Reykjavik Open 2026: Tabatabaei Golden Run Continues With Reykjavik Open Demolition

GM Amin Tabatabaei has continued his golden run in classical chess by pulling off one of the greatest results of his career, an outright victory in the 422-player strong 2026 Reykjavik Open with a performance rating of 2849.

Although Tabatabaei entered as the hot favorite, he exceeded expectations, skittling his first seven opponents before closing out the event with two draws to claim the €5,000 first prize. American GM Zhou Jianchao finished in outright second while the legendary GM Vasyl Ivanchuk clinched third place ahead of six players on tiebreaks.

Final Standings | Top 20

(See Full Standings here.)

Despite being a remote island in the North Atlantic Ocean inclement weather at the best of times, Iceland has been a bucket-list destination for chess fans and a hub for chess strength and history for much of the last century.

In 1972, the country’s capital provided the stage for the most famous chess event at the time of writing, the FIDE World Championship match between GMs Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky.

Since 1964, Reykjavik has also played host to one of the strongest tournaments on the chess calendar, the Reykjavik Open, which has drawn in players from all corners of the globe.

In this year’s edition, 422 players from 51 countries, including 124 titled players, assembled at the stunning Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre with ambitions to etch their name in stone alongside former winners like GMs Mikhail Tal and Vasily Smyslov.

Iran’s Tabatabaei was the top seed of the 2026 event, however, an illustrious group of 2600s, including Romanian GM Bodgan-Daniel Deac, Norwegian GM Aryan Tari, Ukraine’s Ivanchuk, and French GMs Maxime Lagarde and Marc’Andria Maurrizi stood in his way.

Aside from the heavy-hitters, several popular chess personalities such as GM Simon Williams and WCM Hannah Sayce brought color to an already electric event. Williams played 1.a4 (the Ware Opening) against Belgium’s FM Arno Sterck in the final round and won, while Sayce streamed her games on Twitch, allowing viewers to get a sense of the venue’s atmosphere.

As early as round three, the tournament’s top 30 seeds folded and had to play one another, and myriad draws on the top boards left only nine players on 3/3. Tabatabaei was one of the players who started perfectly, though he may have had to settle for a draw if not for a time-pressure- induced blunder by Greek IM Stavroula Tsolakidou on the 64th move.

Playing with Black against IM Timothe Razafindratsima in the following round, Tabatabaei procured a positional advantage and duly converted, taking on the sole lead after the eight other players on perfect scores failed to pick up full points.

With a half-point lead in tow, Tabatabaei accelerated and defeated Ivanchuk, Lagarde, and Maurrizi in consecutive rounds, the former of which was arguably his most flawless game of the event.

Amin Tabatabaei can’t stop winning in the Reykjavik Open! https://t.co/2fxagn4lcP pic.twitter.com/bEM8jlzWy2

— chess24 (@chess24com) March 28, 2026

Against Ivanchuk’s French Defense, the 25-year-old capitalized on a premature pawn push and confirmed victory on the 30th move with a 96.7 CAPS score.

Eventually, Tabatabaei’s winning run came to an end when he was held to a draw by English GM Matthew Wadsworth. Even then, it took an almost perfect effort over 54 moves from Wadsworth to secure the half point.

Matthew Wadsworth holds Amin Tabatabaei to a draw, ending his winning streak, but Tabatabaei looks almost certain to be the winner of the Reykjavik Open now with 7.5 out of 8. #chess #reykjavikopen pic.twitter.com/MgdSg5carR

— ReykjavikOpenChess (@ReykjavikOpen) March 30, 2026

Rather than settle for a draw in the ninth round, the world number 28 tested his opponent for 51 moves before confirming his winning, 8/9 score.

Incredibly, the worst position Tabatabaei had in nine rounds was a mere 0.75 worse according to Stockfish 18 against Maurrizi, making this one of the most dominant open tournament victories in recent memory.

Amin Tabatabaei convincingly wins the Reykjavik Open with 8 out of 9. Amin started 7 out of 7 and it was quickly clear that the rest of the field was playing for second place! Congratulations to this strong and exciting player! #Chess #ReykjavikOpen pic.twitter.com/LfCJZuGEcq

— ReykjavikOpenChess (@ReykjavikOpen) March 31, 2026

With this victory, Tabatabaei has gained a whopping 59 points since July 2025 and has risen to a live rating of 2713, five points off his peak.

The second-placed-getter Zhou, whose 158-game unbeaten streak in classical chess was only snapped in February, had a less conspicuous path to the podium.

After drawing in round four and five, he scored 3.5/4 and trounced Wadsworth in the ninth round to secure his spot on the podium. The brutal 25.Bxf5!! sliced open his English opponent’s position and left him straddled with targetable pawn weaknesses.

For the second year running though, all eyes were on an Iranian superstar. In 2025, it was GM Parham Maghsoodloo, and this year it was Tabatabaei. One thing is for sure, should Iran front up for the 2026 Chess Olympiad, they will be a force to be reckoned with.