative with black pieces against Pouya Idani and Lukasz Jarmula, respectively.  

Things changed drastically in time trouble as Gukesh ruined his overwhelming position in just two moves and missed not only a win but also a draw. 

Gukesh D – Pragganandhaa R

35.Qe5? (35.h3! parrying Black’s main threat, 35…Qxa5 36.Qd2! Qa3 37.Qc2! and White wins) Qg4 36.Rg1?? (36.Be4=) Nd1! and Gukesh capitulated as the only way to avoid checkmate is to give up his queen 0-1

This unexpected outcome helped Pragganandhaa to take clear first and pocket the first prize of €5,000. 

Max Warmerdam, Mads Andersen, Hjörvar Steinn Grétarsson, and Abhimanyu Mishra finished a half-point behind and tied for the second place. 

Final standings:

Photo: Thorsteinn Magnusson and Hallfríður Sigurðardóttir

Official website: reykjavikopen.com/

European Individual Chess Championship 2021 kicks off on August 26 in Reykjavik, Iceland.

190 players from 36 different European federations are fighting for the title of European Champion and qualification spots for the FIDE World Cup 2023. The best-ranked player aged U20 will be granted a qualification spot for the 2021 FIDE Grand Swiss.

The total prize fund of the event amounts to €100,000, with €20,000 reserved for the champion.

32 players rated 2600+ lead the field, and the top seeds are: Gawain Jones (ENG, 2684), Gabriel Sargissian (ARM, 2682), David Navara (CZE, 2675), Matthias Bluebaum (GER, 2674), Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (GER, 2671), Nils Grendelius (SWE, 2666), Constantin Lupulescu (ROU, 2659), Alexander Donchenko (GER, 2657), Nijat Abasov (AZE, 2656), Rauf Mamedov (AZE, 2654).

The event is played over 11 rounds, Swiss system, with time control: 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one.

All the players have to follow the health protocol and personal safety measures that are described in detail on the official website of the event.

The official venue of the championship is Hotel Natura, a historic place with a rich history of chess events held there. Bobby Fischer stayed at this hotel during his 1972 World Championship match against Boris Spassky. A replica of the famous table used in 1972 can be found at the hotel. Several other high-profile events have been held at this venue, including the 1977 Spassky vs. Hort Candidates match and the 1991 GMA World Cup, as well as the GMA World Cup in 1991.

Tournament regulations (pdf)

Text: europechess.org

Official website: www.reykjavikopen.com

The Icelandic Championship, a 10-player round-robin tournament with classical time control took place from 22-30 April 2021 in Kópavogur.

This tournament was a very exciting event with a keenly contested final round that did not disappoint the participants and chess fans. The rating-favourite Hjörvar Steinn Grétarsson was a half-point ahead of Jóhann Hjartarson but the veteran put tremendous pressure on the leader by defeating Hannes Hlífar with black pieces.

To his credit, Hjörvar did not flinch – he gradually outplayed Sigurbjörn Björnsson to score a full point in an endgame and took his first national title. Gudmundur Kjartansson finished third and earned bronze.

Final standings:

1.  Gretarsson, Hjorvar Steinn (2588) – 7
2. Hjartarson, Johann (2523) – 6½
3. Kjartansson, Gudmundur (2503) – 6
4. Thorfinnsson, Bragi (2432) – 5½
5. Stefansson, Vignir Vatnar (2327) – 5
6. Gretarsson, Helgi Ass (2437) – 5
7. Stefansson, Hannes (2532) – 4
8. Thorfinnsson, Bjorn (2384) – 3½
9. Bjornsson, Sigurbjorn (2327) – 2
10. Mai, Alexander Oliver (2025) – ½

Photo: Ingibjörg Edda

Official website: skak.is/skakthing/

A thrilling Icelandic Chess Championship came to a conclusion this Sunday with what can only be described as an epic final round. After the penultimate round two players –  Gudmundur Kjartansson and Helgi Gretarsson – were leading with 6 points out of 8. Chasing them in joint third with 5 points out of 6 were Hjorvar Steinn Gretarsson and Bragi Thorfinnsson; the latter after a string of amazing turnarounds in his last few rounds.

Fate would have it so that in the final round the players in joint third faced the leaders with black pieces. Therefore, there was a remotely possible scenario of a four-player playoff at the end of the tournament. While this seemed highly unlikely first,  it wasn’t out of the question the way things unfolded in the final round.

GM Bragi Thorfinnsson found a powerful sequence that resulted in him getting a great initiative and a better position in the game with Helgi Gretarsson. He managed to make the best out of that and beat his opponent to catch up with him and Kjartansson.

Meanwhile, Hjorvar Steinn Gretarsson was on the verge of finishing off Gudmundur Kjartansson in a very exciting game where he extinguished White’s initiative first and then obtained decisive positional and material advantage. However, when the time came to deliver a final blow on move 39 Gretarsson went astray:

Gudmundur Kjartansson – Hjorvar Steinn Gretarsson

After 39…Rxc4 White has to resign as 40. Bd4 is met with 40…Rd8. However, Hjorvar captured the c4-pawn with a wrong piece 39… Qxc4??  and after 40.Qxc4 Rxc4 Gudmundur built an unassailable fortress that gave an important half-point and the title.

Some strict regulations were applied in terms of sanitation and safety, with no audience and plenty of space between the boards. The players had to leave the scene immediately after their games.  There was no common area with food and drinks so the participants had to bring their own snacks. And of course, there were no handshakes.

Final standings:

1. IM Gudmundur Kjartansson – 6½ 
2. GM Bragi Thorfinnsson – 6
3. GM Helgi Ass Gretarsson – 6
4. GM Hjorvar Steinn Gretarsson – 5½
5. FM Vignir Vatnar Stefansson – 4½
6. IM Bjorn Thorfinnsson – 4½
7. FM Dagur Ragnarsson – 4½
8. GM Margeir Petursson – 3
9. GM Throstur Thorhallsson – 2½
10. Gauti Pall Jonsson – 2

Text and photo: Gunnar Bjornsson

Offical website: https://skak.is/skakthing/