Mishra, Niemann, Sarkar, and Yoo Make Top 15 at Reykjavik Open

With the Reykjavik Open ending in Iceland this week, top honors went to India's 16-year-old phenom GM Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa who won in clear first with 7 ½/9 points.

The American contingent, however, made their own impression by capturing four of top fifteen prizes, a 2201-2400 Rating Category prize, and the two top prizes in the Junior (Under 16) Category among a field of 245 players from 39 countries.

GM Abhimanyu Mishra, the world's youngest grandmaster and co-champion of the 2022 Spring Classic, tied for 2nd with 7/9, won top Junior, and hit a new peak rating of 2535.2.

GM Hans Niemann tied for 6th with 6½/9, though was displeased with his overall performance despite having gone 3/3 in the early rounds.

He may have been unnecessarily hard on himself, having earned a point in the second round against two-time Asian women's champion, Indonesian IM Irene Sukandar in one of the most interesting games of the event.

[pgn][Event "Kvika Reykjavik Open 2022"] [Site "Reykjavik ISL"] [Date "2022.04.07"] [Round "2.3"] [White "Sukandar, Irine Kharisma"] [Black "Niemann, Hans Moke"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteTitle "IM"] [BlackTitle "GM"] [WhiteElo "2386"] [BlackElo "2637"] [ECO "B23"] [Opening "Sicilian"] [Variation "closed, 2...Nc6"] [WhiteFideId "7101937"] [BlackFideId "2093596"] [EventDate "2022.04.06"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 5. d3 Bg7 6. Be3 Rb8 7. Nge2 d5 8. exd5 cxd5 9. Bxc5 d4 10. Ne4 f5 11. N4g3 Qd5 12. b4 Qxg2 13. Qd2 Qd5 14. Bxa7 Ra8 15. Bc5 e5 16. c4 Qc6 17. f4 Bh6 18. Rf1 Nf6 19. Qb2 Rb8 20. Ba7 Rb7 21. fxe5 Ng4 22. Bxd4 Nxh2 23. b5 Qg2 24. Rf2 Qh3 25. c5 Ng4 26. c6 Re7 27. b6 O-O 28. Qb3+ Be6 29. Qb4 Ree8 30. b7 Qh4 31. c7 Nxf2 32. Kxf2 f4 33. Rg1 fxg3+ 34. Ke1 g2+ 35. Kd1 Qg4 36. b8=Q Rf1+ 37. Qe1 Qxe2+ 0-1 [/pgn]

2020 Southwest Open champion IM Justin Sarkar tied for 6th with 6½/9 and took second prize in the 2201-2400 Rating Category, while second-youngest American IM Christopher Yoo also tied for 6th with 6½/9, and won second-place Junior.

Reyjavik Open Junior Winners Yoo Mishra — IM Yoo (L) and GM Mishra (R) accept their top Junior awards in Reykjavik. Photo: Reykjavik Open

And although he was representing Denmark, April Chess Underground guest and New York-based IM Kassa Korely scored 6½/9, landing in the top 15 and taking top prize in the 2201-2400 Rating Category. If his Instagram is any indication, he seemed to enjoy himself…