Bridge - The Scotsman

ICELAND’s prime minister, Johanna Siguroardottir, in her opening speech at the 28th Reykjavik Open, stressed the importance of chess for the country, where it is a national sport. One of the competitors, Fridrik Olafsson, not only became his country’s first sporting chess-hero but was also involved in politics at the highest level.

Olafsson became a legend in Iceland by becoming the country’s first – and now oldest – grandmaster in 1958 and was considered to be on an equal footing with his Danish rival, Bent Larsen. He scored impressive results in the 1959 Candidates tournament, and in many tournaments throughout the 1960s and 70s, and beat some of the greatest players ever, such as Fischer, Petrosian, Tal and Karpov.

But Olafsson had a greater interest in politics. In 1978, he succeeded Max Euwe as president of FIDE, serving a single term, being replaced by the colourful and controversial Florencio Campomanes in 1982. At home, he was then appointed secretary to the Icelandic Parliament, having worked previously as a lawyer at the Icelandic Ministry of Justice.

Now retired from public life, Olafsson, 78, played in the first edition of the Reykjavik Open in 1964 and is a previous three-time winner of the tournament – and he’s back in action again this year, playing for the first time since 1984. But he’s off the pace going into the final rounds, with Pavel Eljanov, Grzegorz Gajewski and Wesley So sharing the lead on 6/7.

K Maack – F Olafsson

28th Reykjavik Open, (6)

Reti’s Opening

1 c4 e6 2 g3 d5 3 Bg2 Nf6 4 Nf3 dxc4 5 0–0 a6 6 a4 c5 7 Qc2 Nc6 8 Qxc4 Be7 9 b3 b5 10 Qc2 Nb4 11 Qd1 Bb7 12 Nc3 Qb6 13 axb5 axb5 14 Rxa8+ Bxa8 15 d3 0–0 16 Bb2 Rd8 17 Qb1 Nc6 18 e3 Nb4 19 Rd1 Bc6 20 Ne2 Qb7 21 Ne1 Bxg2 22 Nxg2 Qf3 23 Nc3 Ng4 24 Ne4 c4! 25 bxc4 bxc4 26 Ne1 Qf5 27 h3 cxd3 28 hxg4 Qxe4 29 Ba3 h5 30 gxh5 Rd5 31 Bxb4 Bxb4 32 Ng2 e5 33 h6 gxh6 34 Kh2 Qc4 35 Rc1 Qg4 36 Qa2 d2 37 Qa8+ Kg7 38 Qxd5 dxc1Q 39 Qxe5+ Kh7 0–1