A few upsets mark the Opening round of the Reykjavik Chess Open 2024

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The Reykjavik Chess Open 2024 kicked off yesterday at the Harpa Conference Center with more than 400 players from 49 countries. The Opening round saw a few major upsets, but the majority of the favourites lived up to the expectations and scored victories in the Round 1.

The 5th seed in the tournament, GM Matthieu Cornette (France, 2575) couldn’t prevail against FM David George Samir (Egypt, 2130) and the game finished in a draw. Cornette earned a decisive advantage in the late middlegame, but let it fade away with 20…Na3? and his opponent successfully held the position onwards.

15-year-old CM Neeraj Harish (USA, 2090) drew against GM Marcin Krzyzanowski (Poland, 2524). The American youngster had a completely winning position in the endgame. Having a clear pawn-up close to promotion, Neeraj Harish had his chance to score a victory, but missed the technique and Krzyzanowski saved the game.

The major upset of the first round happened in the game between IM Jan Karsten (South Africa, 2323) and WFM Alexandra Botez (Canada, 1986). One of the most popular chess streamers in the world, Alexandra Botez won a thrilling endgame with piece down thanks to nice tactical motives around White’s King.

All the games can be replayed here.

Reykjavik Chess Open 2024 – Round 1 results:

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	99		Marius Gramb	2142	0	0 – 1	0	GM	Bogdan-Daniel Deac	2690	1
2	2	GM	Vasyl Ivanchuk	2625	0	1 – 0	0		Keith Mackinnon	2142	100
3	101		Maksymilian Markuszewski	2141	0	0 – 1	0	GM	Xiangyu Xu	2623	3
4	4	GM	Jules Moussard	2621	0	1 – 0	0		Bjorn Holm Birkisson	2140	102
5	8	GM	Platon Galperin	2555	0	1 – 0	0	WFM	Anna Cramling Bellon	2115	106
6	103	FM	David George Samir	2130	0	½ – ½	0	GM	Matthieu Cornette	2575	5
7	6	GM	Paulius Pultinevicius	2575	0	1 – 0	0		Sacha Strathmann	2129	104
8	105	WIM	Sheila Barth Stanford	2123	0	0 – 1	0	GM	Vahap Sanal	2558	7
9	107		Harry Li	2107	0	0 – 1	0	GM	Emre Can	2551	9
10	10	GM	Sebastien Maze	2551	0	1 – 0	0		Andreas Basilius Gikas	2104	108
11	109		Dirk Rittmann	2103	0	0 – 1	0	GM	B. Adhiban	2541	11
12	12	GM	Daniel Howard Fernandez	2532	0	1 – 0	0		Kjartan Maack	2102	111
13	112		Philip Reimer	2095	0	0 – 1	0	IM	Jan Klimkowski	2532	13
14	14	GM	Mert Yilmazyerli	2526	0	1 – 0	0		Oscar Pollack	2092	113
15	114	CM	Neeraj Harish	2090	0	½ – ½	0	GM	Marcin Krzyzanowski	2524	15
16	16	GM	Cem Kaan Gokerkan	2523	0	1 – 0	0		Yngve Fossheim	2090	115
17	116	WCM	Bodhana Sivanandan	2088	0	0 – 1	0	GM	Vuppala Prraneeth	2506	17
18	18	GM	Alisher Suleymenov	2506	0	1 – 0	0		Stephan Schliebener	2088	117
19	118		Andriy Manucharyan	2080	0	+ – –	0	IM	Bojan Maksimovic	2497	19
20	20	GM	Praveen Balakrishnan	2490	0	1 – 0	0		Joachim Beisteiner	2079	119
21	120		Matthew J Payne	2077	0	½ – ½	0	GM	Hannes Stefansson	2481	21
22	22	GM	Hedinn Steingrimsson	2477	0	1 – 0	0	FM	Tim Jaksland	2076	121
23	122		Ansgar Barthel	2073	0	0 – 1	0	GM	Jiner Zhu	2467	23
24	24	GM	Gudmundur Kjartansson	2465	0	1 – 0	0		Marcel Schroer	2073	123
25	124		Julius Fridjonsson	2070	0	0 – 1	0	GM	Vignir Vatnar Stefansson	2464	25
26	26	GM	Johann Hjartarson	2460	0	½ – ½	0	WGM	Lenka Ptacnikova	2067	125
27	126		Bragi Halldorsson	2056	0	0 – 1	0	IM	Jakub Seemann	2451	27
28	28	IM	Vladyslav Larkin	2450	0	1 – 0	0		Anton Bonsvig Wehding	2056	127
29	128		Martin Bottema	2053	0	0 – 1	0	IM	Matthew J Wadsworth	2450	29
30	30	IM	Gunay Mammadzada	2449	0	1 – 0	0		Ingvar Wu Skarphedinsson	2049	129
31	130	FM	Johanna Paasikangas	2046	0	0 – 1	0	IM	Nico Chasin	2447	31
32	32	GM	Vladislav Nevednichy	2445	0	1 – 0	0		Hendrik Brackmann	2037	131
33	132		Arnar Milutin Heidarsson	2037	0	0 – 1	0	IM	Teodora Injac	2434	33
34	34	IM	Irina Bulmaga	2429	0	½ – ½	0		Anton Weigand	2036	133
35	134		Timofei Krassel	2035	0	0 – 1	0	IM	Benjamin Haldorsen	2426	35
36	36	IM	Nurgyul Salimova	2426	0	1 – 0	0		Miran Alic	2033	135
37	136		Lucas Gortemaker	2032	0	½ – ½	0	IM	Thibault Fantinel	2421	37
38	62	IM	Jan Karsten	2323	0	0 – 1	0	WFM	Alexandra Botez	1986	162
39	349		Steven Wollkind	1607	0	0 – 1	0		Andrea Botez	1825	248
40	143		Zachary Saine *)	2010	0	0 – 1	0	WGM	Miaoyi Lu	2392	43
41	38	IM	Alexander Katz	2418	0	1 – 0	0		David Kolka	2030	137
42	325		Henry Pollitt	1674	0	½ – ½	0	WCM	Alexandra Prado	1877	224
43	189		Luke Anthony Honey	1939	0	½ – ½	0	WGM	Dina Belenkaya	2164	90
44	225		Stefan Arnalds	1876	0	1 – 0	0	WCM	Tallulah Roberts	1671	326
45	78	FM	Anna-Maja Kazarian *)	2206	0	1 – 0	0	WFM	Hallgerdur Thorsteinsdottir	1953	178
46	138		Elmer Van Veenendaal	2027	0	0 – 1	0	IM	Leya Garifullina	2413	39
47	40		Yueheng Jin	2404	0	1 – 0	0		Gaston Franco	2021	139
48	141		Peter Erlbeck	2014	0	0 – 1	0	GM	Bragi Thorfinnsson	2397	41
49	42	IM	Sachdev Tania	2393	0	1 – 0	0		Georges Bertola	2010	142
50	44	GM	Throstur Thorhallsson	2388	0	1 – 0	0		Gunnar Erik Gudmundsson	2009	144
51	145	WFM	Rohilla Shivika	2003	0	+ – –	0	IM	Seyed Kian Poormosavi	2384	45
52	46	IM	Mohapatra Sidhant	2379	0	1 – 0	0		Nitesh Cherukuri	2000	146
53	147		Szymon Pozimski	1999	0	0 – 1	0	IM	Maximillian Lu	2375	47
54	48	FM	Mikkel Manosri Jacobsen	2367	0	1 – 0	0		Wouter Bik	1998	148
55	149		Herbert Dietzsch	1998	0	0 – 1	0	FM	Benedikt Dauner	2366	49
56	50	FM	Miguel Ruiz Buendia	2366	0	½ – ½	0		Anton 2006 Frank	1996	150
57	151		Julia Ostensson	1996	0	0 – 1	0	IM	Hilmir Freyr Heimisson	2355	51
58	52	FM	Aleksandr Domalchuk-Jonasson	2355	0	1 – 0	0		Ingrid Skaslien	1996	152
59	153	WCM	Vikram Anishka	1995	0	0 – 1	0	FM	Sohum Lohia	2354	53
60	54	IM	Amit Doshi Moksh	2353	0	1 – 0	0	CM	Paul Ganta Joel	1993	154
61	155		Lars Christoff Andersen	1993	0	0 – 1	0	IM	Bjorn Thorfinnsson	2353	55
62	56	FM	Nico Stelmaszyk	2347	0	1 – 0	0	WCM	Jain Sachi	1992	156
63	157		Benedikt Thorisson	1992	0	0 – 1	0	IM	Dagur Ragnarsson	2337	57
64	58	FM	Eivind Olav Risting	2336	0	1 – 0	0		Haraldur Haraldsson	1991	158
65	159		Rani Baldursson	1989	0	1 – 0	0	IM	John C Pigott	2326	59
66	60	FM	Patryk Cieslak	2325	0	1 – 0	0		Stephan Heer	1987	160
67	161		Gerald Larson	1987	0	0 – 1	0	FM	Nicolai Kistrup	2324	61
68	163		Dmitriy Grigoriev	1986	0	0 – 1	0	FM	Aaron Reeve Mendes	2309	63
69	64	FM	Sigurbjorn Bjornsson	2305	0	1 – 0	0		Rani Nolsoe	1986	164
70	165		Gudni Petursson	1983	0	½ – ½	0	IM	Elliot Papadiamandis	2302	65
71	66	IM	Pieter Hopman	2297	0	1 – 0	0		Algi Acarbay	1981	166
72	167		Lars Heppert	1981	0	0 – 1	0	WGM	Yuanyuan Xu	2288	67
73	68	FM	Adrian Soderstrom	2288	0	1 – 0	0		Adrian Mensing	1980	168
74	169		Adam Omarsson	1976	0	½ – ½	0	IM	Anto Cristiano Manish F	2286	69
75	70	FM	Ferdinand Unzicker Dr.	2284	0	1 – 0	0		Arun Manukonda	1974	170
76	171	CM	Jem Gurner	1968	0	1 – 0	0	IM	Maxim Barth Stanford	2275	71
77	72	FM	Daniel L Bisby	2273	0	½ – ½	0		Ifan Rathbone-Jones	1966	172
78	173		John Macarthur	1962	0	0 – 1	0	FM	Anees Mohamed M	2271	73
79	74	WGM	Atousa Pourkashiyan	2270	0	1 – 0	0		Maxime Muller	1961	174
80	175		Junchen He	1956	0	0 – 1	0	FM	Gudmundur Gislason	2266	75
81	76	IM	Peter G Large	2262	0	1 – 0	0		Paul Niebler	1955	176
82	177		David Zhou	1954	0	1 – 0	0		Oyvind Riisem	2234	77
83	179		Uwe Arndt	1951	0	1 – 0	0	IM	Nigel E Povah	2202	79
84	80	CM	Andre Kunz	2197	0	1 – 0	0		Zach Cansdale	1951	180
85	181		Johann Ragnarsson	1948	0	0 – 1	0	CM	Bardur Orn Birkisson	2189	81
86	82	FM	Jeevan Karamsetty	2187	0	1 – 0	0	CM	John Stark	1947	182
87	183		Chris Doran	1947	0	0 – 1	0		Alistair Hill	2187	83
88	85		Matthieu Loncke	2175	0	1 – 0	0		Florian Pascal Schmidt	1947	184
89	185		Konrad Hennig	1946	0	1 – 0	0		Thomas Stenzel	2175	86
90	87		Jimmy Mardell	2172	0	1 – 0	0		Lars Tormod Haugen	1945	186
91	187		Jens Ingemann Madsen	1945	0	0 – 1	0	IM	Stephen R Mannion	2166	88
92	89		Yves Morin	2166	0	1 – 0	0		Blaise Javet	1942	188
93	91		Magnus P. Ornolfsson	2163	0	1 – 0	0		Willem Slikker	1936	190
94	191		Kristinn Bjarnason	1934	0	0 – 1	0		Birkir Isak Johannsson	2161	92
95	93		Alexander Oliver Mai	2160	0	1 – 0	0		Wolf Becke Dr.	1928	192
96	193		Andy Hill	1926	0	½ – ½	0		Jorgen Eriksson	2154	94
97	95	WIM	Rucha Pujari	2147	0	1 – 0	0		Stefan Speck	1921	194
98	195		Hanna Bugaj	1920	0	0 – 1	0	IM	Thanh Nha Duong	2144	96
99	97		Stefan Bergsson	2144	0	1 – 0	0		Nicolas Kaser	1919	196
100	198		Kamabathula Sushanth	1918	0	½ – ½	0		Magnus Mueller	2144	98
101	301		Samuel Beatty	1731	0	0 – 1	0	AIM	Ethan Sanitt	1914	199
102	200		Benjamin Larkin	1914	0	1 – 0	0		Sigurdur Freyr Jonatansson	1731	302
103	303		Christopher Bernard	1728	0	0 – 1	0		Mikael Bjarki Heidarsson	1913	201
104	202		Yvan Naudin	1912	0	½ – ½	0		Petur Gardar Magnussen	1727	304
105	305		Matthew Perchard	1724	0	0 – 1	0	FM	Lester Van Meter	1906	203
106	204	AFM	Nguyen Gia Bao Thieu	1906	0	½ – ½	0		Jan Salzmann	1722	306
107	307		Justin Andrieu	1720	0	0 – 1	0		Pratyush Tripathi	1905	205
108	206		Huseyin Yigit Yazgi	1905	0	0 – 1	0		Jule Wolterink	1720	308
109	309		Elis Adlerborn	1719	0	0 – 1	0		Jack Erskine-Pereira	1903	207
110	208		Bjarni Saemundsson	1903	0	½ – ½	0		Rogvi Heinason Olsen	1710	310
111	311		Birkir Hallmundarson	1708	0	0 – 1	0		Kristjan Orn Eliasson	1902	209
112	210		Marijn Jansen	1899	0	1 – 0	0		Jurgen Snaider Molina Cruz	1708	312
113	313		Geir Rognvaldsson	1699	0	0 – 1	0		Aaron Spencer	1899	211
114	212		Kai Pisan	1897	0	1 – 0	0		Nicolas Gonzague Henri Liagre	1698	314
115	315		Pierre Pointier	1698	0	0 – 1	0		Tummas M. Solsker	1897	213
116	214		Aryan Banerjee	1896	0	1 – 0	0		Rahul Arun	1693	316
117	317		Ottar Orn Bergmann Sigfusson	1693	0	0 – 1	0		Arran Airlie	1894	215
118	216		Matthias Bjorgvin Kjartansson	1893	0	½ – ½	0		Eirikur Gardar Einarsson	1690	318
119	319		Embla Ekeland Gronn	1684	0	0 – 1	0		Niels Brand	1891	217
120	218		Kristjan Halldorsson	1887	0	1 – 0	0		Rokur Davidsen	1682	320
121	321		Jonas Solsker	1681	0	0 – 1	0		Martin Scotti	1885	219
122	220		Martin Skjoldebrand	1884	0	0 – 1	0		Paul Winnubst	1681	322
123	323	AFM	Sridhar Seshadri	1680	0	1 – 0	0		Benjamin Spagnoli	1883	221
124	222		Michael Carey	1880	0	1 – 0	0		Paul Hildebrandt	1679	324
125	327		Michal Gulbinski	1671	0	½ – ½	0		Burak Ozbas	1876	226
126	227		Snorri Vikanes Bjarnason	1875	0	1 – 0	0		Karim Aoun	1670	328
127	329		John Blewett	1668	0	0 – 1	0		Johann Jonsson	1875	228
128	229		Michael Wolff	1874	0	1 – 0	0		Jon Oddur Jonsson	1668	330
129	331		Sara Gilsdottir	1667	0	0 – 1	0		Haralambos Fanos	1872	230
130	231		Paul Tinkler	1872	0	+ – –	0		Ian Avery Singh	1660	332
131	333		Andrew Leliveld	1657	0	0 – 1	0		Wouter Manenschijn	1864	232
132	233		Hrund Hauksdottir	1859	0	1 – 0	0		Andrew Blair Perry	1654	334
133	335		Panagiotis Eustratiadis	1653	0	0 – 1	0		Alexander Smith	1857	234
134	235		James Abbott	1852	0	1 – 0	0		Ali Imam-Sadeque	1652	336
135	337		Andy Proudfoot	1650	0	0 – 1	0		Idunn Helgadottir	1849	236
136	237		Olafur Gisli Jonsson	1849	0	1 – 0	0		Orvar Holm Brynjarsson	1645	338
137	339		Anton Vignir Gudjonsson	1643	0	0 – 1	0		Hilmi Mustafa Demir	1842	238
138	239		Sigurdur Ingason	1840	0	1 – 0	0		Lovis Neo Karlinder	1642	340
139	341		Patrick T Schilling	1633	0	0 – 1	0		Frederic Reynaud	1840	240
140	241		Alex Keenan	1839	0	½ – ½	0		Julien Megarbane	1632	342
141	343		Vitor Fernandez Y Castro	1630	0	1 – 0	0		Bjorgvin Jonas Hauksson	1836	242
142	243		Garth I Owen	1834	0	½ – ½	0		Thor Saemundsson	1626	344
143	345		Gudmundur Peng Sveinsson	1620	0	½ – ½	0		Maximilian Glasschroeder	1833	244
144	245		Vjekoslav Novak	1833	0	½ – ½	0		Kamabathula Hasini	1612	346
145	347		Gregor Beyerle	1610	0	0 – 1	0		Rattan Dhruv	1831	246
146	247		Jay Carr	1826	0	0 – 1	0		Philip Clare	1607	348
147	249		James I Chilton	1823	0	1 – 0	0		Manuel De Castro	1603	350
148	351		Jermaine Jacoby	1585	0	– – +	0		Devin Nicholson	1822	250
149	251		Asmund Gilsson	1821	0	0 – 1	0		M Parulekar Atharva	1580	352
150	353		Theodor Eiriksson	1579	0	0 – 1	0		Kristjan Geirsson	1819	252
151	254		Markus Orri Oskarsson	1816	0	1 – 0	0		Marie Vatneodegard	1575	354
152	356		Olafur Orn Olafsson	1542	0	1 – 0	0		Finn Stuhr	1814	255
153	256		Veronika Steinunn Magnusdottir	1812	0	1 – 0	0		Tristan Fannar Jonsson	1540	357
154	358		Eirikur Orri Gudmundsson	1536	0	0 – 1	0		Magnus Kristinsson	1810	257
155	258		Timo Vollmar	1809	0	1 – 0	0		Haukur Vidis Leosson	1535	359
156	360		Katrin Maria Jonsdottir	1525	0	0 – 1	0		Nitish Arun	1808	259
157	260		Elias Petersen	1808	0	1 – 0	0		Hrannar Mar Masson	1520	361
158	362		Emilia Embla B. Berglindardottir	1519	0	0 – 1	0		Rowan Soraya Field	1806	263
159	265		Malcolm H Cooper	1804	0	0 – 1	0		Geofrey Tourbez	1517	363
160	364		Eyrun Eva Gunnarsdottir	1491	0	0 – 1	0		Gilbert Mercure	1804	266
161	267		Josef Omarsson	1803	0	1 – 0	0		Petur Ulfar Ernisson	1450	365
162	366		Adalsteinn Egill Asgeirsson	1434	0	0 – 1	0		Remco Jelsma	1802	268
163	269		Emerson P Wong-Godfrey	1799	0	1 – 0	0		Pierre Bokobza	1431	367
164	368		Derek Adair	0	0	1 – 0	0		Benjamin Zarriess	1798	270
165	271		Andres Fjeldsted	1795	0	1 – 0	0		Bergmann Oli Adalsteinsson	0	369
166	372		Anton Bjorn Baldursson *)	0	0	0 – 1	0		Sigurbjorn Hermannsson	1791	274
167	370		Christopher Anderson	0	0	0 – 1	0		Sissel Kaergaard	1795	272
168	273		Jesper Held	1793	0	1 – 0	0		Erlingur Arnarson	0	371
169	275		Helgi Hauksson	1790	0	1 – 0	0		Christopher Biggs	0	373
170	375		Theodore Conrad-Frenkiel	0	0	0 – 1	0		Sigurdur Pall Gudnyjarson	1789	276
171	277		Wouter Visser	1789	0	1 – 0	0		Sebastian 1993 Danielsson	0	376
172	377		Wouter Doorn	0	0	0 – 1	0		Dustin Tennessee Opasiak	1785	278
173	279		Eric De Winter	1782	0	1 – 0	0		Robin Peter Erlendsson Weinert	0	378
174	379		Gaston Filippo	0	0	0 – 1	0		Alexander Potter	1782	280
175	281		Oliver Wedenberg	1780	0	1 – 0	0		Alistair Gilbert	0	381
176	382		Petur Johannesson	0	0	0 – 1	0		Leon Koletzko	1777	282
177	284		Zhening Hu	1776	0	1 – 0	0		Aputsiaq Mikael Kristiansen	0	384
178	385		Robert Nirina Labruyere	0	0	0 – 1	0		Roberto Eduardo Osorio Ferrer	1776	285
179	286		Athanasios Mistilioglou	1772	0	1 – 0	0		Maria E Leboeuf	0	386
180	387		Gisli Magnusson	0	0	1 – 0	0		Henry Brade	1771	287
181	288		Marloes Rogge	1762	0	0 – 1	0		Aqqanaatsiaq Karl Motzfeldt Thorsen	0	388
182	389		Glenn Mylemans	0	0	0 – 1	0		Chong Hien Andrew Tan	1762	289
183	290	AFM	Kevin Winter	1758	0	½ – ½	0		Aniketh Reddy Patlolla	0	390
184	391		Michael Pearcey	0	0	0 – 1	0		Markus Orri Johannsson	1758	291
185	292		Dawid Jaroszewicz	1757	0	1 – 0	0		Peter Perry Jr.	0	392
186	393		Eric Pinkau	0	0	½ – ½	0		Robert Lance Banta	1755	293
187	294		Peter Mork	1755	0	+ – –	0		Christian Rich	0	394
188	395		Jackson Hallahan Sidford	0	0	½ – ½	0		Henrik W. Joensen	1751	295
189	296		Lila Quinn Field	1747	0	1 – 0	0		Justin Smith	0	396
190	397		Artur Stepniewski	0	0	½ – ½	0		Fynn Von Kistowski	1746	297
191	298		Engilbert Vidar Eythorsson	1743	0	1 – 0	0		Dagur Sverrisson	0	398
192	399		Gudmundur Ingi Valgeirsson	0	0	– – +	0		Fedir Dyshliuk	1740	299
193	300		Jon Ulfur Hafthorsson	1738	0	1 – 0	0		Bastiaan Vedder	0	400
194	401		Jun Seop Yoon	0	0	1			bye