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The Reykjavik Open continues at the Harpa Musical Hall and very few surprises were seen on round two as the grandmasters generally smashed through competition, one way or another.
| Bo. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Rtg | ||
| 1 | FM | Ekeberg Carl Fredrik | 2303 | 1 | 0 - 1 | 1 | GM | Naiditsch Arkadij | 2706 |
| 2 | WGM | Khademalsharieh Sarasadat | 2294 | 1 | 0 - 1 | 1 | GM | Berkes Ferenc | 2687 |
| 3 | GM | Rapport Richard | 2681 | 1 | 1 - 0 | 1 | FM | Pajeken Wolfgang | 2308 |
| 4 | Vaarala Eric | 2285 | 1 | 0 - 1 | 1 | GM | Amin Bassem Dr. | 2657 | |
| 5 | GM | Jones Gawain C B | 2651 | 1 | 1 - 0 | 1 | IM | Ponomarenko Alexandr | 2274 |
| 6 | FM | Constantinou Peter | 2270 | 1 | 0 - 1 | 1 | GM | Kobalia Mikhail | 2646 |
| 7 | GM | L'ami Erwin | 2646 | 1 | 1 - 0 | 1 | Grant Jonathan I M | 2255 | |
| 8 | FM | Kvisvik Brede | 2257 | 1 | 1 - 0 | 1 | GM | Gajewski Grzegorz | 2631 |
| 9 | GM | Rozentalis Eduardas | 2623 | 1 | 1 - 0 | 1 | Zeier Klaus | 2253 | |
| 10 | Olafsson Thorvardur | 2254 | 1 | 0 - 1 | 1 | GM | Van Kampen Robin | 2603 | |
| 11 | GM | Grandelius Nils | 2600 | 1 | 1 - 0 | 1 | IM | Kernazhitsky Leonid Dr. | 2249 |
| 12 | FM | Langer Michael | 2248 | 1 | ½ - ½ | 1 | GM | Olafsson Helgi *) | 2546 |
| 13 | Wunnink Michael | 2251 | 1 | 0 - 1 | 1 | GM | Ramirez Alejandro | 2599 | |
| 14 | GM | Hansen Eric | 2587 | 1 | 1 - 0 | 1 | FM | Hoffmann Hendrik | 2244 |
| 15 | WGM | Ptacnikova Lenka | 2239 | 1 | ½ - ½ | 1 | GM | Molner Mackenzie | 2528 |
The most eventful thing about the second round was a very noticeable interruption. A loud warning was overheard and the local players started getting up, while the international players looked confused. The message was repeated loud and clear in English: "The building is being evacuated".
We didn't know the reason, but the clocks were stopped and most players went outsidse. A little while later we returned to the playing hall only to find a building employee look dumbfounded at us. She told us: "The building is on fire... please go out side".
The interruption lasted a good 45 minutes, and some emergency vehicles showed up but the fire must have been very small as we never really learned where exactly it was.
The players left in anything but orderly fashion. Thankfully the fire was no real threat.
When players figured out that the fire was very small they went back into the building to escape from the cold, even though no one told them it was ok to do so
Some young players took time to meet the celebrities. Here with GM Gawain Jones.
Socializing was the way to kill time during the "fire'
| Bo. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Rtg | ||
| 1 | GM | Naiditsch Arkadij | 2706 | 2 | 0 - 1 | 2 | IM | Ezat Mohamed | 2439 |
| 2 | GM | Berkes Ferenc | 2687 | 2 | 1 - 0 | 2 | IM | Norowitz Yaacov | 2430 |
| 3 | IM | Kjartansson Gudmundur | 2441 | 2 | 0 - 1 | 2 | GM | Rapport Richard | 2681 |
| 4 | GM | Amin Bassem Dr. | 2657 | 2 | 1 - 0 | 2 | IM | Tania Sachdev | 2423 |
| 5 | IM | Porper Edward | 2427 | 2 | ½ - ½ | 2 | GM | Jones Gawain C B | 2651 |
| 6 | GM | Kobalia Mikhail | 2646 | 2 | 1 - 0 | 2 | IM | Karavade Eesha | 2408 |
| 7 | FM | Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. | 2395 | 2 | 0 - 1 | 2 | GM | L'ami Erwin | 2646 |
| 8 | GM | Van Kampen Robin | 2603 | 2 | 1 - 0 | 2 | IM | Thorfinnsson Bjorn | 2389 |
| 9 | IM | Soors Stef | 2394 | 2 | 0 - 1 | 2 | GM | Grandelius Nils | 2600 |
| 10 | GM | Ramirez Alejandro | 2599 | 2 | 1 - 0 | 2 | WGM | Abrahamyan Tatev | 2376 |
| 11 | IM | Arngrimsson Dagur | 2382 | 2 | 0 - 1 | 2 | GM | Hansen Eric | 2587 |
| 12 | GM | Olafsson Helgi *) | 2546 | 1½ | 1 - 0 | 1½ | WGM | Ptacnikova Lenka | 2239 |
| 13 | FM | Cawdery Daniel | 2362 | 2 | ½ - ½ | 2 | GM | Gretarsson Hjorvar Steinn | 2511 |
| 14 | GM | Danielsen Henrik | 2501 | 2 | ½ - ½ | 2 | IM | Klundt Klaus | 2341 |
| 15 | FM | Antal Tibor Kende | 2325 | 2 | ½ - ½ | 2 | IM | Idani Pouya | 2496 |
A big surprise happened on board one. Naiditsch had a pleasant positino, but he got overeager in an interesting attack:
[Event "Reykjavik Open 2014"] [Site "Reykjavik"] [Date "2014.03.05"] [Round "3"] [White "Naiditsch, Arkadij"] [Black "Ezat, Mohamed"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B11"] [WhiteElo "2706"] [BlackElo "2439"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [EventCountry "ISL"] 1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ exf6 6. Bc4 Bg4 7. O-O Be7 8. h3 Bh5 9. Re1 O-O 10. d4 Bd6 11. g4 Bg6 12. Nh4 Nd7 13. Bb3 Qc7 14. Nxg6 hxg6 {Black's position is solid but White's pair of bishops and space advantage definitely give him the edge.} 15. Qf3 Rfe8 16. Bd2 Nf8 17. h4 Ne6 18. Re4 c5 19. c3 cxd4 20. cxd4 Qd7 21. Rae1 Nc7 22. h5 Rxe4 23. Rxe4 f5 24. hxg6 $1 {A good idea} fxe4 25. Bxf7+ $2 {A bad followup} (25. gxf7+ Kf8 (25... Kh7 26. Qh3+ Kg6 27. Qh5+ Kf6 28. Bg5#) 26. Qh3 Ne6 27. Qh8+ Kxf7 28. Qxa8 { and White is way ahead.}) 25... Kf8 26. Qh3 Ne6 27. d5 (27. Qh8+ Ke7 28. Qxa8 Nf4 $1 $11 {Is an important difference. Now White cannot defend against the perpetual check threats.}) 27... Nf4 28. Bxf4 Bxf4 29. Be6 Qa4 30. Qh8+ Ke7 31. Qxg7+ $2 {Playing for the win} (31. Qxa8 Qd1+ 32. Kg2 Qf3+ 33. Kg1 $11) 31... Kd6 32. b3 Qb4 33. Bf5 Qe1+ $1 34. Kg2 e3 {Black's king will find refuge and White will get mated now.} 35. Qf6+ Kc5 36. Qe7+ Kb6 37. Qf6+ Ka5 38. b4+ Qxb4 {Black is simply up material and now even has the safer king. A fascinating struggle!} 0-1
Rappot on board three played the wild 1.Nf3 e6 2.g3 g5!? 3.Bg2 g4!? and scored a victory in a long endgame. Personally I had a hopeless position against my good friend Tatev Abrahamyan who is very close to completing her IM title, but a trick in time pressure allowed me to turn the tables.
Playing friends is never nice. Tricking them over the board is even less nice!
GM Galego from Portugal has a long history of being one of the top players of that country
Six time Iceland Champion Helgi Olafsson with 2.5/3
Harika Dronavalli is the only lady left with a perfect score
Sachdev fell in an endgame against Amin Bassem from Egypt
Rapport continues his unorthodox chess. He will play the author of this article in a couple of hours.
Awonder Liang lost to Steinn Gretarsson in round two
The top boards are littered with top GM duels today and the tournament will definitely go into full force from now on.
Select games from the dropdown menu above the board
Photos by Fiona Steil-Antoni
LinksThe games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |
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