Caruana wins Reykjavik Open - full report with video

Fabiano Caruana finished sole first at the Reykjavik Open with a score of 7.5/9. The Italian grandmaster, who was the top seed in the Icelandic capital, remained unbeaten and finished half a point ahead of Ivan Sokolov, David Navara, Gawain Jones, Boris Avrukh, Hou Yifan, Sebastien Maze and Henrik Danielsen.

The Blue Lagoon, one of the most famous touristic attractions in Iceland

In our previous report we mentioned the unpredictable weather conditions in Iceland. In the last few days it actually calmed down and there was hardly any snowfall. In the playing hall, things heated up with many great fights on top and lower boards. Eventually top seeded Fabiano Caruana won the tournament, but it could have ended very differently. But let's start with some video impressions!

After round four Fabiano Caruana, David Navara, Ivan Sokolov, Ivan Cheparinov, Gawain Jones and Robert Hess were still on 100%. On Friday night one of the many side events was held in the cafe area of the Harpa building: a pub quiz. It was one of those things that made the tournament a very social gathering. There were questions like "Who is older, Benkö or Taimanov", "Who was Botvinnik referring to when he said: 'the boy doesn't have a clue about chess, and there's no future at all for him in this profession'" and "Which famous player did a thesis on the Chinese prison system at the Sorbonne University in Paris".

In the fifth round on Saturday Gawain Jones and Fabiano Caruana drew quickly on board 1. Ivan Sokolov, who played a good Aeroflot Open last month, made clear that he kept his good form by beating David Navara with Black:

[Event "Reykjavik Open"]
[Site "Reykjavik ISL"]
[Date "2012.03.10"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Navara, D."]
[Black "Sokolov, Ivan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C79"]
[WhiteElo "2700"]
[BlackElo "2653"]
[PlyCount "74"]
[EventDate "2012.03.06"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. O-O Nf6 6. Re1 Bd7 7. c3 g6 8. d4 b5
9. Bb3 Bg7 10. Bg5 O-O 11. Nbd2 Re8 12. h3 h6 13. Bh4 Na5 14. Bc2 c5 15. Nb3
cxd4 16. Nxa5 Qxa5 17. cxd4 exd4 18. Nxd4 Qb6 19. Nf3 Be6 20. Nd4 Bc8 21. Qd2
Bb7 22. Bxf6 Bxf6 23. Rad1 d5 24. Bb3 Rxe4 25. Rxe4 dxe4 26. Nf5 Rd8 27. Nxh6+
Kg7 28. Qc1 Rxd1+ 29. Bxd1 e3 30. Ng4 exf2+ 31. Kf1 Bd4 32. Qh6+ Kg8 33. Qf4
Qc6 34. Bf3 Qc4+ 35. Be2 Bxg2+ 36. Kxg2 Qxe2 37. Nh6+ Kh7 0-1

GM Ivan Sokolov has a wide black repertoire against 1.e4

Ivan Cheparinov seems to be enjoying chess once again. Now that Veselin Topalov isn't playing much chess anymore, Cheparinov is planning to play more himself, more than in 2011. He won against Robert Hess:

[Event "Reykjavik Open"]
[Site "Reykjavik ISL"]
[Date "2012.03.10"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Cheparinov, I."]
[Black "Hess, Ro"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E06"]
[WhiteElo "2664"]
[BlackElo "2635"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2012.03.06"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Nf3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4
Bd7 9. Qxc4 Bc6 10. Bg5 Bd5 11. Qd3 Nc6 12. Bxf6 gxf6 13. e4 Nb4 14. Qe2 Bb3
15. Nbd2 Bc2 16. Rfc1 Qd7 17. b3 f5 18. exf5 Bxf5 19. Nc4 Qd8 20. Nce5 Nd5 21.
h4 f6 22. Nc4 Bb4 23. Ne3 Nxe3 24. Qxe3 Ba5 25. h5 Bb6 26. a5 Ba7 27. Ra4 Bg4
28. Qe4 Bxh5 29. Qxb7 c6 30. Qxc6 Qe7 31. Rac4 Rfd8 32. Re1 Bf7 33. d5 e5 34.
Nh4 Be8 35. Nf5 Qf8 36. Qe6+ Kh8 37. Rc7 Bg6 38. Ne7 Qg7 39. d6 Bf7 40. Qh3 e4
41. Bxe4 1-0

Ivan Cheparinov of Bulgaria will be playing more chess again

American GM Yuri Shulman was having a horrible first part of the tournament. In the second round he lost to Svetlana Cherednichenko, rated 2279, and in round five he went down against Johan Henriksson, with exactly the same rating.

[Event "Reykjavik Open"]
[Site "Reykjavik ISL"]
[Date "2012.03.10"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Henriksson, Jo"]
[Black "Shulman, Y."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A31"]
[WhiteElo "2279"]
[BlackElo "2594"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2012.03.06"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. c4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nb5 d5 6. cxd5 Bc5 7. N5c3 O-O 8.
g3 Qb6 9. e3 Bg4 10. Be2 Bh3 11. g4 h5 12. g5 Nh7 13. Rg1 g6 14. Nd2 Rd8 15.
Nde4 Na6 16. Bd2 Bf8 17. Na4 Qc7 18. Rc1 Qd7 19. Nac3 Nc7 20. Qb3 Nxd5 21. Bb5
Nxc3 22. Bxd7 Nxe4 23. Bxh3 Nxd2 24. Qd1 Ne4 25. Qa4 Nc5 26. Rxc5 Bxc5 27. Ke2
Bf8 28. Rd1 Nxg5 29. Bg2 Ne6 30. Rxd8 Rxd8 31. Qxa7 Bb4 32. a3 Bd6 33. Bxb7 Nc5
34. Bd5 Rd7 35. Qa8+ Kg7 36. b4 Ne6 37. Bxe6 fxe6 38. Qc6 Rd8 39. a4 Kf6 40. b5
Bb4 41. b6 Rd2+ 42. Kf1 Bd6 43. b7 Ke7 44. Qxd6+ 1-0

In this fifth round I played a nice game myself. My level is not up to the standards of what I tend to show on this site, but everyone is capable of playing one nice move every now and then, right?

[Event "Reykjavik Open"]
[Site "Reykjavik"]
[Date "2012.12.10"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Doggers, Peter"]
[Black "Murray, Mike"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C64"]
[WhiteElo "2265"]
[BlackElo "2007"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/1p1b1rk1/p2P1qnp/3Pp1pQ/P7/4B1PP/1P3P1K/2R3N1 w - - 0 28"]
[PlyCount "15"]
[EventDate "127.??.??"]

28. h4 $1 {A very interesting pawn sacrifice.} ({
The problem is that the immediate} 28. Rc7 {fails to} Qxd6 29. Rxb7 Qxd5 30.
Rb6 Bc6 {and although I still have} 31. f3 {I'm not doing so well here.}) 28...
Nf4 $2 {This is just incorrect.} ({I expected} 28... gxh4 {
of course and my idea was} 29. Rc7 $3 hxg3+ 30. fxg3 {which looked good to me
in all lines that I calculated. I was happy to see that the engine agreed with
me!} Nf8 (30... Qxd6 31. Rxb7 {threatens Rb6 and now the queen can't take on d5 because of Qxh6+ and Qxg6+, the main idea!}) 31. Rxb7 Qxd6 32. Nf3 Qxd5 33.
Nxe5 $18) 29. gxf4 exf4 30. Bd2 Qxd6 31. Bc3+ Kg8 32. Nf3 g4 33. Rg1 Kf8 34.
Qe5 Qg6 35. Qh8+ 1-0

Taking the walk from the hotel to the venue, along the waterfront to the East of the old harbour, we passed the striking Sólfar or Sun Voyager every day. It was created by artist Jón Gunnar Árnason and unvieled in 1971. It is intended to be an abstract representation of a viking ship.

A Sunday is usually a quiet day, for those with regular jobs (and for those who believe that it is actually meant to be a rest day). The organizers thought differently, and planned two rounds on this day! Of course this is very tough, but even more so for the participants who indulged in the infamous night life of Reykjavik on Saturday night. It probably says enough that the most popular pizza place Divinos opens "from 10 to 8" on Saturdays, meaning from 10 a.m. till 8 a.m.! 

One of those regular nightlife explorers is Ivan Sokolov, and so his quick draw with Ivan Cheparinov on the early Sunday morning wasn't a surprise. Except for Caruana's win over Bragi Thorfinsson, many other top games also ended in draws. In the afternoon, Caruana grabbed sole lead thanks to a black win against Cheparinov:

[Event "Reykjavik Open"]
[Site "Reykjavik ISL"]
[Date "2012.03.11"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Cheparinov, I."]
[Black "Caruana, F."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D85"]
[WhiteElo "2664"]
[BlackElo "2767"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2012.03.06"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bb5+ c6 8.
Ba4 O-O 9. Ne2 c5 10. O-O Nc6 11. Be3 Na5 12. dxc5 Qc7 13. Bb3 Bg4 14. f3 Bd7
15. Qb1 e6 16. Rd1 Rfd8 17. Kh1 Be8 18. Qb2 Bf8 19. f4 Bxc5 20. Nd4 Bf8 21. f5
Nxb3 22. axb3 e5 23. Nf3 f6 24. c4 Bc6 25. Qc2 Rxd1+ 26. Rxd1 Rd8 27. Rxd8 Qxd8
28. fxg6 hxg6 29. Bxa7 b6 30. c5 b5 31. b4 Bh6 32. Kg1 Kg7 33. Kf2 Qa8 34. Qa2
Bxe4 35. Qa5 Qb7 36. Bb6 Qd7 37. Qa7 Bb7 38. Bd8 e4 39. Ne1 Qd2+ 40. Kg3 Qf4+
0-1

Fabiano Caruana grabbed the lead in round 7 and kept it till the end

Gawain Jones had a disastrous game against Boris Avrukh.

[Event "Reykjavik Open"]
[Site "Reykjavik ISL"]
[Date "2012.03.11"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Jones, G."]
[Black "Avrukh, B."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B40"]
[WhiteElo "2635"]
[BlackElo "2591"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2k5/pR3pp1/P3p3/4P2p/2nPP2P/6P1/5K2/1Nr5 w - - 0 46"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "2012.03.06"]

{White should be winning here, but Gawain's next two moves are hard to
understand.} 46. g4 (46. Rxa7 $5 Rxb1 47. Rxf7) 46... hxg4 47. Rb5 $2 ({After}
47. h5 $1 {Black still has to fight for the draw. A sample line:} Rh1 48. Rxa7
$1 Rxb1 49. Rxf7 Kb8 50. Rxg7 Rh1 51. Rb7+ Ka8 52. Rc7 Nd2 53. Kg3 Rg1+ 54. Kf4
g3 55. Re7 g2 56. Kg3 Nxe4+ 57. Kh2 Rh1+ 58. Kxg2 Rxh5 59. Rxe6 Ka7) 47... Nb6
48. Rb3 Rc4 49. Rc3 Kd7 50. Rxc4 Nxc4 51. Kg3 Kc6 52. Kxg4 Kb6 53. h5 Kxa6 54.
h6 gxh6 55. Kh5 Na5 56. Kxh6 Nc6 57. d5 Nxe5 58. Kg7 exd5 59. exd5 Kb5 60. Kf6
Nd3 61. Kxf7 Kc5 62. Nc3 $2 ({After} 62. Ke6 $1 {it's still a draw:} Nf4+ 63.
Ke5 Nxd5 64. Ke4 Kc4 65. Nd2+ $11) 62... Kc4 63. Nb1 Kxd5 64. Ke7 a5 65. Kd7
Kc4 66. Kc6 Kb4 67. Kd5 a4 68. Kd4 Nc5 69. Ke3 Kb3 70. Nd2+ Kc2 71. Nc4 Kc3 72.
Na3 Ne6 73. Ke2 Nd4+ 74. Kd1 Kb3 75. Nb1 Kb2 76. Nd2 Nb5 77. Nc4+ Kc3 78. Ne3
a3 79. Nc2 a2 0-1

Boris Avrukh, the author of several opening books published by Quality Chess, was lucky against Gawain Jones

In the penultimate round, Sokolov used one of his many Ruy Lopez lines to draw with Caruana.

[Event "Reykjavik Open"]
[Site "Reykjavik ISL"]
[Date "2012.03.12"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Caruana, F."]
[Black "Sokolov, Ivan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C60"]
[WhiteElo "2767"]
[BlackElo "2653"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[EventDate "2012.03.06"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nge7 4. c3 d5 5. Nxe5 dxe4 6. Qe2 Be6 7. d4 exd3 8.
Nxd3 Ng6 9. O-O Bd6 10. Nd2 O-O 11. Ne4 Re8 12. Bg5 f6 13. Be3 a6 14. Bxc6 bxc6
15. Nxd6 cxd6 16. b3 a5 17. Rad1 Qc8 18. c4 a4 19. Rfe1 axb3 20. axb3 Rb8 21.
Qc2 Bf5 22. Qc3 Qb7 23. Nf4 Ne5 24. Rxd6 Qxb3 25. Qxb3 Rxb3 26. c5 Kf7 27. h3
Rc8 28. Ra1 Rb7 29. Ra6 Bd7 30. Rd4 Re8 31. Nd3 Bxh3 32. Nxe5+ fxe5 33. Rh4 Bf5
34. Rxc6 Rd8 35. Rh5 Be4 36. Ra6 Rd5 37. Rh4 Bd3 38. Ra8 h6 39. Rha4 Rc7 40.
R4a7 Rdd7 41. c6 Rxa7 42. Rxa7 Rxa7 43. Bxa7 e4 44. c7 Ba6 45. Kh2 g5 46. Bd4
h5 47. f3 exf3 48. gxf3 Kg6 49. Be3 Kf5 50. Bd2 h4 51. Be3 g4 52. fxg4+ Kxg4
53. Bf2 1/2-1/2

After the game, the Yugoslav-born Dutch GM referred to his acclaimed The Ruy Lopez Revisited:

He didn't read my book! I guess he will read it now!

Hou Yifan impressively ground down Vladimir Baklan with the black pieces.

[Event "Reykjavik Open"]
[Site "Reykjavik ISL"]
[Date "2012.03.12"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Baklan, V."]
[Black "Hou Yifan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B22"]
[WhiteElo "2612"]
[BlackElo "2639"]
[PlyCount "114"]
[EventDate "2012.03.06"]

1. e4 c5 2. c3 Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Bc4 e6 6. O-O d6 7. d4 cxd4 8. cxd4
Be7 9. Qe2 O-O 10. Rd1 Na5 11. b3 Bd7 12. Bxd5 exd5 13. Nc3 Be6 14. Ba3 a6 15.
h3 Re8 16. Qd3 Nc6 17. Re1 h6 18. Rac1 Rc8 19. exd6 Bxd6 20. Bxd6 Qxd6 21. Ne5
Ne7 22. Qd2 Nf5 23. Ne2 Rxc1 24. Rxc1 f6 25. Nf3 Bf7 26. Re1 h5 27. Nc3 Rc8 28.
Na4 b5 29. Qd3 Qf4 30. Nc5 Nxd4 31. Nxd4 Rxc5 32. g3 Qc7 33. Qd2 Qc8 34. Kh2
Bg6 35. Re7 Rc7 36. Nf5 Qd8 37. Rxc7 Qxc7 38. Qxd5+ Kh7 39. Ne3 Qa5 40. a4 Qe1
41. Qf3 b4 42. g4 h4 43. Nf5 Bf7 44. Nxh4 Qe5+ 45. Kg1 Qd5 46. Qe2 Qxb3 47.
Qe4+ g6 48. Qe7 Kg7 49. g5 fxg5 50. Qe5+ Kh7 51. Qxg5 Qd1+ 52. Kh2 Qd6+ 53. Kg1
b3 54. Qc1 Qf6 55. Qc7 b2 56. Qb7 Kh6 57. Nf3 Ba2 0-1

After Gibraltar, Hou Yifan played another excellent open tournament

Against Robert Hess, David Navara won an ending which might have been drawn - at least the players thought so during the post-mortem. (This game also features in the video above.)

[Event "Reykjavik Open"]
[Site "Reykjavik ISL"]
[Date "2012.03.12"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Navara, D."]
[Black "Hess, Ro"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E17"]
[WhiteElo "2700"]
[BlackElo "2635"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/5pkp/N5p1/8/8/R5PK/4r2P/8 w - - 0 37"]
[PlyCount "99"]
[EventDate "2012.03.06"]

37. Nb4 h5 38. Ra2 Re4 39. Nd3 g5 40. Kg2 Re3 41. Rd2 Re4 42. Kf3 Rd4 43. Ke3
Ra4 44. Nf2 f5 45. Rd7+ Kf6 46. Rd6+ Kg7 47. Nh3 Re4+ 48. Kd2 Rg4 49. Ke2 h4
50. Kf3 hxg3 51. hxg3 Kf7 52. Rc6 Kg7 53. Rb6 Kf7 54. Rb7+ Kg6 55. Rb8 Kg7 56.
Rc8 Kf7 57. Rc6 Kg7 58. Ng1 Ra4 59. Ne2 Ra3+ 60. Rc3 Ra4 61. Rb3 Kg6 62. Nc3
Rd4 63. Nb5 Rd7 64. Rc3 Kh5 65. Nc7 Rd2 66. Ne6 Rd6 67. Nc7 Kg6 68. Ra3 Kh5 69.
Ne8 Rc6 70. Rd3 Rb6 71. Nd6 Kg6 72. Nc4 Rb5 73. Rd6+ Kg7 74. Rb6 Rc5 75. Nd6
Rc3+ 76. Ke2 Rc2+ 77. Kd3 Rc5 78. Rb5 Rxb5 79. Nxb5 Kg6 80. Nd6 Kf6 81. Kd4 Ke6
82. Nc4 Kf6 83. Kd5 g4 84. Ne3 f4 85. gxf4 g3 86. Ke4 1-0

David Navara from the Czech Republic

Fabiano Caruana was still leading by half a point before the last round, and also after the last round as ther top four boards ended in draws. Hou Yifan missed a good chance to win the tournament instead:

[Event "Reykjavik Open"]
[Site "Reykjavik ISL"]
[Date "2012.03.13"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Hou Yifan"]
[Black "Caruana, F."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C78"]
[WhiteElo "2639"]
[BlackElo "2767"]
[PlyCount "94"]
[EventDate "2012.03.06"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. c3 d6 8. d4
Bb6 9. h3 O-O 10. Be3 h6 11. Nbd2 Re8 12. Re1 Bd7 13. Qb1 Na5 14. Bc2 c5 15. d5
c4 16. b4 cxb3 17. axb3 Bxe3 18. Rxe3 Nb7 19. b4 Nh5 20. Bd3 Nf4 21. Bf1 Rf8
22. c4 bxc4 23. Bxc4 a5 24. bxa5 Nxa5 25. Qb4 Nxc4 26. Rxa8 Qxa8 27. Nxc4 Qa1+
28. Re1 Qa2 29. Nfd2 Rc8 30. Re3 Qc2 31. Kh2 Nd3 32. Qb7 Nc5 33. Qb6 Nd3 34.
Nxd6 Rf8 35. N6c4 Nxf2 36. Qb1 Qxb1 37. Nxb1 Bb5 38. Nba3 Ba6 39. Nxe5 Re8 40.
d6 Bb7 41. Nxf7 (41. Nac4 $1 Nxe4 42. d7 Rd8 43. Na5 $1 Bd5 44. Rd3 Nf6 45.
Rxd5 $1 Nxd5 46. Nb7 Ra8 47. d8=Q+ Rxd8 48. Nxd8 {should be winning.}) 41...
Kxf7 42. Rf3+ Ke6 43. Nb5 Rb8 44. Rxf2 Bxe4 45. Re2 Rxb5 46. Rxe4+ Kxd6 47. Kg3
Kd5 1/2-1/2

Drawing his last round game against Hou Yifan, Fabiano Caruana finished sole first in Reykjavik

There was a small incident in the last round, when local IM Bragi Thorfinsson didn't show up for his game. The reason was, no doubt, the fact that he was paired against a 2255 player while he needed a slightly stronger opponent to be able to score a GM norm. One of the organizers told us that Thorfinsson will be given the "hairdryer treatment", referring to Sir Alex Ferguson famously shouting to underperforming players!

"Daily briefings"

And so an end has come to a wonderful tournament, or rather, festival, in "chess city" Reykjavik. The closing ceremony was organized in a way that one normally only sees at super tournaments: in the reception area of the town hall, with free champagne and hors-d'oevres. Afterwards we joined the organizers at a tapas place, and in a number of speeches everyone thanked each other for their part of the success. The organizers are ambitious: they are planning to grow further for the 49th and 50th edition which will also take place in Harpa and for which more private sponsorship has already been secured. Besides, for 2015 they hope to get the European Team Championship to Reykjavik.

A must-see (or rather, must-do) in Iceland: the Blue Lagoon, a geothermal spa. The steamy waters are part of a lava formation. "Bláa lónið" is situated approximately 13 km (8 miles) from the Keflavík International Airport and many tourists in fact visit it on their way to the airport, and so did a large group of American participants of the tournament before flying to New York.

Reykjavik Open 2012 | Final standings