9/1/2022 – After twenty games the score was 11½-8½ for Challenger Bobby Fischer, who needed 12½ to win the title. In game 21 he had the black pieces, gained a distinct advantage, but then allowed Boris Spassky to get a drawn position. However, when the still-reigning World Champion adjourned, he sealed a losing move. The next day, September 1st, 1972, resigned by telephone on. At 2:35 p.m. Chief Arbiter Lothar Schmid congratulated Fischer and announced in the hall that Bobby was the new champion.

8/25/2022 – After draws in games 14 and 15, Fischer still had a three-point lead in the World Championship match, and the Spassky side was getting nervous. The Champion was fighting hard, but not getting any points. Suspicion arose that Fischer might be using secret weapons: hypnosis, devices planted in the lights or the chairs, and even perhaps assistance from an "IBM" (Russian for "computer" at the time). All this was formally investigated, while Fischer continued to coast.

8/18/2022 – Fischer leads by three points. The Match of the Century was coming to a head, with Spassky, despite all his efforts, unable to reduce the deficit. "I felt that Fischer was like a large fish in my hands," he lamented, "one that was slippery and hard to hold on to. At certain moments I let him slip. And then again the psychological torment would begin. Everything had to be begun again from the start ..." Spassky was beginning to feel despondent. | Photo: Skáksamband Íslands

8/13/2022 – After ten games in the World Championship match in Reykjavik, 1972, the score was 6½-3½ for Challenger Bobby Fischer. The match seemed virtually over – in the last eight games Boris Spassky had only managed to score 1½ points. In game 11 Spassky took on the Poisoned Pawn variation of the Najdorf Sicilian. "Fighting with the desperation of the doomed: he sensationally crushed his opponent in the 11th game" (Kasparov). In the twelfth he held Fischer to a comfortable draw. And then came the 13th round. Fischer played, for the first time in a top-level game, the Alekhine Defence. It turned into one of the most exciting battles of the match, and is beautifully annotated by GM Robert Byrne.

8/4/2022 – After the first two traumatic games World Champion Boris Spassky was leading 2-0 in the Match of the Century. But then Fischer started to play and struck back: in the next eight games he scored 6½ points, chalking up a 6.5-3.5 lead. Games 8, 9 and 10 were quite spectacular, and are the subject of today's report – exactly fifty years after game ten. Younger players will also learn about "adjournments" and how exactly "sealed moves" were handled. Some were born after these practices were abandoned.

7/24/2022 – Today we offer readers a glimpse of what had been happening behind the scenes of “The Match of The Century”, especially in the Russian camp, exactly fifty years ago. A tense Boris Spassky, cajoled by seconds Efim Geller and Nikolai Krogius, nevertheless failed to perform, to the dismay of his friends and admirers. It’s also the story of a gamble that could have hurtled Bobby down the precipice in that fateful Game 6 of the match. A cautionary tale and object lesson for aspiring players.

7/19/2022 – Fifty years ago, after the disaster he suffered in game one, Bobby Fischer was on the verge of abandoning the entire event and returning home. The challenger continued his vigorous protest, and when his demands were not met, Fischer did not turn up for game two. He was forfeited and the score was 0-2. Bobby booked a flight back to New York, but practically at the very last moment decided to play game three – in an isolated ping-pong room!

7/11/2022 – Half a century ago, exactly on this day, the most famous chess match in history began: Boris Spassky vs Bobby Fischer in Reykjavik, Iceland. Five year ago we celebrated the event by reporting on it, game for game, as if it was all taking place live. Today we bring you links to all the reports we published at the time, starting with our full report on the drama that surrounded game one. It contains original film footage which nobody should miss.

1/24/2022 – In 2020, we started a series called "The Best In", and interviewed some of the strongest male and female players of Aruba, The Bahamas, Brazil, Trinidad & Tobago, Armenia and Austria. The popular series will continue as a YouTube version with a 1-to-1 Zoom interview, including an analysis of the player's favourite game. We start the new chapter with the coldest country so far - Iceland. And in 2021, Hjörvar Steinn Grétarsson has had his best chess year so far. He speaks with us about the chess situation in Iceland, his motivation for the next years, and an interesting, mad story with another "ginger" chess fellow - Simon Williams.

5/5/2021 – The 2021 Icelandic Championship took place on April 22-30 in Kópavogur. It was a 10-player single round robin. Rating favourite Hjörvar Steinn Grétarsson finished in sole first place with a 7/9 score. Jóhann Hjartarson came second with 6½ points, while defending champion Guðmundur Kjartansson got third place after collecting 6 points. | Pictured: Grétarsson during round 7 | Photos: Official site

9/5/2020 – The 107th Icelandic Chess Championship took place in the last week of August. It was an over-the-board single round robin tournament with ten participants. Gudmundur Kjartansson won his third national title. Bragi Thorfinnsson and Helgi Ass Greatarsson finished a half point behind. | Photos: Icelandic Chess Federation

4/30/2019 – "A bit of sun and five degrees" — that's how IM ALINA L'AMI begins her photographic tour through the GAMMA Reykjavik Open 2019. In her characteristic way she blends beautiful photography and highlights from the chessboard to paint a picture of one of the most visually stunning tournaments in the world. | Pictured: IM Tania Sachdev who finished with 5½/9 | All photos: Alina l'Ami

12/12/2018 – Most chess players who have visited Iceland have stayed and played in Reykjavik. Northern Iceland is another story, quite different from the capital area. This spring there is a chance to visit an exotic part of the country to play in an international tournament – in beautiful surroundings and excellent conditions. The Icelandic Open 2019 will take place from May 25th to June 1st in Akureyri, just 60 km south of the Arctic Circle. Plan it in.

1/17/2018 – Today, ten years ago, one of the greatest chess players of all time, Robert James Fischer, passed away. He had spent three years in Iceland, two in relative comfort and harmony, but struck by horrendous illness at the end of 2007. He had one true friend who tended to him to the end: Gardar Sverrison, who eight years later wrote a remarkable book on the Fischer he knew and who became part of his family. Today, with Gardar's permission, we bring you very moving excerpts from the final section of his book.

11/21/2017 – After a wonderfully organized tournament in Faroe Island in the Summer month of July, the chess action is back in Faroes with the strong Runavik Open from November 20th to 26th. With 12 grandmasters in a field of just 48 players, along with the young and exciting Nihal Sarin, almost every participant has a very high chance to play a GM. The Wintery Charm of Faroe Islands | Photo: Hanna Ólavsdóttir Jacobsen

10/31/2017 – The organisers of the annual Reykjavik Open have recently announced information on the March, 2018 edition, which will be extra special, as it will commemorate Bobby Fischer himself. Fischer would have turned 75 years old during the event, if not for his untimely death in 2008. They have sent us the key details.

9/7/2017 – Back in 1972 it was no trivial task to produce a book very quickly. Especially not a chess book, which required special diagrams for which there were no fonts. When IM and author David Levy came up with the idea of producing a book on the Reykjavik Spassky-Fischer match, and deliver 100,000 copies in New York within 96 hours of the end of the match, that sounded quite outlandish. But he managed to pull it off. It is an interesting fact that Levy and the author Svetozar Gligoric actually knew the final move and result of the match before Fischer.

9/1/2017 – The score was 11½-8½ for Challenger Bobby Fischer, who needed 12½ to win the title. In game 21 he had the black pieces and he played a Sicilian variation he had never before shown any liking for. He gained a distinct advantage, but then allowed Boris Spassky to sacrifice an exchange to get a drawn position. However, the still-reigning World Champion went on to blunder and finally lose his title.

8/30/2017 – The score was 10½-7½ for the Challenger, who needed 12½ to win the title. Was Bobby Fischer content merely to sneak in by split points? "I don't believe it — it's never been his style," wrote commentator GM Robert Byrne. "I think the explanation for the draws is to be found in Spassky's improvements in his openings." In games 11 and 12 Fischer kept coasting, but he also relaxed somewhat with social encounters.

8/25/2017 – After draws in games 14 and 15, Fischer still had a three-point lead in the World Championship match, and the Spassky side was getting nervous. The Champion was fighting hard but not getting any points. Suspicion arose that Fischer might be using secret weapons: hypnosis, devices planted in the lights or the chairs, and even perhaps assistance from an "IBM" (Russian for "computer" at the time). All this was formally investigated, while Fischer continued to coast.

8/18/2017 – The Match of the Century was coming to a head, with Spassky, but despite all his efforts, unable to reduce the deficit. "I felt that Fischer was like a large fish in my hands," he lamented, "one that was slippery and hard to hold on to. At certain moments I let him slip. And then again the psychological torment would begin. Everything had to be begun again from the start ..." Spassky was beginning to feel despondent. | Photo: Skáksamband Íslands

8/11/2017 – In game eleven of the World Championship match in Reykjavik, 1972, Boris Spassky had comprehensively outplayed the challenger in his favourite poisoned pawn variation of the Sicilian Defence. In game 12 he made a confident draw with black and Fischer realized his opponent was gaining ground. In the 13th game he abandoned the Sicilian and, to the chagrin of Spassky, played, for the first time in a top-level game – the Alekhine Defence. It turned into one of the most exciting battles of the match, and is beautifully annotated by GM Robert Byrne.

8/9/2017 – After ten games in the World Championship match in Reykjavik, 1972, the score was 6½-3½ for Challenger Bobby Fischer. The match seemed virtually over – in the last eight games Boris Spassky had only managed to score 1½ points. "If it had been the best of 12 games, as in the Candidates matches, Spassky would already have been on his way home..." wrote Garry Kasparov in his Great Predessors book. In game 11 Boris took on the Poisoned Pawn variation of the Najdorf Sicilian, even though he had obtained a lost position in game seven. Take a look at what happened.

8/4/2017 – After the first two traumatic games World Champion Boris Spassky was leading 2-0 in the Match of the Century. But then Fischer started to play and struck back: in the next eight games he scored 6½ points, chalking up a 6.5-3.5 lead. Games 8, 9 and 10 were quite spectacular, and are the subject of today's report. Younger players will also learn about "adjournments" and how exactly "sealed moves" were handled. Some were born after these practices were abandoned.