Danish Player Wins Janus Open I
It came down to a final match in the last round today between the leaders: Ádam Ómarsson from Iceland, who had won the first six matches in the tournament, and the challenger, Casper Liu, who was half a point behind.
Casper managed to defeat the Icelandic whirlwind and secured the sole victory in the competition.
Casper Liu is 19 years old. He finished third in the Danish national championship last year, his first year competing for the national title. We can certainly expect to hear more about him in the future.
The same can be said about the 17-year-old Ádam Ómarsson from Iceland, who was on the verge of winning the tournament. He might be the new great chess player that Iceland has been waiting for.
The Favorite Failed
The Faroese results were somewhat disappointing. Our Olympians, Høgni, Luitjen, and Rógvi, had the highest ratings among all the players, but none of them finished among the top three.
The big favorite, Høgni Egilstoft Nielsen, had a somewhat unsuccessful tournament. He lost to two Icelanders, Páll Gauti Jónsson and Símun Thorhallsson, and thus fell down the rankings.
Rógvi Egilstoft faced a similar fate and finished outside the top 10. As the main organizer, it is understandable that he was not able to fully focus on the competition itself.
The best Faroese result came from the Faroese champion Luitjen Akselsson Apol. He finished in fourth place but played his way out of contention by losing to the young Petur Gardar Magnussen. Luitjen never had the chance to face the top players in the tournament, even though he won the other six matches.
For fun, it can be mentioned that among the father-and-son duo from Sandavágur, the father, Torkil Nielsen, had the best result this time. He managed to defeat both of his sons, Høgni and Rógvi. Torkil won his last match by defeating Páll Gauti Jónsson, who had previously defeated Høgni early in the tournament.
Top 10 in the Janus Open:
Casper Liu (Denmark) 2251 6½ points
Ádam Ómarsson (Iceland) 2026 6 points
Símun Thorhallsson (Iceland) 2223 6 points
Luitjen Akselsson Apol (Faroe Islands) 2305 6 points
Mikkel Vinh Loftgaard (Denmark) 2235 5½ points
Noah Krug Wahlgreen (Denmark) 2148 5½ points
Torkil Nielsen (Faroe Islands) 2041 5½ points
Høgni Egilstoft Nielsen (Faroe Islands) 2390 5 points
Bjørn Holm Birkisson (Iceland) 2153 5 points
Carles Melado (Spain) 1926 5 points
A total of 103 players.
Kudos to the Organizers
It is certainly exciting that such a large chess tournament can be organized in the Faroe Islands in winter, attracting such prestigious foreign players.
At the same time, it is incredibly heartening that Faroese players were eager to travel to Eiði in such large numbers to compete alongside everyone else at Kolshøll. This was, as mentioned, a record-breaking participation in a chess tournament in the Faroe Islands.
Rógvi Egilstoft is the main organizer and deserves great praise for such a large-scale event, with strong support from the Faroese Chess Federation and the local community around the Rókur Chess Club in Sundalagið.
This event was a beautiful and fitting tribute to Janus í Løðuni, who was a driving force in the Rókur Chess Club, a gifted and promising player as a young boy, Faroese children’s champion in a tough competition with Flóvin Tór Næs in 1986 in the under-10 age group. Janus passed away last year, at only 46 years old. The tournament was named in his honor.
We hope that this also marks a growing interest in chess among the Faroese people today.
