Mamedyarov Tops Field At 30th Reykjavik Open
Following the trend of top GMs participating in open tournaments, Azerbaijan's number-one GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov is the top seed at this year's Reykjavik Open.
Mamedyarov is one of the two 2700 GMs who have already registered; the other is Czech number-one GM David Navara.
This year the Reykjavik Open will be held for the 30th time. It also celebrates the 80th birthday of Icelandic chess legend GM Fridrik Olafsson; the tournament will be held in his honor.
Olafsson, who turned 80 on January 26 of this year, was one of the very best players of the world in the 1950s-1970s. He defeated many chess legends, including Karpov, Fischer, Tal, and Larsen.
In 1978, Olafsson succeeded Max Euwe as FIDE president. In 1982, he lost the FIDE presidential elections to Florencio Campomanes.
Last year the Reykjavik Open reached a record number of 255 participants from 35 countries, including 28 GMs and many other titled players. At the time of writing, 29 GMs have already registered for this year.
2015 Reykjavik Open | Registered Players (Top 30)
| No. | Title | Name | FED | Rtg |
| 1 | GM | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | AZE | 2759 |
| 2 | GM | Navara, David | CZE | 2735 |
| 3 | GM | Melkumyan, Hrant | ARM | 2673 |
| 4 | GM | Jones, Gawain C B | ENG | 2670 |
| 5 | GM | Movsesian, Sergei | ARM | 2663 |
| 6 | GM | Hammer, Jon Ludvig | NOR | 2648 |
| 7 | GM | Granda Zuniga, Julio E | PER | 2646 |
| 8 | GM | Naroditsky, Daniel | USA | 2622 |
| 9 | GM | Gupta, Abhijeet | IND | 2621 |
| 10 | GM | Gujarathi, Vidit | IND | 2617 |
| 11 | GM | Fier, Alexandr | BRA | 2612 |
| 12 | GM | Grandelius, Nils | SWE | 2609 |
| 13 | GM | l'Ami, Erwin | NED | 2606 |
| 14 | GM | Maze, Sebastien | FRA | 2585 |
| 15 | GM | Cornette, Matthieu | FRA | 2582 |
| 16 | GM | Hansen, Eric | CAN | 2574 |
| 17 | GM | Jussupow, Artur | GER | 2573 |
| 18 | GM | Stefansson, Hannes | ISL | 2573 |
| 19 | IM | Stopa, Jacek | POL | 2540 |
| 20 | GM | Le Roux, Jean-Pierre | FRA | 2539 |
| 21 | GM | Brunello, Sabino | ITA | 2530 |
| 22 | GM | Rasmussen, Allan Stig | DEN | 2529 |
| 23 | GM | Grover, Sahaj | IND | 2519 |
| 24 | GM | Libiszewski, Fabien | FRA | 2518 |
| 25 | GM | Pakleza, Zbigniew | POL | 2498 |
| 26 | IM | Idani, Pouya | IRI | 2496 |
| 27 | IM | Tari, Aryan | NOR | 2493 |
| 28 | IM | Georgiadis, Nico | SUI | 2488 |
| 29 | GM | Rombaldoni, Axel | ITA | 2488 |
| 30 | IM | Kjartansson, Gudmundur | ISL | 2484 |
(See the full list here.)
The tournament will again be held in the Harpa concert hall and conference center. | Photo Wikipedia.
Like the Gibraltar Chess Festival, the Reykjavik Open is a 10-round Swiss to increase the chances for players to score a norm. In the Icelandic capital there is one double round, on the second day of the tournament.
Because Iceland has many tourist attractions, the organizers give the players the possibility to take two half-point byes during the first seven rounds. One of those attractions is of course the famous Golden Circle tour.
Like in other years, the tournament will also feature GM lectures, a blitz tournament, a soccer match and a pub quiz.
In the video below you can see impressions of the 2012 Reykjavik Open (including that Golden Circle tour!):
If you can't join the tournament this year, you can still follow it closely at Chess.com/TV. Like last year, Chess.com will be producing a live commentary show during each round.
For more info on the tournament and registration, visit the official website.
