MUCH MORE THAN A CHESS TOURNAMENT

As in past years, we invite all participants of the 2017 Reykjavík Open to the Opening Party.

The Reception will be held from 18:00 on Tuesday the 18th of April.

This is a great opportunity to meet the faces behind the tournament organisation and to meet with new people from all over the world!

Special prices on drinks.

Looking forward to seeing you!

A lecture by GM Konstantin Landa

Carlsen draws white – Chief Arbiter Takis Nikolopoulos observes. – Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for World Chess Championship

The lecturer is the widely respected and experienced IA Takis Nikolopoulos, Chairman of the FIDE Arbiters’ Commission and Chief Arbiter for Olympiads and World Championship matches alike.

Harpa Blitz 2017

A nine round regular blitz tournament. This year the time control will be 3+2 (3 minutes for game with 2 second increment)  The tournament will be in HARPA!

Minimum age: 18 years. Tournament is NOT rated!

Time control

The time control will be 3+2 (3 minutes for game with 2 second increment)

Entry fee

Entry fee ISK 2000 should be paid on location before the start of the tournament. Cash only!

Prize money

Money prizes for the top three seeds. Tie-break points will be used to determine the prize winners.

1) 40% off the entry fee

2) 25%

3) 15%

Registration

• Registration form

The finals of a blitz tournament for 13 year and younger children from the Reykjavík metropolitan area. Elimination format. Will be played in the morning, and finish just before the start of that days round.

The World Famous Reykjavík Open Chess Pub-Quiz (after the round)

Familiar faces winning the pub quiz in 2015!

The really popular and entertaining chess pub quiz which is becoming a standard feature of the tournament will be here yet again.  As usual there are 30 questions about chess and the history of the game, both recent and past. This will be a pair event.

Last years winner was the team of Lennart Ootes and Arne Moll came out on top with 25 correct answers out of 30.

Registration on-site!

The 2015 questions

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REGISTRATION: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScXDsSoyu2nqtd3zsl5sFefQlczcByKcv7cJCZ1rkrhP8EpWg/viewfor

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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!

The Icelandic Backgammon Association, will organize a special backgammon event on Tuesday the 25th of April.

The tournament starts around 19.00 hours.

System

We will play „single elimination with second chance“ system. It means if you lose your first match, you will go to second chance tournament, but if you lose two matches all together, you are out. The matches are played to 7 points.

Entry fee and prizes

Entry fee is 40 euros, 75% of the price budget goes to the first two places in main tournament and 25% of the price budget will go to first two places in the second chance tournament. 20% of the entry fee goes to Icelandic Backgammon Federation.

We will also have some kind prices.

Registration

Registration can be handed to Róbert Lagerman, e-mail chesslion@hotmail.com, who is one of the distinguished Reykjavik Open arbiters, or simply at the chess-tournament info-desk.

Location

The tournament take place in Harpa.

The 2017 Reykjavík Open guests get a special discount at Reykjavik’s original whale watching operator, Elding Whale Watching.

Two types of tours are on offer during the summer months, both of which are offered to our guests at a 10% discount. To use the discount, visit their website to book the tour, and use the promotional code “chess” at the Checkout page.

Both tours commences at our ticket office in the Old Harbour in downtown Reykjavik where you can exchange your pre-paid voucher for admission tickets. Only few minutes walk from Harpa Concert Hall.

• Further information and booking here

Reykjavík Classic Whale Watching

Merely steps away from the ticket office you will find our Visitor Centre, facilitated on board a converted fishing vessel permanently placed by the pier, which is where you will meet our crew for the day. From that point you will be show to our whale watching vessel where the tour takes place.
Once on board the tour boat you will find several outdoor viewing platforms, a large indoor saloon with an on board café where you can buy light refreshments, basic bathroom facilities and a cloak room where you can borrow one of our blankets or overalls on colder days.

Express whale watching on RIB boats

An exhilarating express tour starting from the Old Harbour in Reykjavík everyday from 15 April to 31 October. This is a small group tour only 12 person per boat with specially trained whale guide and certified RIB boat captain.

Search for the wildlife and explore seas on the adventure of a lifetime on our express, small groups whale watching tour. The specially engineered RIB boats get you close and fast to the whales and puffins, boats are stable and safe.

After our whale tour we sail back to Reykjavík, where we will take ride along the cities shore line, viewing it from the ocean. Including a stop at the harbour side of Iceland´s most famous building, the mesmerizing Harpa Concert Hall.

General Information

Summer season (1 April – 31 October) is great for whale watching, as the wildlife in the bay is at it’s highest peak! This is the time when the Minke whales are at their most abundant, along with White-beaked dolphins, Harbour porpoises and the occasional Humpback whales.

The weather can change quite frequently in Iceland and therefore we reserve the right to alter routes and itineraries by sailing from other harbours in the nearby area where the weather or sightings are more favourable each time, which could result in a slightly longer tour. Please consult with our ticket sales staff if you are on a tight schedule.

Please be aware that the tours are run in wild nature and we can never guarantee sightings on a particular tour. The estimated duration of tours are standard times and can change according to conditions at sea. Although our success rate is high, the cetacean abundance is unpredictable and varies with the food availability of our shores.

Elding Adventure at Sea

For those who are thinking about going and haven’t decided on a hotel yet, we have a special deal for you!

15% discount of the prices of the very fine Icelandair Hotels: Hotel Marina (downtown – short walk to Harpa) and Hotel Natura (where Fischer stayed!)

To use the discount, please use the following booking links.

Icelandair Hotel Reykjavik Natura

• Booking link

Icelandair Hotel Reykjavik Marina

• Booking link