Of course there will be the traditional football match between Iceland (the chess players and the organizers) and Rest of the World (the international chess players). It is a fun and relaxing activity after a hard fought game of chess.
The Rest of the World team has both featured special guests like World Champion Magnus Carlsen and tournament players like GM Vachier Lagrave, GM Evgeny Tomashevskiy, GM Loek van Wely, GM Emre Can, GM Alexander Ipatov, GM Jon Ludvig Hammer, IM Nicolai Getz, GM Danyyil Dvirnyy, FM Marina Brunello, GM Sabino Brunello, GM Robert Hess, GM Vasily Papin, FM Peter Doggers, GM Bartosz Socko, GM Mateusz Bartel, WIM Josefine Heinemann, GM Sebastian Maze, GM Etienne Bacrot, GM Laurent Fressinet, GM Fabian Libiszewski, and GM Matthieu Cornette. If they can play, so can you!
On the Icelandic side GM Hjorvar Steinn Gretarsson and IM Ingvar Thor Johannesson have featured prominently. Other Icelandic players have been “secret weapons”. In fact Iceland – with the home court advantages – has usually done well, but with the increased popularity of the tournament among international players, the Rest of the World team is expected to do better.
The football match for 2017 will be on Sunday the 23th of April and between 22:00-23:00 in the indoor Football hall Fífan. Everybody will get a chance to play. We may split the group into four teams of roughly seven players each, on either one-half or one-quarter of a pitch. We play on artificial grass and the temperature inside the football-hall is about 15°C.
If you play football you should bring your football equipment with you to Reykjavik! This is a fun and a very popular event!
Here are some results from past games:
2015
The Mixed GM foreign team won featuring Magnus Carlsen
2013
Iceland yet again won in rather easy fashion. The game was a one-way street until the ROW team got a great addition in the form of and Icelandic player with French blood in his veins. The ROW team made a late comeback with some flashy plays by Sebastian Maze and Alexander Ipatov among others. The late comeback wasn’t enough though and the Icelandic team held on.
2012
The Rest of the World team:
GM Hess Robert L USA 2635
GM Papin Vasily RUS 2575
GM Ipatov Alexander TUR 2561
IM Arnold Marc T USA 2502
Coleman Teddy USA 2356
Gislason Gudmundur ISL 2346
Doggers Peter NED 2265
FM Langer Michael USA 2217
Vanheirzeele Daniel BEL 2161
Stam Bart NED 2048
Calder Dennis GER 1948
The Icelandic team:
FM Kjartansson David ISL 2305
FM Einarsson Halldor Gretar ISL 2239
Olafsson Thorvardur ISL 2147
Eliasson Kristjan ORN ISL 1868
Sigurjonsson Stefan Th ISL 2117
Andrason Pall ISL 1741
Sigurdsson Birkir Karl ISL 1716
Hardarson Jon Trausti ISL 1688
IA Sigurdsson Pall ISL
Jonsson Jon Gunnar ISL
??
Journalist and audience
IM Krush Irina USA 2461
Macauley Peterson
Runar Berg ISL
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Final standing: 3-3
2011
Foreign Team:
1 Jon Ludvig Hammer Norway
2 Nicolai Getz Norway
3 Julian Geske Germany
4 Oliver Duchrow Germany
5 Sergio Huguet Honduras
6 Reyk Schaefer Germany
7 Frank Braig Germany
8 Markus Schwenke Germany
9 Frank Rehfeldt Germany
10 Bernd Salewski Germany
11 Dennis Calder Germany
Icelandic Team
Jón Viktor Gunnarsson IM
Ingvar Þór Jóhannesson FM
Guðmundur Kjartansson IM
Guðmundur Gíslason FM
Halldór Grétar Einarsson FM
Páll Andrason
Eiríkur Örn Brynjarsson
Gunnar Björnsson IA
Kristján Örn Elíason VM (Video Master)
Jón Gunnar Jónsson
Páll Sigurðsson IA
Final standing: 5-4 for Iceland after an exciting match