MP Reykjavík Open 2011

The MP Reykjavík Open 2011 (Updated)
9th to 16th March in the City Hall in downtown Reykjavík, Iceland

The MP Reykjavík Open will be held from March 9 to March 16, 2011 in the City Hall in downtown Reykjavík. The 2011 edition is expected to field one of the strongest and largest group of chess players in years. Nearly thirty GMs have so far registered, including some of the world’s highest ranked players, the youngest GM in the world, some of the strongest women and legends of the game.

Already, the number of registered players exceeds the number of participants at last year’s event, but the MP Reykjavík Open is very popular with chess players due to the excellent playing venue and atmosphere, and many chess players return year after year. This year, the MP Reykjavík Open will also be the Nordic Chess Championship and the highest placed player from a Nordic country (Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) will be crowned the Nordic Chess Champion of 2011.

The highest ranked player is Evgenij Miroshnichenko (2670) of Ukraine, followed by Luke McShane (2664), Ivan Sokolov (2657), one of last year’s winners who also regularly features in international chess tournaments in Iceland, and German GM Jan Gustafsson (2652).

From Scandinavia, we have Magnus Carlsen’s contemporary, Jon Ludvig Hammer (2647) and Denmark’s Sune Berg Hansen (2603). Moreover, all active Icelandic GMs will take part, including Hannes Hlífar Stefánsson (2580), who has been among the winners in the last three tournaments, Héðinn Steingrímsson (2554), one of the 2009 winners, Henrik Danielsen (2519) and Þröstur Þórhallsson (2387).

Africa’s highest ranked player, Ahmed Adly (2640), Latvian chess legend Evgeny Sveshnikov (2521), who is also joined at the tournament by his son Vladimir, are also registered.

As in previous years, many of the youngest and most promising chess players in the world are attending the MP Reykjavík Open, including the world’s youngest GM, the year 14-year old, Illya Nyzhnik (2530), 14-year old Bulgarian IM Kiprian Berbatov (2437), a nephew of Manchester United player Dimitar Berbatov, and 13-year old IM Suri Vaibhav (2421) of India.

Additionally, Harika Dronavalli (2520), one of the highest ranked women in the world, is attending, together with Tania Sachdev (2391), Sophie Millet (2375) of France and Anna Sharevich (2332), Belarus’ strongest female player and Lenka Ptácníková (2317).

The City of Reykjavík and MP Bank are the main sponsors of the tournament. MP Bank, which was founded by and bears the initials of Icelandic GM Margeir Pétursson, is the only bank that survived the Icelandic financial crisis that begun in 2008. The City of Reykjavík has sponsored the tournament since its inception in 1964, when Mikhail Tal won it with a record 12½ points out of 13. Now in its 26th edition, the tournament was held every other year until 2008, but has since been every year. It was closed in its early years, but has been an open event since the 1980s.

The MP Reykjavík Open has enjoyed such an enviable reputation that more than 120 GMs registered interest in participating this year. Unfortunately not everybody could be accommodated and all conditions have been allocated. Given its open format, however, places are still available for anyone interested in taking part in a strong and lively tournament.

As in earlier years, several chess-related events will take place at the same time as the tournament, including the now famous the Reykjavík Open Chess Pub Quiz and the Golden Circle sightseeing tour that includes stops at Geysir and Robert J. Fischer’s final resting place in the southern part of Iceland. And given the favorable exchange rate of the Icelandic króna, Iceland is one of the most attractive places in the world to visit and play in chess tournaments.

For more information, please check out the website of the tournament at www.chess.is, where all relevant information can be found, including list of players and a registration form.

We look forward to welcoming you to the MP Reykjavík Open.

On behalf of the Icelandic Chess Federation,
Gunnar Björnsson,
President of ICF

Some of the top seeds:

1 GM Miroshnichenko Evgenij UKR 2670
2 GM McShane Luke J ENG 2664
3 GM Sokolov Ivan NED 2657
4 GM Gustafsson Jan GER 2652
5 GM Hammer Jon Ludvig NOR 2647
6 GM Adly Ahmed EGY 2640
7 GM Kuzubov Yuriy UKR 2624
8 GM Miton Kamil POL 2616
9 GM Baklan Vladimir UKR 2613
10 GM Hansen Sune Berg DEN 2603
11 GM Chatalbashev Boris BUL 2602
12 GM Jones Gawain C B ENG 2593
13 GM Gupta Abhijeet IND 2590
14 GM Pelletier Yannick SUI 2586
15 GM Stefansson Hannes ISL 2580
16 GM Halkias Stelios GRE 2578
17 GM Hess Robert L USA 2572
18 GM Fier Alexandr BRA 2571
19 GM Steingrimsson Hedinn ISL 2554
20 IM Nyzhnyk Illya UKR 2530
21 GM Hillarp Persson Tiger SWE 2528
22 GM Mekhitarian Krikor Sevag BRA 2528
23 GM Sveshnikov Evgeny LAT 2521
24 IM Harika Dronavalli IND 2520
25 GM Danielsen Henrik ISL 2519
26 GM Williams Simon K ENG 2513
27 GM Kveinys Aloyzas LTU 2506
28 IM D Amore Carlo ITA 2505
29 IM Kristjansson Stefan ISL 2483
30 IM Henrichs Thomas GER 2479