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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 in 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 Five
A bloody day as usual! Some fascinating chess was seen at the top boards, but it was the top seed, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, who emerges as the sole leader after half the tournament is gone:
[Event "Reykjavik Open 2015"] [Site "Reykjavik ISL"] [Date "2015.03.13"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Gretarsson, Hjorvar Steinn"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2756"] [BlackElo "2554"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "51"] [EventDate "2015.03.10"] {With this win, Mamedyarov becomes the sole leader of the tournament. 5.0/5. The thing that this most impressive about this game is not just the fact that Mamedyarov beat a strong 2554 opponent in just 26 moves but all his moves were just so precise. There was not even one sub optimal move. All of them were the engine's first choice. This just shows how strong this Azerbaijani player really is.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 {The Bf4 variation in QGD has become very popular after Vishy Anand used it successfully in the World Championship.} O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Qc2 {This is not as popular as c5 but is an important alternative and leads to a much more fluid positions out of the opening.} (7. c5 {was Anand's choice.}) 7... c5 8. Rd1 Qa5 (8... cxd4 {is the other option and White replies with} 9. Rxd4 {Such moves are very typical of Mamedyarov. Though this is opening theory, I have often seen him lifting his rook and placing it right in the center of the board!} Qa5 10. Bg3 Nb6 11. Nd2 dxc4 12. Bxc4 Nxc4 13. Nxc4 Qa6 14. O-O $1 $14) 9. Nd2 {This move is quite common in the Cambridge springs variation. White would like to break the pin on the c3 knight, at the same time he is ready to take on c4 with his knight and Nb3 could be possible in some cases.} cxd4 10. exd4 {At first sight this position looks very weird to me. Mainly because Black is ahead in development. White has his pieces clumsily placed. What exactly is the rook doing on d1? But praxis and experience has shown that slowly White will unwind and he will find his pieces on exactly the squares he wanted them to be on.} dxc4 {Just about everyone has taken on c4. The question to be asked is, Why should one take on c4 and speed up White's development? Let's have a look at the other options.} (10... b6 $2 11. Nb3 Qa6 12. cxd5 $16 {is no good.}) (10... Nb6 $2 11. Nb3 {leads to huge material losses or traps the queen.} Qa6 12. cxd5 Nc4 13. d6 $18) (10... Bb4 $6 11. Bd3 $14) (10... Nb8 $5 $146 {could be a very worthy alternative. The knight is relocated in such a fashion that it can jump to the ideal c6 square.} 11. Nb3 Qd8 12. c5 b6 $132 {Black seems to be doing fine! We might see this move 10...Nb8 in some top level game pretty soon! :)}) 11. Nxc4 Qd8 (11... Qf5 12. Qxf5 exf5 13. Be2 $14) 12. Bd3 Nb6 13. O-O Nxc4 $6 (13... Nbd5 {would be ideal but there are some issues with the h7 pawn.} 14. Nxd5 exd5 (14... Nxd5 $2 15. Bxh7+ Kh8 16. Be5 $16) 15. Ne5 $14 (15. Ne3 $5 $14 )) 14. Bxc4 {A few moves ago we said that the White pieces looked pretty disorganized. Have a look at them now. They are so perfectly placed.} Qb6 { From this point onwards, Mamedyarov's play is worth studying.} 15. Rfe1 $1 {A very nice move bringing the rook into the game.} Re8 (15... Qd8) (15... Rd8 16. d5 $36) 16. Nb5 $1 {A fork on c7 is threatened.} Nd5 17. Bxd5 Qxb5 (17... exd5 18. Nc7 $18) 18. Be4 $1 {A threat to the h7 pawn.} g6 (18... f5 19. Bd3 {The e6 pawn would be quite weak.}) 19. Re3 $1 {Fantastic move! The rook is perfect on the thrid rank. Not only can it go to the kingside but it can also swing over to the queenside and create some damage.} a5 {Not seeing anything good that can be done, Gretarsson comes up with the idea of playing a5-a4 in order to take away the b3 square from the rook. He can then develop his bishop to d7. But this is just too slow.} (19... Bd7 20. Rb3 $16 {loses a pawn.}) 20. Be5 { Trying to probe the Black kingside.} a4 (20... f6 21. Bxg6 $1 fxe5 22. Bxh7+ Kh8 23. Rh3 $18) 21. Rg3 {The threat now is to sacrifice a few things on g6!} f5 {This is sort of forced but now the e5 bishop can never be dislodged.} 22. Bd3 Qd7 23. Qe2 {Threatening Bb5.} Bh4 (23... Ra5 24. Qd2 Bd8 25. h4 $18 {With a powerful attack.}) 24. Bb5 Qe7 25. Rc3 $1 {The rook is threatening to infiltrate on c7.} Bd7 26. Bxd7 {After Black takes the bishop, the rook comes in on c7 and combined with the bishop, it will soon end in mate. I agree that Gretarsson's play was not the best, yet the simplicity with which Mamedyarov played was just mind boggling. His moves were such that they could be easily understood but extremely difficult to imitate. This is the sign of a true genius!} 1-0
Pavel Eljanov was close to catching Mamedyarov as his position looked very good against Jacek Stopa, but the Polish player defended fiercely and obtained a draw. Sagar Shah brings us annotations of some of the players that reached a vital 4.5/5:
[Event "Reykjavik Open 2015"] [Site "Reykjavik ISL"] [Date "2015.03.13"] [Round "5.18"] [White "Sarkar, Justin"] [Black "Rasmussen, Allan Stig"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D43"] [WhiteElo "2376"] [BlackElo "2532"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "34"] [EventDate "2015.03.10"] {Justin Sarkar is a very talented International Master from the USA. In this game he is able to beat his 200 points higher rated opponent in just 18 moves. } 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5 {The Moscow Variation is one of sharpest lines in the opening theory. It is one of thise lines which received an over exposure by being played in hundreds of games from 2010-2012 and hence it's usage has reduced at the top level in recent years.} 9. Be2 Bg7 {Now that is a relative side line. Main move here is} (9... Bb7 {and then White has choices like h4, 0-0, Ne5, e5 and Qc2.}) 10. e5 Nh5 11. a4 {Justin Sarkar is well prepared in the opening and chooses the move that has been tried by strong players like Vitiugov, Maletin, Gupta etc.} a6 12. Ne4 {Threatening Nd6+ with a huge advantage.} (12. axb5 cxb5 13. Nxb5 axb5 14. Rxa8 Bb7 $44 {is not in the spirit of the position for White and Black already has wonderful compensation thanks to his powerful bishop on b7.}) 12... O-O 13. Qc2 {This is a very shrewd move. The queen is eyeing the h7 square and sacrifices on g5 are on the cards at the moment.} Nxg3 $2 (13... g4 $5 {could have been an interesting idea.} 14. Bh4 $1 Qd5 15. Rd1 $5 gxf3 16. Bxf3 $16 { And the threat to the h5 knight as well as Nf6+ secures White an advantage.}) 14. hxg3 {It was almost a suicidal idea by Allan Stig to open the h-file for the White rook. Now there are as many as four attackers on the Black king and all his defenders are slumbering on the queenside!} Re8 15. Rxh6 $1 {A very pretty shot.} f5 (15... Bxh6 16. Nf6+ Kf8 17. Qh7 Bg7 18. Nxg5 $18 {is of course curtains.}) 16. Nf6+ Kf8 17. Rg6 Kf7 {Allowing a pretty finish.} (17... Kf7 18. Nxg5+ Kxg6 19. Bh5+ Kxg5 (19... Kh6 20. Nf7#) 20. Qd2+ f4 21. Qxf4#) 1-0
Let us not forget that Alina l'Ami isn't the only 'l'Ami' in the tournament. In fact, she isn't even the highest rated:
The better l'Ami? we will let you decide after you see this game...
[Event "Reykjavik Open 2015"] [Site "Reykjavik ISL"] [Date "2015.03.13"] [Round "5.8"] [White "L'Ami, Erwin"] [Black "Brunello, Sabino"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D18"] [WhiteElo "2605"] [BlackElo "2540"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "119"] [EventDate "2015.03.10"] {Erwin L'Ami is an opening expert and his ideas from the White side against solid openings like the Slav and Queen's Indian are often noteworthy. Here he beats a very strong opponent in a smooth positional game.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. e3 e6 7. Bxc4 Nbd7 8. O-O Bb4 9. Qe2 O-O 10. e4 Bg6 11. Bd3 Bh5 12. e5 Nd5 13. Nxd5 cxd5 14. Qe3 {Of course this is all heavily theoretical and hence nothing much to comment about. Here Black has the choice of retreating on e7 with his bishop or playing Re8. Sabino chooses the latter.} Re8 (14... Be7 15. Ng5 $14 {is leading to positions with pretty one sided play.}) 15. Bd2 Qe7 (15... Bxd2 {This exchange is not too good for Black because it lets White gain space on the queenside.} 16. Nxd2 {This position has been reached by L'Ami himself in his game against Frank Holzke which ended in a draw.} Nb8 17. Rfc1 Nc6 18. Bb5 Rc8 19. a5 $14 {With a very pleasant position for White.}) (15... Qa5 {is more common but it would just transpose to the game. Not to forget, L'Ami already has had a game here against a 2200 player. But I must also mention that the L'Ami in that game was Alina and not Erwin!}) 16. Bxb4 Qxb4 17. Qd2 ({Alina L'Ami played in the following manner but after} 17. Ng5 Nf8 18. f4 Bg6 19. Bxg6 fxg6 $2 $14 {1-0 (40) L'Ami,A (2393)-Dragomirescu,A (2208) Calimanesti 2014} (19... Nxg6 $11 { I have a feeling that Black is doing pretty well in this position.})) 17... Qe7 (17... Qxd2 18. Nxd2 {How do we assess this position? Not so easy to say but I think Black is closer to equality than White is to an advantage.} Nb8 19. Rfc1 Nc6 20. Bb5 Rec8 21. Bxc6 Rxc6 22. Rxc6 bxc6 23. Ra3 {And White needs only to play Rb3 to gain an advantage but Black prevents it with the accurate} Bd1 $1 $11 (23... Rb8 $2 24. Rb3 $1 Rxb3 25. Nxb3 Bd1 26. Nc5 $16 {White should win this dominating endgame.})) 18. Ne1 Rac8 19. Nc2 Bg6 20. Bxg6 {The way in which Black recaptures often decides White's plan in this position. Here taking with the h-pawn was safer because with the knight on c2 there are no prospects of launching an attack on the kingside by bringing the knight to the g5-square.} fxg6 $6 (20... hxg6 {was better.}) 21. Rfc1 Rc7 $6 22. Na3 $1 {The knight threatens to come to the b5 square and hence Sabino has to cede the c-file.} Rxc1+ (22... Rec8 23. Rxc7 Rxc7 24. Nb5 $16) 23. Rxc1 Nb8 24. Nb5 Nc6 25. Nd6 $16 {White has achieved a very stable advantage in the position. His knight is obviously a monster and makes Black's life very difficult.} Rf8 26. g3 $1 (26. b4 {looked obvious but it allows counterplay with} Qh4 $1 { attacking the d4 pawn.} 27. Rd1 Nxb4 $132) (26. a5 $5 {was an interesting option though.} a6 (26... Qh4 $2 27. a6 $18) 27. g3 $16 {White has gained more space thanks to the pawn on a5.}) 26... Qc7 27. Rc5 a5 28. Kg2 $1 {I always love it when players find time to improve their position in this little manner. } Qb6 29. Qc3 (29. Rb5 Qxd4 30. Qxd4 Nxd4 31. Rxa5 $16) 29... g5 30. h3 h6 31. Nb5 (31. Nxb7 $1 {was a strong shot.} Nxd4 (31... Qxb7 32. Rxc6 $16) 32. Qxd4 Qxb7 33. Rxa5 $16) 31... Kh8 32. Qe3 Kg8 33. Rc3 Kh8 34. Qe2 Kg8 35. Rf3 Rxf3 36. Qxf3 Nb4 (36... Nxd4 37. Qe3 $18) 37. Qg4 Qc6 38. Nd6 Qd7 39. h4 gxh4 40. gxh4 Nc6 41. h5 Ne7 42. f4 {White didn't play in the most accurate manner in the last few moves and the computer assesses this position to be equal. All that Black has to do is exchange the knight on d6 with Nc8. But first it was important to not to give the f4-f5 resource to White.} Nc8 $2 (42... Kh8 $1 { A good waiting move attacking the pawn on a4.} 43. Qd1 (43. Kg3 Qxa4 44. Qxe6 Qb3+ 45. Kg4 Qd1+ 46. Kg3 Qg1+ $11) 43... Nc8 $1 $11) 43. f5 $1 Nxd6 44. fxe6 Qxa4 $2 {Giving two connected passers on the sixth rank is very dangerous.} ( 44... Qe7 45. exd6 Qxd6 46. Qf5 {Looks lost but Black can defend with} Qa6 $1 47. Qf7+ Kh7 48. e7 Qe2+ $11 {with a perpetual. While this is easy for the engines to see, for humans it is not and Sabino tries to create desperate counterplay in the game.}) 45. exd6 Qc2+ 46. Kg3 Qc1 47. e7 Qg1+ 48. Kf3 Qf1+ ( 48... Qd1+ 49. Kf2 $1 {Very nicely calculated.} Qxg4 50. e8=Q+ Kh7 51. Qg6+ Qxg6 52. hxg6+ Kxg6 53. d7 $18) 49. Ke3 Qc1+ 50. Kd3 Qb1+ 51. Kc3 Qc1+ 52. Kb3 a4+ 53. Ka3 Qa1+ 54. Kb4 Qxb2+ 55. Kc5 Qc3+ 56. Kxd5 Qb3+ 57. Ke4 Qb1+ 58. Ke5 Qe1+ 59. Kd5 Qh1+ 60. Ke6 {Though Sabino did have his chances to equalize in the game, I quite liked the steady fashion in which Erwin played.} 1-0
Finally a very instructive example. In beginner's chess 1+1+1 = 3, but in Grandmaster chess this is not always true. Sometimes it's more like 2.5, but when Black screws it up it goes up to 5:
[Event "Reykjavik Open 2015"] [Site "Reykjavik ISL"] [Date "2015.03.13"] [Round "5.9"] [White "Gunnarsson, Jon Viktor"] [Black "Grandelius, Nils"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2443"] [BlackElo "2603"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "r3k2r/1bq1bppp/pn1pp3/1p2n1P1/3NP2P/P1N1BP2/1PPQB3/2KR3R w kq - 0 15"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "2015.03.10"] {Nils Grandelius is an agressive and attacking player. You see him quite often sacrificing pieces and pawns left and right. So it's a refreshing change when his opponent does the same, even though in this case Jon Gunarsson's sacrifice was most probably incorrect.} 15. Ndxb5 $6 (15. f4 Nec4 16. Bxc4 Nxc4 17. Qd3 { was the safer way to play.}) 15... axb5 16. Nxb5 Qc6 17. Bxb6 (17. Nxd6+ Bxd6 18. Qxd6 Qxd6 19. Rxd6 Nbc4 20. Bxc4 Nxc4 21. Rd3 Nxe3 22. Rxe3 $15 {is similar to the game but the rook is not so active on e3.}) 17... Qxb6 18. Nxd6+ Bxd6 19. Qxd6 Qxd6 20. Rxd6 $15 {This is quite a common sacrifice and often the three queenside pawns are stronger than the piece but this is not the case as Black gets to co-ordinate his pieces in an easy manner.} Ke7 21. Rhd1 Rhc8 $1 {Exploiting a small tactical trick.} (21... Rhd8 22. Rxd8 Rxd8 23. Rxd8 Kxd8 24. b4 {This endgame is pretty safe for White and he doesn't risk much.}) 22. c3 (22. f4 Bxe4 $1 {was the neat tactical point.} 23. fxe5 Rxc2+ 24. Kb1 Rxe2+ $19) 22... Bc6 23. h5 Nd7 24. R1d2 Ra5 {You can see how all of Black's pieces are co-ordinating perfectly. The pawns on a3-b2-c3 are not at all looking threatening.} 25. g6 Rxh5 26. gxf7 Nf8 (26... Ne5 {would have been much stronger.} 27. f4 Rh1+ 28. Rd1 Rxd1+ 29. Rxd1 Nxf7 $19 {and this will most probably end in an easy win for Black.}) 27. b4 Rh1+ (27... Kxf7 $1 {was Black's last chance to claim an advantage.} 28. Ba6 Rc7 29. c4 Be8 30. c5 Ng6 $17) 28. Kb2 h5 (28... Kxf7 29. Ba6 Rc7 30. b5 $16) 29. Ba6 Rc7 30. b5 Bxb5 31. Bxb5 h4 32. a4 $16 {White has a clear advantage.} h3 33. Rd1 Rh2+ 34. R6d2 Rxd2+ 35. Rxd2 Ng6 36. a5 Ne5 37. a6 Nxf3 38. Rf2 Rc5 39. c4 1-0
An article on the beautiful city of Reykjavik is not complete without Alina l'Ami's beautiful shots, take a look:
Aryan Tari in his postmortem
The commentary team hard at work
There's a sweet spot for the spectators to watch the games. When they are bored of this spot they can walk 20 steps down to the top boards and see the action live.
"I like how direct and easy going the Icelanders are, giving an example that one should keep feeling comfortable " - Alina l'Ami.
The victim of Shakhriyar Mamedyarov: Hjorvar Steinn Gretarsson
Thte leader didn't seem too impressed.
Alexander Fier drew against Rui Gao from China
Meanwhile Arthur Jussupow couldn't hold against David Navara
Hung by a thread: Pavel Eljanov was unable to break Jacek Stopa
The beautiful Harpa...
From different angles!
The view from the official hotel
According to the photographer the "win could be worse". It clocked at 76 km/h.
Stormy weather, with ray of hope
No photoshop! The sunset and its reflection on Harpa's corner
window. (e.d.) the size was photoshopped so it would fit in your browser, unfortunately.
The silhouettes: Alexander Fier and his wife Nino Maisuradze
Standings after round 5
| Rk. | Name | FED | RtgI | Pts. | Rp | rtg+/- |
| 1 | Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | AZE | 2756 | 5.0 | 2900 | 7.3 |
| 2 | Eljanov Pavel | UKR | 2727 | 4.5 | 2721 | 0.5 |
| 3 | Navara David | CZE | 2736 | 4.5 | 2761 | 3.1 |
| 4 | Gunnarsson Jon Viktor | ISL | 2443 | 4.5 | 2752 | 23.6 |
| 5 | Gupta Abhijeet | IND | 2625 | 4.5 | 2642 | 2.0 |
| 6 | Fier Alexandr | BRA | 2601 | 4.5 | 2812 | 11.6 |
| 7 | L'ami Erwin | NED | 2605 | 4.5 | 2817 | 11.5 |
| 8 | Stopa Jacek | POL | 2544 | 4.5 | 2611 | 6.4 |
| Gao Rui | CHN | 2533 | 4.5 | 2679 | 11.3 | |
| 10 | Gretarsson Hjorvar Steinn | ISL | 2554 | 4.0 | 2585 | 3.5 |
| 11 | Naroditsky Daniel | USA | 2633 | 4.0 | 2649 | 2.3 |
| 12 | Hansen Eric | CAN | 2566 | 4.0 | 2633 | 5.0 |
| 13 | Stefansson Hannes | ISL | 2560 | 4.0 | 2698 | 6.3 |
| 14 | Pakleza Zbigniew | POL | 2498 | 4.0 | 2530 | 3.6 |
| 15 | Libiszewski Fabien | FRA | 2514 | 4.0 | 2557 | 4.2 |
| 16 | Sequera Paolini Jose Rafael | VEN | 2408 | 4.0 | 2418 | 3.3 |
| 17 | Tari Aryan | NOR | 2509 | 4.0 | 2528 | 3.0 |
| Petrov Nikita | RUS | 2435 | 4.0 | 2514 | 7.2 | |
| 19 | Cornette Matthieu | FRA | 2585 | 4.0 | 2583 | 0.6 |
| 20 | Melkumyan Hrant | ARM | 2676 | 4.0 | 2575 | -5.1 |
Pairings Round Six
We have most of the results from round six, but we will have to wait until tomorrow for the beautiful pictures from Alina l'Ami and the commentary from Sagar Shah. In the meantime, it seems that Alexander Fier and Erwin l'Ami came through with huge victories on the black side to catch the leaders, as Shakhriyar Mamedyarov drew against number two seed David Navara.
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. |
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