Amin Tabatabaei shows his class at the Reykjavík Open

Iranian grandmaster Amin Tabatabaei won the Reykjavík Open 2026 with an impressive display that he controlled from start to finish. By opening the event with seven consecutive wins, Tabatabaei quickly separated himself from the field and then secured first place without taking unnecessary risks, drawing his final two games. Those controlled draws against England’s Matthew J. Wadsworth and Denmark’s Mads Andersen underlined how well he managed the tournament rhythm. During his seven-round winning streak, his performance rating briefly hovered around 3200, and even his final 2849 TPR remained highly remarkable.

This result means far more than just a tournament victory. Thanks to this performance, Tabatabaei gained 14 Elo points and built enough momentum to move into the live world top 30. In open tournaments, protecting an early lead is often harder than it appears: after a series of wins, opponents prepare more deeply, expectations rise, and even a draw can feel psychologically significant. Yet the Iranian star remained stable throughout, combining strong opening preparation with reliable endgame technique. In that sense, his success in Reykjavík is notable not only on the scoreboard, but also as a clear sign of his ambition to establish himself permanently among the elite.

The only player who stayed within realistic reach of the leader was US grandmaster Zhou Jianchao. However, Zhou had already dropped half-points in rounds 4, 5 and 7 with draws against Marc’Andria Maurizzi, Filip Magold and David Brodsky, which left him chasing from slightly behind for most of the event. As a result, the top two finishers were never paired against each other. Even so, Zhou’s second-place finish was the product of a strong and balanced tournament, but the early gap created by Tabatabaei forced him into the role of pursuer all the way to the finish.

The key turning point of the tournament came, in the eyes of many observers, in round five. Tabatabaei’s victory over living legend Vasyl Ivanchuk proved decisive not only in the standings but also in psychological terms. The Ukrainian star still finished strongly and claimed third place with 7 points, once again demonstrating his enduring class. In a historic event such as the Reykjavík Open, such a clear first-place finish is another reminder of how much sharp preparation, energy management and practical decision-making modern open-tournament chess requires. For Tabatabaei, this title is more than another career milestone; it is also a powerful reference point for future invitations to top-level closed events.