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The 28th Reykjavík Open starts today and will run through February 27 in concert and conference center Harpa. A total of 230 contestants are registered, 170 of whom are visiting chess players from 40 different countries.
Photo: Páll Kjartansson/Iceland Review.
A tough competition for the various prizes available, of a total value of EUR 15,000 (ISK 2.6 million, USD 20,000), is expected.
Among participants is Iceland’s first grandmaster Friðrik Ólafsson. At 78 he is the oldest participant while the youngest is Óskar Víkingur Davíðsson, who is seven, visir.is reports.
To warm up for the Reykjavík Open and to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Chinese-Icelandic Cultural Society, a rapid match between China and Iceland was held last weekend, with China winning convincingly 47.5-24.5.
The Reykjavík Open was initially held biannually, but has since 2008 taken place every year. It was closed in its early years, but has been an open event since the 1980s.
As in previous years, the goal of organizers to is invite many of the youngest and most promising chess players in the world, as well as the world’s strongest women players. The number of contestants has never been higher than this year.
For further information, go to reykjavikopen.com.
ESA
A petition urging the government to reconsider a proposed bill, in which the terms of the law requiring fishing companies to pay a tariff for their use of Iceland’s fishing resources are to be changed, has been signed by more than 11,000 people.
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Prime Minister of Iceland Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson is meeting with Prime Minister of Sweden Frederik Reinfeldt today, 
A three-meter long walrus was discovered on the shores by Eyri in the town of Reyðarfjörður in East Iceland yesterday.
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In 1915, women aged 40 and over were granted the right to cast a vote in all official elections held in Iceland.
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The 2013 June-July issue of Iceland Review is out. Themed ‘We Are Young’ the magazine celebrates the arrival of summer by interviewing young energetic Icelanders who excel in art, sports, business and politics—and Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, the youngest PM in the republic’s history and the world’s youngest ruling state leader. Click here to take a look at a selection of the current issue and here to subscribe to the magazine.
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REVIEWS
amiina
The road to Höfn, a 1,690-person harbor town by the fjord Hornafjörður, is lined with reindeer. Whole herds of the wild horned animals rest peacefully on withered pastures, grace next to sheep and horses and bounce along the road. Soon, Vatnajökull, Europe’s largest glacier and the region’s biggest attraction, comes into view. Looming over Höfn, its outlet glaciers flow down from the mountains on which the bright white icecap rests.
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Sin Fang will celebrate the release of his third album with a release concert in Iðnó on June 12. Flowers was released in February by Morr Music and has been well received by music enthusiasts and critics alike. The concert will be supported by Vök, this year’s winners of the Icelandic Music Experiments.
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