Express News Service
CHENNAI: A couple of weeks ago, July 11 to be exact, was the 50th anniversary of the opening game between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky. Even if Iceland, compared to some of the bigger powers, was a backwater in the world of chess at the time, Spassky wanted it to be held in the country. Dubbed the ‘Match of the Century’, it had enormous hype and build-up. The country, with a population of a shade over 320,000, continues to feel the after-effects of the battle, 50 years on. It’s best reflected in a quirky little statistic. Per capita, Iceland has one of the highest numbers of chess participation across the globe.
Captain of the Iceland women’s team for upcoming Olympiad in Chennai, Ingvar Thor Johannesson, takes over. “Iceland’s rich chess history is in many ways tied to the legendary match,” he tells this daily. “Following that match, we got a very nice generation of Grandmasters who did well and managed to get nice finishes at Chess Olympiads.” It’s not often you find a chess match as part of pop culture but that’s the case in Iceland. “The match always pops up every now and then in conversations and as a reference. With this year being the 50-year anniversary of the match it has been talked about more this year than normal,” he says.
Hjorvar Steinn Gretarsson, who will be on the main board in the Open category, echoed similar sentiments when he had appeared in an interview for chessbase earlier this year. “It (the World Championship match) definitely played a part,” he had said. “It would be ignorant to say it didn’t have any effect.”
Johannesson, who learned everything about the match when he started playing chess in the early 1990s, also namechecks the Bobby Fischer Centre, a small museum to honour the world champion, that’s located in Selfoss, a hour’s drive from the capital Reykjavik. “There is a place called the Bobby Fischer center in the town of Selfoss, a short drive from Reykjavik,” he explains. “There are plenty of memorabilia, pictures, slideshows, and other things that have to do with the match.”
Both Gretarsson and Johannesson, though, mention the role played by Fridrik Olafsson in showing the country that it was possible to punch above their weight. Olafsson, born in January 1935 before becoming the island nation’s first GM in 1958, repeatedly bloodied the noses of the best in the business. His wins over Fischer, Yuri Averbakh and Mikhail Tal among other prominent chess figures meant he had become a national hero. No wonder why Johannesson calls Olafsson a ‘pioneer’.
“None of that would have been possible however without the pioneer, the legend GM Fridrik Olafsson. He paved the way and showed a small country what was possible. After leading Iceland to creditable finishes in multiple Olympiads apart from taking part in the Candidates tournament in 1959, Olafsson ran the World Chess Federation (FIDE) for four years from 1978. After leaving FIDE, he became a public servant, when he was named secretary-general of the country’s parliament.
You can see why Gretarsson likened him to Fischer in his interview to chessbase. “We had a great role model in Olafsson,” he had said. “He was sort of like Fischer. Young, intelligent, really handsome (laughs). Younger boys probably aspired to become like him.”
Johannesson picks up the story. “The top GM’s were celebrities and the vast majority of the population at least knew how the pieces moved, i.e. knew how to play. Today, chess is taught in some schools but in terms of academies there aren’t that many but still a few options.”
In Chennai, Gretarsson and Johannesson will look to contribute to another successful chapter for the island nation.
Iceland in Chennai
Open team
Captain Margeir Petursson
Hjorvar Steinn Gretarsson
Hannes Stefansson
Vignir Vatnar Stefansson
Helgi Ass Gretarsson
Gudmundur Kjartansson
Women
Captain Ingvar Thor Johannesson
Lenka Ptacnikova
Johanna Bjorg Johannsdottir
Hallgerdur Thorsteinsdottir
Tinna Kristin Finnbogadottir
Mendez Lisseth Acevedo
1958 Iceland’s Fridrik Olafsson became Iceland’s first GM in 1958
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