Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
The Reykjavik Open 2015 will be held for the 30th time from March 10th to March 18th 2015 in Harpa, the 28.000 sqm. concert hall. The 2015 tournament is expected to be very strong and will double as celebration of the 80th birthday of legendary Icelandic Grandmaster and former FIDE president, Fridrik Olafsson.
The 2014 Edition was voted the 2nd best open tournament in the world by ACP. Only Gibraltar was higher on the list.
The City of Reykjavík has sponsored the tournament since its inception in 1964, when Mikhail Tal won it with a record 12½ points out of 13. The tournament was initially held every two years, but has since 2008 taken place every year. It was closed i.n its early years, but has been an open event since the 1980s. Throughout its history the Reykjavik Open has featured many of the strongest chess players in the world at the time, including Mikhail Tal, Nona Gaprindashvili, David Bronstein, Vasili Smyslov, Bent Larsen, Friðrik Ólafsson, Mark Taimanov, Lev Polugaevsky, Jan Timman, Victor Korchnoi, Samuel Reshevsky, Anthony Miles, Nigel Short, Hikaru Nakamura, Judit Polgar, Magnus Carlsen, Alexander Grischuk, Fabiano Caruana and Hou Yifan.
Round Eight
What a victory for Erwin l'Ami, and one that came with sweat and suffering. Julio Granda, the Peruvian magician, was conjuring up a positional victory slowly but surely, outplaying his Dutch rival and reaching a pleasant endgame. But Granda faltered and l'Ami took advantage of it in an excellent way. He won a piece, and with this extra piece he ground down Granda in an endgame that was far from trivial.
Eljanov was unable to beat Naroditsky, while Hansen was held to a draw by Mamedyarov. This means that l'Ami is a full point ahead in the standings and that there is a huge contingency of people with 6.5/8 that follow him. This does not include Mamedyarov, who only has 6.0/8, or Navara, who fell to the powerful Aleaxndr Fier.
Ex-World Championship candidate Artur Jussupow also played a fine game and used one of his pet lines to beat Jon Viktor Gunnarsson.
lf you are interested in this variation, Nigel Davies has a DVD for you:
Nigel Davies - Torre AttackLanguages: English
ISBN: 978-3-86681-084-6 EAN: 9783866810846
Delivery: Download, Post
Level: Advanced, Tournament player
€26.99
€22.68 without VAT (for Customers outside the EU)
$24.11 (without VAT)
Torre Attack, with 1.d4 followed by 2.Nf3 and 3.Bg5, is a solid and easy to learn opening system with hidden dynamic potential. An understanding of the plans and ideas is more important than a precise knowledge of variations which means that it can be played for a lifetime without the need to worry about shock moves or surprises. These are amongst the reasons that several great players have been attracted by the Torre, including those with such diverse styles as Tigran Petrosian and David Bronstein.
Order DVD in the ChessBase Shop
An interesting endgame occurred in the game between Hannes Stefansson and Marc Esserman.
The reason the night owls, alias the chess players, can
be seen during breakfast in this tournament... the view is incredible!
Expect the unexpected in Reykjavik, at least concerning the weather
Oh, did I mention the view?
A sculpture close to the playing hall
Erwin l'Ami continues on his winning streak with 7.5/8
Julio Granda from Peru
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov is 1.5 points behind the leader
Hammer won an important game and is tied for second
Alexander Fier with a huge victory with Black over Navara
Sergei Movsesian was unable to overcome Jacek Stopa
Very unusual material balances were seen in this game
Eric Hansen with a draw against the number one seed
Danya Naroditsky feeling tired after eight long rounds
Another view of the playing hall
Standings after round eight
| Rk. | Name | FED | RtgI | Pts. | Rp | n | rtg+/- |
| 1 | L'ami Erwin | NED | 2605 | 7.5 | 2931 | 8 | 24.1 |
| 2 | Eljanov Pavel | UKR | 2727 | 6.5 | 2741 | 8 | 2.5 |
| 3 | Fier Alexandr | BRA | 2601 | 6.5 | 2742 | 8 | 15.1 |
| 4 | Naroditsky Daniel | USA | 2633 | 6.5 | 2691 | 8 | 7.2 |
| 5 | Jones Gawain C B | ENG | 2642 | 6.5 | 2634 | 8 | 0.2 |
| 6 | Hansen Eric | CAN | 2566 | 6.5 | 2671 | 8 | 10.8 |
| 7 | Melkumyan Hrant | ARM | 2676 | 6.5 | 2666 | 8 | 0.7 |
| 8 | Hammer Jon Ludvig | NOR | 2651 | 6.5 | 2609 | 8 | -1.9 |
| 9 | Stopa Jacek | POL | 2544 | 6.0 | 2637 | 8 | 10.8 |
| 10 | Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | AZE | 2756 | 6.0 | 2714 | 8 | -2.2 |
| 11 | Libiszewski Fabien | FRA | 2514 | 6.0 | 2593 | 6 | 6.9 |
| 12 | Gupta Abhijeet | IND | 2625 | 6.0 | 2650 | 7 | 2.8 |
| 13 | Granda Zuniga Julio E | PER | 2646 | 6.0 | 2655 | 7 | 1.8 |
| 14 | Jussupow Artur | GER | 2573 | 6.0 | 2642 | 7 | 6.6 |
| 15 | Pakleza Zbigniew | POL | 2498 | 6.0 | 2564 | 8 | 7.9 |
| 16 | Christiansen Johan-Sebastian | NOR | 2351 | 6.0 | 2530 | 8 | 40.2 |
| 17 | Movsesian Sergei | ARM | 2665 | 6.0 | 2572 | 8 | -6.0 |
| 18 | Grandelius Nils | SWE | 2603 | 6.0 | 2581 | 8 | -1.1 |
| 19 | Norowitz Yaacov | USA | 2422 | 6.0 | 2487 | 8 | 9.0 |
| 20 | Abdumalik Zhansaya | KAZ | 2379 | 6.0 | 2525 | 8 | 33.0 |
Pairings Round Nine
Don't forget you can follow the action live on our www.playchess.com server.
Photos by Alina l'Ami
Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games
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 13 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |
 |
