Reykjavik Open kicks off

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, Friðrik Ólafsson.

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.

The Reykjavik Open is back and stronger than ever. The event doesn't have the strength of Gibraltar, clearly, but it is one of the strongest tournaments in the World. This edition sees as the top seed Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, not too shabby at 2736.

Photo impressions by Alina l'Ami

Many strong players took the opportunity that two major opens, Cappelle la Grande and Reykjavik, were back to back. Among those players is Alina l'Ami who brings us wonderful photos, as usual!

Opening Ceremony with live music

Organizer Gunnar Bjornsson addresses the crowd

The Mamedyarovs! Shakhriyar and his older sister, Zeinab. The younger sister,
WGM Turkan Mamedjarova, is not in Iceland.

Friðrik Ólafsson, former president of FIDE, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov,
current FIDE President, and Zurab Azmaiparashvili, ECU President

Friðrik Ólafsson receiving a well thought and planned present for his 80th birthday this year! (I remember it happened in Wijk aan Zee, when the painting was  being signed by the world champions - Hou Yifan and Magnus Carlsen; the man behind this idea was Eric de Winter, who worked before in the FIDE office in Amsterdam, when Olafsson was the President)

First move on the top board...

Which belongs to top seed, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov

He is closely followed by David Navara in rating

Always time for a little blitz between real chess fans

Despite being one of the top seeds, Sergei Movsesian suffered an early defeat

GM Hjorvar Steinn Gretarsson is one of the strongest local players

Round One

Things started off as expected, with most GMs winning their first round games, the only big notable exception was Jon Ludvig Hammer being unable to best his opponent, rated almost 600 points lower. Sagar Shah brings us five (!) annotated games from the first duels:

Round two didn't have many surprises either, but the rating difference was definitely not as large. Today is the only day that the players will be playing a double round: one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Perhaps the biggest news from round two is the fact that not only did Movsesian not win his game against an opponent rated 330 points lower... he lost!

Bisby, Daniel (2321) - Movsesian, Sergei (2665): Position after 29...Bxe5

In the position above it is clear that Movsesian's piece placement is a little shaky. He is up material but his pieces are not that well coordinated, besides there are some issues with the last rank. For now 30.Rb8 is impossible because of 30...Ra1+ (or is it?), so what did White play to create a decisive attack?

We will bring you the solution to this puzzle as well as a full report on the games of round two and three tomorrow, for now here are the results of the morning round and the pairings for the afternoon:

Round Two

Pairings Round Three

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

Photos by Alina l'Ami

Replay Rounds one and two (top boards)

Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games

Links Official tournament site 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.