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Today the 33rd edition of the popular Reykjavik Open gets underway in the Icelandic capital. This year the tournament will be hosted as the "Bobby Fischer Memorial" — marking the recent 10th anniversary of Fischer's death.
Unlike in previous years, "only" nine rounds are played, rather than the traditional ten in this Swiss system tournament. On the rest day, there will be a "Fischer Random" / Chess960 rapid tournament, co-organized with the European Chess Union, the winner of which (or the best scoring European player) will then take the official title of European Champion of Fischer Random for 2018.
The harbor as seen from the playing hall | Photo: Gerd Densing
Also in honour of Fischer, the festival program has been significantly expanded compared to previous years, including several tours, guided tours and readings. The event kicked off yesterday with the young IM Nihal Sarin, one of the two Indian "prodigies" at the Reykjavik Open in 2018.
At the invitation of the main sponsor, GAMMA, a handpicked group of eleven players took part at the investment firm's headquarters, a beautiful villa in the centre of Reykjavik. It was not an ordinary simul, but rather a Fischer Random simul. A different starting position was drawn for each board via computer. It was also a clock simul — each player only 45 minutes for the whole game plus 15 seconds increment. For the young Indian, these were both firsts.
Nihal Sarin's clock simul
After some initial nervousness, he found a good rhythm and quickly gained a time edge on the eight boards. The positions developed into relatively "normal" middlegames which caused Sarin few problems. But on some individual boards, he had to fight pretty hard. One game ended in perpetual check, but the biggest challenge was the board of IM Gunnar Bjornsson, the tournament director, which ended up being the last to finish. The two IMs reached an endgame with two knights for Sarin against the Icelandic player's flank pawn, which was drawn. Several boards were also quite close, but the final result of 10 out of 11 was a strong performance for the young guest.
In the basement of GAMMA headquarters featured a mystery, hidden in the modified logo. There it is relatively easy to spot a king in the middle, but on closer inspection, the brain "switches" to focus features of a face that could be Fischer's profile. Easy to miss at first glance.
Confused?
How about now?
The two Indian IMs, Sarin and Ramesh Praggnanandhaa, chasing GM norms, are among the youngest strong players but not the only ones. At the opening party last night, a young 13-year-old player sat down at my table and was in the mood for blitz games, later he offered me 5 minutes to 1...and before I knew it, I quickly lost a few games. In the end, I made a draw. Curious, I learned then that the boy was none other than Uzbek talent Nodirbek Abdusattorov, with an Elo over 2500!
Later in the hotel room, I discovered that he already has all the necessary GM norms in his pocket and should be awarded the GM title but FIDE in April, which will make him the youngest GM on the planet, once they do. So there's certainly no shortage of hot-shot youtgh in action in Reykjavik!
Master Class Vol.1: Bobby Fischer
No other World Champion was more infamous both inside and outside the chess world than Bobby Fischer. On this DVD, a team of experts shows you the winning techniques and strategies employed by the 11th World Champion.
Grandmaster Dorian Rogozenco delves into Fischer’s openings, and retraces the development of his repertoire. What variations did Fischer play, and what sources did he use to arm himself against the best Soviet players? Mihail Marin explains Fischer’s particular style and his special strategic talent in annotated games against Spassky, Taimanov and other greats. Karsten Müller is not just a leading international endgame expert, but also a true Fischer connoisseur.
