This year’s Reykjavik Open attracted a record turnout of more than 400 players. The Icelanders’ affinity for chess is well established, and the Harpa Conference Centre is a beautiful playing hall looking over the waterfront. At the top of the seedings was Ukrainian luminary Vasyl Ivanchuk, but first place went to the affable Swedish grandmaster Nils Grandelius. He took the lead in the penultimate round.

Abhijeet Gupta-Nils Grandelius
Reykjavik Open, April 2023

53…Kf4 is tempting, but 54 Nb7 e4 55 Nc5 Bf5 56 Nxe4! secures a draw as the bishop can never force White’s king out from the a1-corner. In what follows, the sacrifice of knight for e-pawn is carefully avoided. 53…Bd5! 54 Nb5 Kf5 55 Nc7 Bb7 56 Nb5 Kf4 57 Kb3 e4 58 Nc3 e3 59 Ka4 Ke5 60 Kxa5 Bf3 61 Kb4 Kd4 The a-pawn has proved to be a useful decoy. 62 Nb5+ Kd3 63 Nc3 Bc6 64 Kb3 Bd7 65 Kb2 Be6 Zugzwang! Moving the knight allows the pawn to advance, so White resigns

A brilliancy by English grandmaster Simon Williams, known to his fans as the ‘Ginger GM’.

Simon Williams-Anastasiya Rakhmangulova
Reykjavik Open, March 2023

1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 cxd5 cxd5 4 Nc3 Nf6 5 f3 e6 6 e4 dxe4 7 fxe4 Nc6 The immediate 7…Bb4! was stronger, because 8 Bd3 loses a pawn after Nxe4! 9 Bxe4 Bxc3+ 10 bxc3 Qh4+ 8 Nf3 Bb4 9 Bd3 Ba5 Rather slow, but better moves were hard to come by. 9…Nxd4? 10 Nxd4 Qxd4 11 Bb5+ wins the queen. 9…O-O? runs into a textbook ‘Greek gift’ bishop sacrifice. 10 e5 Nd5 11 Bxh7+ Kxh7 12 Ng5+ Kg8 (12…Kg6 13 h4 is no better) 13 Qh5 Re8 14 Qxf7+ Kh8 15 Qh5+ Kg8 16 Qh7+ Kf8 17 Qh8+ Ke7 18 Qxg7 mate. 10 e5 Nd5 11 O-O It is always worth considering if the opponent’s threats can be ignored. Here, fast development is easily worth a pawn (or three!). Nxc3 12 bxc3 Bxc3 13 Rb1 h6 13…O-O 14 Bxh7+ still could not be permitted. Black wisely declines the chance to grab two more pawns. After 13…Bxd4+ 14 Kh1 Bxe5 15 Nxe5 Nxe5 16 Bb5+ Bd7 17 Qe2 Bxb5 18 Qxb5+ Nd7 19 Ba3! White is winning, despite the lost pawns. Black still cannot castle, and with Rb1-d1, and/or Qb5-h5 coming the threats are too numerous. 14 Ba3 a5 A plausible try, preparing Bc3-b4 to renew the possibility of kingside castling. 15 Qa4 Bd7 16 Rxb7 Nxd4 (see diagram top right) 17 Nxd4 A stunning queen sacrifice. Bxa4 18 Nxe6 The beautiful point. All of White’s pieces play a role in what follows, e.g. 18…Qxd3 19 Re7# or 18…fxe6 19 Bg6#. 19 Nxg7 mate is threatened, and the queen is attacked as well. Qh4 19 Rfxf7 The threat is Rf7-e7+, and 19…Qe1+ comes to nothing: 20 Bf1 Bd4+ 21 Kh1 wins. Bb4 20 Rf8+ If 20…Rxf8 21 Bg6+ so Black resigns/>