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Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Reykjavik Chess Festival in spectacular city music hall in March!

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hello everyone,

Here is the press release about the spectacular venue at the forthcoming Reykjavik Chess Festival. The Icelandic Chess Federation, in co-operation with the Reykjavik Chess Academy, welcomes you to theReykjavik Chess Festival on March 6 to March 13 2012. Possibly the festival is being held at a most spectacular venue for an open chess tournament EVER!

The tournament will be held in Harpa, Reykjavik’s new music hall on the harbour. Only 5 minutes walk to downtown Reykjavik, Harpa features several restaurants and concerts during evenings and weekends. More information about the playing venue can be found here.
 

In co-operation with Icelandair, the organisers have arranged special packages, which include flights and hotels. 25% discount of the entrance fee will be provided when package-receipt is shown. More information here.

* Total prizes of €15000
* World-class playing conditions
* Extraordinary depth and width of chess talent
* Many side events: sightseeing, Fischer-Spassky exhibit, soccer and pub quiz

Interested players can mail to: reykjavikopen2012@gmail.com but very limited conditions can be offered here after.

The 2012 tournament is expected to be very strong. It includes at least 2 players with rating above 2700. Players list bellow. In 2011, 166 players from 30 countries participated, including 27 grandmasters, 11 of which with an ELO rating of 2600 and higher.

Total prizes in 2012 will be €15,000, including many special prizes for various ages and rating categories, in addition to the traditional top women prize.

The 2011 Reykjavik Open saw six joint winners, Yuriy Kuzubov (2627), Vladimir Baklan (2602) and Illya Nyzhnyk (2563), all of Ukraine, Kamil Miton (2600) of Poland, Jon Ludwig Hammer (2606) of Norway and tournament regular Ivan Sokolov (2643) of Netherlands.
Join the Legends and Be Part of Chess History

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, Vassily Smyslov, Bent Larsen, Friðrik Ólafsson, Mark Taimanov, Lev Polugaevsky, Ulf Andersson, Jan Timman, Victor Korchnoi, Samuel Reshevsky, Anthony Miles, Nigel Short, Magnus Carlsen and Alexander Grischuk.


Much More than a Chess Tournament


As in earlier years, several chess-related events will take place at the same time as the tournament, including the now famous the Reykjavík Open Chess Pub Quiz and the Golden Circle sightseeing tour that includes stops at Geysir and Bobby Fischer’s final resting place in the southern part of Iceland.

Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Fischer-Spassky “Match of the Century”

During the Reykjavik Open in 2012, there will be an exhibition in the National Museum of Iceland commemorating the 40th anniversary of “The Match of the Century” between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky. The museum is within a 15-minute walking distance from Harpa. The exhibition will feature, among others, the board and chess sets from the match, and of course much more.
Preliminary list of players:

1. GM Navara David CZE 2712
2. GM Kryvoruchko Yuriy UKR 2666
3. GM Jones Gawain C B ENG 2653
4. GM Sokolov Ivan NED 2641
5. GM Hess Robert L USA 2625
6. GM Kuzubov Yuriy UKR 2616
7. GM Baklan Vladimir UKR 2612
8. GM Smeets Jan NED 2607
9. GM Avrukh Boris ISR 2605
10. GM Shulman Yuri USA 2598
11. GM LAmi Erwin NED 2596
12. GM Maze Sebastien FRA 2577
13. GM Papin Vasily RUS 2570
14. GM Danielsen Henrik ISL 2536
15. GM Harika Dronavalli IND 2516
16. GM Kveinys Aloyzas LTU 2512
17. GM Williams Simon K ENG 2504
18. Kristjansson Stefan ISL 2500
19. IM Gretarsson Hjorvar Steinn ISL 2470
20. IM Ziska Helgi Dam FAI 2460
21. GM Ashley Maurice USA 2452
22. IM Gunnarsson Arnar Erwin ISL 2441
23. IM Thorfinnsson Bragi ISL 2426
24. IM Gunnarsson Jon Viktor IM ISL 2424
25. IM Lund Silas DEN 2414
26. FM Trella Thomas GER 2414
27. IM Thorfinnsson Bjorn ISL 2406
28. GM Thorhallsson Throstur ISL 2400
29. IM Mikkelsen Nikolaj DEN 2397
30. IM Kore Akshayraj IND 2386
31. IM Bromann Thorbjorn DEN 2385
32. WGM LAmi Alina ROU 2360
33. IM Vuilleumier Alexandre SUI 2359
34. FM Agüera Naredo Javier ESP 2358
35. IM Karavade Eesha IND 2354
36. IM Cummings David CAN 2342
37. FM Johannesson Ingvar Thor ISL 2337
38. FM Sigfusson Sigurdur ISL 2336
39. Gudmundur Gislason ISL 2332
40. IM Kjartansson Guðmundur ISL 2326
41. FM Michalczak Thomas GER 2320
42. FM Lagerman Róbert ISL 2315
43. Henriksson Johan SWE 2308
44. WGM Ptacnikova Lenka ISL 2289
45. Friedrichs Klaus GER 2283
46. FM Einarsson Halldór Grétar ISL 2248
47. FM Thorsteinsson Thorsteinn ISL 2245
48. Jensson Einar Hjalti ISL 2241
49. WGM Nadig Kruttika IND 2234
50. CM Dunn Andrew ENG 2233
51. Halldorsson Jon Arni ISL 2210
52. Vanheirzeele Daniel BEL 2161
53. Eriksson Christian DEN 2151
54. Ólafsson Þorvarður Fannar ISL 2142
55. Þorsteinsson Erlingur ISL 2129
56. CM Huizer Mark NED 2122
57. IM Bjarnason Saevar ISL 2118
58. Ragnarsson Jóhann H ISL 2103
59. Hjartarson Bjarni ISL 2093
60. Costa Paulo César BRA 2060
61. Stam Bart NED 2048
62. Mass Elvira GER 2025
63. Miettinen Teemu FIN 2023
64. Kristinsson Bjarni Jens ISL 2019
65. Björnsson Eirikur K MA ISL 2000
66. Thorvaldsson Arni ISL 1985
67. Valtýsson Þór ISL 1984
68. Thorsteinsdottir Hallgerdur Helga ISL 1969
69. Calder Dennis GER 1967
70. Roberts Lynda WLS 1960
71. Sigurdarson Tómas Veigar Stud. Jur. ISL 1941
72. Benediktsson Frimann ISL 1905
73. Fivelstad Jon Olav NOR 1879
74. Ingason Sigurður ISL 1878
75. Jonsson Olafur Gisli ISL 1870
76. Mozelius Peter SWE 1869
77. karlsson Mikal Jóhann ISL 1867
78. Antonsson Atli ISL 1849
79. Rajkumar S. Singha IND 1848
80. CIROVIC ZELJKO SRB 1790
81. Arnljótsson Jón ISL 1781
82. CM Yazdani Naser AZE 1766
83. Andrason Pall ISL 1741
84. sigurðarson emil ISL 1736
85. Einarsson Oskar Long ISL 1618
86. Petersson Baldur Teodor ISL 1575
87. Heimisson Hilmir Freyr ISL 1409
88. Smith Chris P ENG 1194
89. Ragnarsson Heimir Páll ISL 1106
90. MK SAQANYAN EMIL ARM 1
91. NM Bagirli Rufat AZE 0

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