Celebrate 40th anniversary of Fischer-Spassky 'Chess Match of the Century'

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

The super-strong Reykjavik Chess Open is about to start - on March 6, to be specific. However, there are some great side events that include an exhibition on the 40th anniversary of the Fischer-Spassky 'Match of the Century'. It is being held at the Reykjavik Museum which is within a 5-minute walking distance from the playing venue. The exhibition will feature, among others, the board and chess sets from the match, and of course much more.

The playing venue

The City of Reykjavík has sponsored the tournament since its inception in 1964, When Mikhail Tal won it with a record 12 ½ points out of 13th The tournament was initially held every two years, but since 2008 has taken place every year. It was closed in its early years, but has been an open event since the 1980s. Throughout its history the City Open has featured many of the strongest chess players in the world at the time, Including Mikhail Tal, Nona Gaprindashvili, David Bronstein, Valery Smyslov, Bent Larsen, Fridrik Olafsson, Mark Taimanov, Lev Polugaevsky, Ulf Andersson, Jan Timmins, Victor Korchnoi, Samuel Reshevsky, Anthony Miles, Nigel Short, Hikaru Nakamura, Magnus Carlsen and Alexander Grischuk.

There will be a record number of players at the Reykjavik Open in 2012. Already 175 players have registered from 33 countries, compared to 166 from 30 countries last year, the prior record. Among these 175 players, there are 27 GMs, 3 WGMs and 19 IMs. They already have a spectacular venue. Stay tuned at www.chessblog.com for tournament updates and access the official website here.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
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Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com