Runavik Open

Winter is coming

When the filmmaking team from Game of Thrones was scouting for locations to film scenes beyond the wall, they chose Iceland to simulate the extreme conditions. In terms of climate, Iceland and Faroe Islands are quite similar. However, despite this island group's northerly latitude, temperatures average above freezing throughout the year because of the Gulf Stream. This makes the Faroe Islands a bit similar to Winterfell, whose castle was built over hot springs. In terms of touristic destinations, this whole region is as close as it comes to experiencing something unique and beguiling.

Although the climate can be wildly variable, the warmth of the Faroese people is always a constant. Faroe Islands has a fantastic economy, with an unemployment rate of just 2.9%. The average wage and the living standards are also relatively high. To me all this points to a close community that has stayed tight through difficult times for generations. Faroe Islands can be one of the harsher places to inhabit, especially in the times before human beings invented a lot of technological tools to make life easier. The cooperation continues through to this day, as I observe a lot less greed than usual in their society. For example, there’s no concept of locking the door of the houses here. People just leave it open and nothing ever gets stolen.

The economy is largely dependent on industries that are all related to the sea and fishing — fish farming, fish processing, small ship repairs, etc. While this points to a degree of risk, we can be sure of one thing. The economy, climate, and the living conditions may not always be sunshine, but the people of this wonderful island certainly will be. It’s not the all-perfect pinnacle of human civilization, but it’s definitely a great society to experience.

The external climate also makes it a lovely setting to stay indoors and play chess during the darker hours. The Runavik Open is a nine round swiss with 90 minutes for 40 moves + 15 minutes after move 40 with an increment of 30 seconds from move one. There's only one round on five of the days, giving ample opportunity to tour around. 

Deep Sengupta is the top seed and lead the Indian challenge | Photo: Amruta Mokal

The 13 year old Nihal Sarin will look forward to display some fascinating chess | Photo: Alina l'Ami

Hamitevici will be among the top seeds and vying for the championship | Photo: Federació d'Escacs Valls d'Andorra CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia commons

Icelandic IM Kjartansson Gudmundur will look forward to defending his championship | Photo: Hrafn Jokulsson

Standings after Round 2 (top 20)

Pairings for Round 3 (top 10)

Live games of Round 2

Runavik Open takes place thanks to the Runavik Municipality, Faroese Chess Federation and Jolly Cola

Links

• Official site
• Tournament schedule
• Complete results (Chess-Results)