Most of the competitors of the Reykjavik Open are arriving today and tomorrow. We already had plenty of players and staff arrive in the last few days. On monday we had a mild storm with rain but today the Reykjavik Open is being welcomed with some nice weather.
The commentator checking out the “Ice” part of Iceland
The top seed is already here, ready for the simul!
Today at 13:00 Anish Giri will be playing a clock simul against selected local opponents. This will take place in the headquarters of GAMMA the main sponsor in Garðastræti 37.
Among Giri’s opponents will be the minister of finance Benedikt Jóhannesson who was himself a promising chess player before moving on to other things in life. Giri will face a variety of opponents male and female and his oldest will be the former Icelandic champion (1966) and Icelandic soccer champion (1956) Gunnar Gunnarsson who is 83 years old.
Grandmaster Fridrik Olafsson, former FIDE president, will make the ceremonial first move in the simul.
For those that have already arrived checking out the playing venue is most welcome and the perfect opportunity to do that will be to attend the Opening Party which will be held in the “Smurstöðin” restaurant in Harpan.
Harpa is the big building by the sea. You kind of can’t miss it 😉
