First round jitters out of the way – Reykjavik Open under way

The International Reykjavik Open Chess Tournament, sponsored by Kvika and Brim, has begun at Harpa conference center at the heart of Reykjavik, Iceland.

Before beginning proceeding, GM-elect Vignir Vatnar Stefánsson was celebrated as the newest grandmaster of Iceland by Friðrik Ólafsson, and in the aftermath, Dagur B. Eggertsson played the first move of the tournament for the opponent of Vasyl Ivanchuk (2664), the highest-ranked player of the competition, at the top board.

Vasyl won in nice style in the first round.

The results of the first round were mostly in line with expectations, but there were some unexpected outcomes. The European U12 champion from Poland, Patryk Cieslak (2207), defeated one of the highest-rated players of the tournament, the Brazilian Alexander Fier (2606). Norwegian FIDE master Andre Nielsen (2201), twenty years old, beat Viking Grzegorz Gajewski (2587), which was also considered an unexpected result.

The competition is moving quickly, with the second round being held on Thursday, with two rounds taking place. The first round begins at 9:00, and the second round starts at 16:00.

The competition is being followed online, with the American Twitch star Alexandra Botez broadcasting her game live with 20,000 viewers at one point. The Swedish Anna Cramling was also well followed, with 11,000 people watching her game. The participation is as high as in previous years, with over 400 competitors, smashing the previous record which was just over 270.

Overall, it was a good start to the tournament, and there were some surprising results, which adds to the excitement of the competition.

Pairings/results on chess-results