Jóhann Hjartarson

Jóhann Hjartarson ( born February 8, 1963 in Reykjavík ) is an Icelandic chess player.

He first studied law before he decided to become a professional chess player.

He was 1980 and 1984 Icelandic champion. The World Chess Federation FIDE appointed him in 1984 to the international champions and 1985 Grand Master. In 1987, he won together with Salow the Interzonal of Szirák and thus became the world championship candidates. There he defeated in the second round Korchnoi just as decided by rapid games with 4.5 to 3.5. In the quarterfinals, but he was beaten Karpov with 1.5 to 3.5.

He also achieved another important success in a number of international tournaments. In 1984 he won in Reykjavík. In 1985 he won in Gjøvik. In 1986, he finished second in Reykjavík. In 1988 he won in Munich and was in Tilburg third parties. In 1992, he won the tournament again from Reykjavík.

Between 1980 and 2006 he represented his country a total of 10 times in Chess Olympiads.

In the FIDE World Cup tournament of Groningen in 1997 after knockout system he defeated in the first round of GM Šarūnas Sulskis, but lost in the second round of GM Alexei Alexandrov. In the same year he won the Nordic Championship. Hjartarson is also the author of several books on tournaments.

Hjartarson also played for various clubs in the chess Bundesliga such as in the season 2003/2004 for the Bremen SG of 1877.

A curious record is his game against IM Jon Vidarsson 1994, in accordance with the first trains " e2- e4 e7 - e5 " these farmers still on the same fields stood as the game in 180 train ended with a draw.

His best Elo rating of 2640, he reached in July 2003. He has for years been the best Icelandic chess player, but rarely active and is primarily dedicated to his profession as a lawyer.

Hjartarson heard alongside Ivan Sokolov for the team in 2010 as ECU President candidates Robert K. von Weizsäcker.