My games vs. 2600+ players in 2022 - Part II

Check out Part I

Back to Reykajvik...

Harpa conference hall, the playing venue, photo from the tournament website

I finished Part I with the game against Hans Niemann, which made me the sole leader of Reykjavik Open 2022. I faced another strong 2600+ player right in the next game - it was Pouya Idani, an Iranian grandmaster. I checked in my preparation that he is an 1.e4 player and decided to go for the solid Petroff Defence, a reasonable decision when you're up against a strong opponent and a draw can be considered a good result. But my lack of experience in the opening led to problems when facing a sideline:

So I achieved a hard-fought draw and remained in the lead after round 5. Round 6 was, unfortunately, a defeat at the hands of Mads Andersen, a two time Danish chess champion. It was a well-played game by the opponent and not a great effort by me. I chose 1.d4 and entered the Queen's Gambit Accepted, where even the slightest advantage for White quickly evaporated. I stranded my knight on the edge of the board based on some wrong assessment and miscalculation, which became the main reason for the later loss.

In round 7 I drew Brazilian GM Alexandr Fier with Black after a pretty balanced game. In round 8 I was paired with a 2600+ player for the 4th and last time in the tournament - an Indian prodigy Raunak Sadhwani. See how the game went:

This victory coupled with the previous ones made the tournament one of the most memorable events in my career. This fact wasn't even changed by the last round loss to the Icelandic GM Hjorvar Steinn Gretarsson. Of course, I would much prefer to end the tournament on the high note and score a high place - and I had big chances for that in this last game. So the loss was painful, but didn't spoil the overall excellent result. I have very fond memories of Reykajvik.

In Part III I will cover my 2022 clashes with 2600+ players in Formentera and Cattolica. Stay tuned!

Check out my website: lukaszjarmula.com