Very soon I’ll be travelling to Reykjavik to participate in one of the best open tournaments in the world, the Reykjavik Open (10-18 March). I played there last year and I was fascinated by everything – the perfect organisation, the landscape, the country, the cold (and I hate cold!), the air, the lack of traffic and the general atmosphere (everything is so cool there, pun fully intended).

Last year’s edition was voted the 2nd best open tournament in the world (behind Gibraltar) and I was happy to be part of it. This year’s edition marks the 80th birthday of Fridrik Olafsson, the legendary grandmaster who was a World Champion candidate in 1959 when he played the Candidates Tournament in Bled-Zagreb-Belgrade. Olafsson was later a FIDE president from 1978-1982.

Last year’s edition saw the visit of Garry Kasparov, who awarded me the prize for the best game in the second round. This year will see another high-profile visit, by the World Champion Magnus Carlsen.

You can see the list of participants here and the highest rated player at the moment is Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.

And here’s the famous photo of Garry not smiling and me smiling a lot: