The blitz club chess championship is one of the two main chessclub competitions in Iceland, the other one being the Chess Club League Competition which takes place twice a year and standard time controls are used.
The two teams that competed in the blitz final are arguably the two strongest Icelandic chess clubs at the moment. Having said that, they are both relative newcomers to the Icelandic elite club chess scene. Just over 2 years ago, they were both in the 4th division, but have since then skyrocketed up the leagues, winning promotion in every season. This year they will both compete in the first division for the first time and both clubs have great ambitions to do well and establish themselves as true contenders for Championship title in the years to come.
Both clubs have enriched the variety on the Icelandic chess club scene. Godinn has its origins from the north-east of Iceland and they have been successful luring many chess veterans, that had been inactive for years, back to the chess table.
The Viking Chess Club was originally founded in Reykjavik back in 2007 with the main purpose to play a different version of chess called „Vikingchess“. Since all the members had background in classical chess, they also started competing in the classical chess league the same year and the rest is history as the saying goes.
Despite its success in classical chess, the club still continues to put the main emphasis on the more complex „Vikingchess“, both organising tournaments and participating in team competitions.
Death match
Viking Chess Club - Godinn 3.5 - 2.5
(GM) Stefán Kristjánsson- (GM) Þröstur Þórhallsson 0.5-0.5
(IM) Björn Þorfinnson- (GM) Helgi Áss 1-0
Magnús Örn - Þröstur Árnason 1-0
Davíð Kjartansson - Ásgeir Ásbjörnsson 1-0
Gunnar Fr. Rúnarsson - Einar Hjalti Jensen 0-1
Stefán Þór Sigurjónsson - Kristján Eðvarðsson 0-1
Individual results Viking Chess Club
Stefán Kristjánsson 8.5 v af 12
Björn Þorfinnsson 8. v af 12
Magnús Örn Úlfarsson 8. v af 12
Davið Kjartansson 5.5 v. 12
Gunnar Freyr Rúnarsson 3.5 v af 12
Stefán Þór Sigurjónsson 2.5.v af 8
Lárus Knútsson 1 v. af 4
Individual results Godinn:
Þröstur Þórhallsson 7. v af 12
Helgi Áss Grétarsson 8. v af 12
Sigurður Daði Sigfússon 4. v af 11
Ásgeir Ásbjörnsson 5.5 af 12
Einar Hjalti Jensson 5. v. af 10
Kristján Eðvaldsson 4.5 af 12
Þröstur Árnason 1.5 v. af 5
The Viking Chess Club road to the final:
Víking Chess Club beat Godinn in the final hear:
Viking Chess Club beat Hellir in the semi final hear:
Viking Chess Club beat TR in the third round hear:
Viking Chess Club beat Reykjanesbær in the second round hear:
Viking Chess Club beat Vestmannaeyjar in the first round hear:
Introduction to Viking Chess
The game of „VIKING CHESS“ is relatively new and was invented in Iceland only a few years ago. It is played on an unusual board, which is similar to a classical chess board, but instead of squares, it has hexagons. The hexagons are of three different colours (see figure 1.)
The standard VIKING CHESS playing board is of the size of 17 x 21 inches, made up of 85 hexagons. The hexagons are divided into 9 columns, 5 of them having 9 hexagons and the remaining 4 columns 10 hexagons.
The VIKING CHESS pieces are of two different colours just as in classical chess. They include 9 pieces and 9 pawns. The additional piece or the 9th piece, is the VIKING. The remaining 8 pieces are exactly the same as in classical chess.
In classical chess, the game is divided into three parts: Opening, middle game and endgame. In VIKING CHESS on the other hand, the game is divided into 4 parts: Arranging the pieces, opening, middle game and endgame.
In the classical chess game, there are two directions. The Great chess Champion, Grandmaster Friðrik Ólafsson has acquainted himself with the Viking chess and gives the following comments: "The Viking chess is obviously much more complicated than classical chess, because there are three directions on the board and there are more pieces and more hexagons than there are squares. The moving abilities of the pieces in Viking chess are easy to learn, but it takes a little time to make out the directions. I suppose that there has to be build up an entirely new Viking chess theory from the beginning. Still, there are some principles from the classical game which remain. For example to have a strong center, to develop the pieces quickly and not to weaken the position of the King, but the method of doing this is quite different in Viking chess.
In Viking chess there are generally more moves and more time needed. The game is more complex than classical chess and therefore there are more possibilities. The moving of the pieces is also slower than in classical chess.
In spite of the nobility of the classical chess game, efforts have been made from time to time to change the principle of the game such as by adding or reducing the number of pieces or by making it three dimensional in order to find a new principle, but usually without satisfactory result, simply because the principles of the classical chess are principles of SQUARES and they remain the same and are unaffected by the number of squares.
With the introduction of Viking chess there has been found a new principle of chess which is the principle of the HEXAGON, but with the chessboard remaining rectangular.
This new principle has been studied by chess players of all levels and the general consensus is that the best way to describe it would be the „ principle of HEXAGONAL CHESS“.
Figure 1. The Viking chess game is a game played on an unusual chessboard consisting of hexagons instead of squares. The hexagons have 3 different colours.
Figure 2. Each set of pieces consists of the usual set of chess pieces used in classical chess with the addition of one piece, which is called the Viking and is placed between the King and the Queen. and one pawn in front of the Viking. The starting position of the pieces is shown in figure 2 below. Note, that the white Viking is on a white hexagon and the black Viking on a black hexagon.
Figure 3 shows the movement of the Viking, which moves hexagonally on the white hexagons only and only in the direction to the corners of its own hexagon
Rules of Viking Chess hear:
Viking Chess Club home hear:
Play Viking Chess online hear:
For further information about Víking Chess, please contact
Gunnar Fr. Rúnarsson: Vikingaklubburinn@gmail.com
Fig. 4. Many strong players have compeate in the Icelandic Championchip for the Viking Chess Club, like WGM Bianca Muren from Netherlands.
Figures 5-8. The final match of the 2012 Icelandic team blitz chess championship was a thrilling encounter. The Viking Chess club didn´t field its strongest team, but nevertheless it included GM Kristjánsson(2470) and IM Björn Þorfinnsson who both had an excellent match and their contribution was vital in the match and of course the sudden death victory. The opponents in the final, Goðinn, also had a strong team including GM‘s Grétarsson and Þórhallsson. On the picture below, FM Róbert Lagerman is making the first move in the game between WIM Þorfinnsson and GM Þórhallsson. The rest of the pictures show the euphoria of the Viking chess club players after clinching victory in the sudden death.
