Chinese GM Li Chao wins Reykjavik Chess Open 2014; Harika Dronavalli Best Woman Player

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2014

Hello everyone,

Chinese Grandmaster Li Chao (2700) has  won the Reykjavik Chess Open at the Harpa Music and Conference Hall in Reykjavik. Li Chao scored 8,5 points over 10 rounds of play. Helgi Ólafsson (2546) was the leading Icelandic player in the joint 2nd-5th list with 8 points and joined by Robin Van Kampen, Eric Hansen and Eduards Rozentalis who all had a fine tournament.

In the final round, Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson took time out of his busy schedule to execute the first move in the Hansen-Olafsson game. It was also the Prime Minister's 39th birthday and him showing up shows how prestigious chess is in Iceland, states an official report from the tournament. The closing ceremony was hosted by Björn Þorfinnsson. 

Trausti Björnsson,Friðrik Ólafsson og Jón Kristinsson were honored yesterday as they participated in the first Reykjavik Open 50 years ago in 1964. 

1. Li Chao (2700) 8,5 points
2.-5. Helgi Ólafsson, Robin Van Kampen (2603), Eric Hansen (2587) og Eduardas Rozentalis (2623) 8 points
6.-10. Hjörvar Steinn Grétarsson (2511) Hannes Hlífar Stefánsson (2541), Erwin L´Ami (2646), Harika Dronovalli (2487) og Raja Panjwani (2460) 7,5 points

Other prize winners were:

2201-2400WGM Tatew Abrahamyan 7 v.
FM Brede Kvisvik (2257) 6,5 v.
FM Daniel Cawdery (2362) 6,5 v.

2001-2200:Daneil Kazmaier (2187) 6,5 v.
Philipp Bongartz (2143) 6,5 v.
Oliver Aron Jóhannesson (2115) 6 v.

0-2000:Benjamin Haldoersen (1994) 5,5 v.
Peter Michalowski (1985) 5,5 v.
Jean-Chrisophe Thiry (1996) 5,5 v.

Best performance in accordance with rating:

Marius H. Roets 490 (1927-1437)
Vignir Vatnar Stefánsson 354 (2198-1844)
Símon Þórhallsson 329 (1965-1636)
Juniors(1997 and later):
Chitambaram Vr. Aravindh (2395) 6,5 v.
Tibor Kenda Antal (2325) 6,5 v.
Benjamin Gledura (2385) 6,5 v.

Women prizes:
Harika Dronavalli 7,5 v.
Tatev Abrahamyan 7 v.
Irina Krush 7 v.

International normsSix players made international norms. The Egyptian Mohamed Ezat was the only one got get a GM norm but the Danish IM Simon-Bekker Jensen was also painfully closed and frankly deserved one! Five players made IM norms en they were the young Indian Chitambaram Vr. Aravindh, Tatev Abrahamyan, Daniel Cawdery, Brede Kvisvik and Lenka Ptácníková.

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