Reykjavik is heating up

by Alejandro Ramirez
3/12/2015 – Well, perhaps not in a literal sense, as the temperatures are quite low and gloves are not something that should be lost. However inside the Harpa concert hall, the venue of the Reykjavik Open, the boards are on fire. Many attacking games and decisive combinations were seen in rounds two and three. Sagar Shah brings us annotations, while Alina l'Ami brings us photographs!.

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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 Three

Bo. Name Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Name Rtg
1 Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2756 2 1 - 0 2 Bekker-Jensen Simon 2462
2 Gunnarsson Jon Viktor 2443 2 ½ - ½ 2 Navara David 2736
3 Eljanov Pavel 2727 2 1 - 0 2 Petrov Nikita 2435
4 Pulvett Marin Daniel 2434 2 ½ - ½ 2 Jones Gawain C B 2642
5 L'ami Erwin 2605 2 1 - 0 2 Wang Yiye 2433
6 Thorfinnsson Bragi IM 2429 2 ½ - ½ 2 Grandelius Nils 2603
7 Fier Alexandr 2601 2 1 - 0 2 Esserman Marc 2426
8 Hagen Andreas Skytte 2412 2 ½ - ½ 2 Hansen Eric 2566
9 Gretarsson Hjorvar Steinn 2554 2 1 - 0 2 Sequera Paolini Jose Rafael 2408
10 Stopa Jacek 2544 2 1 - 0 2 Soors Stef 2408
11 Steingrimsson Hedinn *) 2530 2 1 - 0 2 Ahlander Bjorn 2380
12 Jensson Einar Hjalti 2390 2 ½ - ½ 2 Brunello Sabino 2540
13 Gao Rui 2533 2 1 - 0 2 Shen Victor C 2401
14 Hauge Lars Oskar 2380 2 1 - 0 2 Rasmussen Allan Stig 2532
15 Danielsen Henrik 2514 2 0 - 1 2 Abdumalik Zhansaya 2379
16 Tari Aryan 2509 2 1 - 0 2 Arngrimsson Dagur 2366
17 Idani Pouya 2496 2 0 - 1 2 Christiansen Johan-Sebastian 2351
18 Welling Gerard 2355 2 ½ - ½ 2 Kjartansson Gudmundur 2491
19 Rombaldoni Axel 2488 2 0 - 1 2 Bisby Daniel L 2321
20 Gulamali Kazim 2350 2 ½ - ½ 2 Colovic Aleksandar 2482

An interesting round. Despite the fact that there was still a significant rating difference in several boards, only the players with the white pieces were able to do anything with it. Actually on the top 15 boards only one black win was scored, and that was a big upset by the talented Zhansaya Abdumalik over the very well established GM Henrik Danielsen. The list of players with a perfect 3.0/3 has diminished greatly and we will see some strong fights going into the fourth round.

Photo impressions by Alina l'Ami

Alina keeps bringing us fantastic impressions from the Icelandic Capital:

Luis Galego from Portugal fighting both the opponent and the cold weather

Abhijeet Gupta from India

Typical designs on an Icelandic sweater

Icelandic water! It tastes really good, especially when you add cucumber.

Double rounds are tough affairs, but Ni Shiqun managed a draw against Danya Naroditsky

Harpa, also known as this week as "the playing hall"

Icelandic weather is... icy and snowy...

Icelandic version of lost and found

Gawain Jones from England

 Zeinab Mamedyarova (Mamedjarova? I will ask tomorrow about the proper spelling!)

Arthur Jussupow (Yusupov?), also a name that is spelled in different ways

One of the greatest rising talents in women's chess:
Zhansaya Abdumalik from Kazakhstan starts with a perfect 3.0/3

Carlsen (Henrik) was spotted playing in one of the lower boards.
The other Carlsen (Magnus) will be visiting the tournament later this week.

Everyone has their own thinking poses...

Pavel Eljanov

Hrant Melkumyan from Armenia

Round Two and Three analysis

Sagar Shah brings us analysis of the most exciting games from rounds two and three, as well as the solution to yesterday's puzzle in Movsesian's game:

Standings

Rk. Name FED RtgI Rp Pts. rtg+/-
1 L'ami Erwin NED 2605 3115 3 5.0
  Hauge Lars Oskar NOR 2380 3000 3 18.6
3 Tari Aryan NOR 2509 3032 3 5.5
4 Mamedyarov Shakhriyar AZE 2756 3191 3 3.1
  Eljanov Pavel UKR 2727 3166 3 3.2
  Fier Alexandr BRA 2601 3110 3 5.0
  Gretarsson Hjorvar Steinn ISL 2554 3080 3 5.5
  Gao Rui CHN 2533 3062 3 5.6
  Steingrimsson Hedinn ISL 2530 3051 3 5.4
  Georgiadis Nico SUI 2468 2942 3 3.9
  Bisby Daniel L ENG 2321 3158 3 33.6
12 Stopa Jacek POL 2544 3075 3 5.7
13 Christiansen Johan-Sebastian NOR 2351 2971 3 18.6
14 Abdumalik Zhansaya KAZ 2379 2992 3 18.2
15 Navara David CZE 2736 2645 2.5 -1.9
  Jones Gawain C B ENG 2642 2605 2.5 -0.6
  Gunnarsson Jon Viktor ISL 2443 2590 2.5 6.0
18 Grandelius Nils SWE 2603 2586 2.5 0.0
  Pulvett Marin Daniel VEN 2434 2555 2.5 5.3
20 Melkumyan Hrant ARM 2676 2565 2.5 -2.3

Pairings Round Four

Bo. Name Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Name Rtg
1 Tari Aryan 2509 3   3 Eljanov Pavel 2727
2 Georgiadis Nico 2468 3   3 L'ami Erwin 2605
3 Hauge Lars Oskar 2380 3   3 Fier Alexandr 2601
4 Abdumalik Zhansaya 2379 3   3 Gretarsson Hjorvar Steinn 2554
5 Christiansen Johan-Sebastian 2351 3   3 Stopa Jacek 2544
6 Bisby Daniel L 2321 3   3 Gao Rui 2533
7 Navara David 2736   Kristjansson Stefan 2482
8 Melkumyan Hrant 2676   Akesson Ralf 2456
9 Jones Gawain C B 2642   Gunnarsson Jon Viktor 2443
10 Norowitz Yaacov 2422   Naroditsky Daniel 2633
11 Steingrimsson Hedinn *) 2530 3   3 Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2756
12 Thorfinnsson Bjorn 2403   Gupta Abhijeet 2625
13 Grandelius Nils 2603   Pulvett Marin Daniel 2434
14 Jussupow Artur 2573   Thorfinnsson Bragi IM 2429
15 Hansen Eric 2566   Tania Sachdev 2404
16 Maze Sebastien 2564   Hagen Andreas Skytte 2412
17 Khademalsharieh Sarasadat 2357   Stefansson Hannes 2560
18 Brunello Sabino 2540   Welling Gerard 2355
19 Karlsson Mikael Johann 2138   Libiszewski Fabien 2514
20 Pakleza Zbigniew 2498   Jensson Einar Hjalti 2390

There's still some rating discrepancy on the top boards. Also notice that Shakhriyar Mamedyarov is on the first board, but due to special considerations he will be playing the 13th board as his opponent, Hedinn Steingrimsson, will always be playing there.

Many of the top grandmasters will have to play catch-up as they are half a point behind the leaders.

Don't forget you can follow the action live on our www.playchess.com server.

Photos by Alina l'Ami

Replay Round Three (top boards)

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Links

The 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.


Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.

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