Kvika Reykjavik Open 2022

With the start of the 2022 Reykjavik Open just 3 weeks away it’s time to take a little stock and remind chess players about the upcoming event. Perhaps some people are hesitant to make a decision on participating in a chess tournament many months in advance due to the ongoing Covid situation. We can however give you some fantastic news. Since last Friday, there are no, i.e. ZERO, Covid restrictions in Iceland. Everything is open “as normal” and there are no longer any restrictions on the border.

We return to our usual venue, Harpa which is a concert hall and conference center in the heart of Reykjavik by the harbour.

Event Venue – Harpan by the Reykjavik Harbor

Already we have over 240 players registered and we expect more local players to register in the coming days and weeks. We hope also that more international players will join our tournament. Perhaps many Americans don’t realize how close Iceland is, it’s only one flight from most of the east coast in the USA.

Currently, we have a nice mixture of former winners, strong GMs, and internet personalities. Currently, there are 20 GM’s registered and 124 players rated over 2000.

The current rating favorites are also two former winners and both Indian!

Baskaran Adhiban (2648) was the winner in 2018 while his compatriot Abhijeet Gupta (2628) was the 2016 winner.

The Reykjavik Open has always been an outlet for the youngest chess stars of the world to shine bright and most of the top players in the world have at one time or another played in Reykjavik. This year D Gukesh (2614), Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa (2612), and Javokhir Sindarov (2612) headline the young starts currently registered to play the tournament. We can also not forget about the youngest GM in history, Abhimanyu Mishra (2505) of USA.

Praggnanandhaa with Icelandic chess legend and former FIDE president GM Fridrik Olafsson at the Reykjavik Open back in 2017.

It’s been a while since we had a local winner and Icelandic #1 Hjorvar Steinn Gretarsson is the most likely player to change that situation this year. Local IM Vignir Vatnar Stefansson will also be chasing his third and final GM norm having recently obtained his first two norms.

Hjörvar at the open in 2019.

The Reykjavik Open as always has several “returning friends” and it’s also nice to see some new faces. Chess has undergone somewhat of a boom online in recent years and the tournament features some “online celebrities”

The GingerGM himself, Simon Williams will make his return to over-the-board chess after some time off, tournament regular Tania Sachdev returns yet again and the popular Youtuber and Twitch streamer Eric Rosen makes his Reykjavik Open debut.

Simon at the open back in 2013!