Jóhann Hjartarson (born 8 February 1963) is an Icelandic

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

grandmaster and lawyer. He is a six-time Icelandic Chess Champion and a two-time Nordic Chess Champion. With occasional brief interruptions, he was the highest-rated Icelandic player from July 1991 to March 2015. Since 1998, Johann has been the general counsel and secretary of the Icelandic biotechnology company

deCODE genetics deCODE genetics () is a biopharmaceutical company based in Reykjavík, Iceland. The company was founded in 1996 by Kári Stefánsson with the aim of using population genetics studies to identify variations in the human genome associated with c ...

, a subsidiary of

Amgen Amgen Inc. (formerly Applied Molecular Genetics Inc.) is an American multinational biopharmaceutical Corporation, company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. As one of the world's largest independent biotechnology companies, Amgen has a ...

. Although he retired from professional chess when he began his legal career in the late 1990s, Johann still competes occasionally and remains one of the strongest chess players in Iceland.

Chess career

Jóhann earned the

International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

title in 1984 and the Grandmaster title a year later. Among his best international tournament results are shared first place at

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

in 1984 and 1992; shared first at the World Open 1991 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

; equal third at

Tilburg Tilburg () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. With a population of 22 ...

1988 (+3−3=8); and sixth at

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

1989 (+2−2=7). In 1987 he finished equal first at the

Interzonal Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by the World Chess Federation FIDE from the 1950s to the 1990s. They were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle and were held after the Zonal tournaments, and before the Ca ...

tournament in

Szirák Szirák () is a village in Nógrád County, Northern Hungary Region, Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to th ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and qualified for the World Championship Candidates Tournament in 1988. He defeated

Viktor Korchnoi Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi (, ; 23 March 1931 – 6 June 2016) was a Soviet (before 1976) and Swiss (after 1980) chess grandmaster (GM) and chess writer. He is considered one of the strongest players never to have become World Chess Champion. Bor ...

but lost to

Anatoly Karpov Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov (, ; born May 23, 1951) is a Russian and former Soviet Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, ⁣and politician. He was the 12th World Chess Champion from 1975 ...

in the quarterfinals. Jóhann competed in the

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...

world championship held with the knock-out format in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. Jóhann won the

Icelandic Chess Championship The Icelandic Chess Championship is usually held in Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland. It is organised by the Icelandic Chess Federation (ICF), the body responsible for holding national chess events and for representing Icelandic chess at the World ...

in 1980, 1984, 1994, 1995, 1997 and 2016. He won the

Nordic Chess Championship The Nordic Chess Championship (''Nordiska Schackkongressen'') is a biennial chess tournament which determines the champion of the Nordic countries. The first edition took place in Stockholm in 1897. History The winners in the Nordic Championship in ...

in 1997 and again twenty years later in 2017. With this latter win (in which he edged out

Nils Grandelius Nils Axel Grandelius (born 3 June 1993) is a Swedish chess grandmaster. He is the top ranked player of Sweden. Chess career FIDE awarded him the titles FIDE Master, in 2007, International Master, in 2008, and Grandmaster in 2010. In 2008, Gra ...

on tiebreak score), Jóhann qualified to play in the FIDE World Cup 2017. He was eliminated in the first round by

David Navara David Navara (born 27 March 1985) is a Czech chess grandmaster, the highest-ranked of his country. Awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2002, he is a 13-time national champion (in 2004, 2005, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019, 202 ...

. Jóhann has played for Iceland in the

Chess Olympiad The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in FIDE Onli ...

World Team Chess Championship The World Team Chess Championship is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of 10 countries whose chess federations dominate their continent. It is played every two years. In chess, this tournament and the Chess Olympiads ...

European Team Chess Championship The European Team Championship (often abbreviated in texts and games databases as ''ETC'') is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of European nations whose chess federations are located in zones 1.1 to 1.9. This more ...

, World Senior Team Championships, World U26 Team Championship, World U16 Team Championship, Telechess Olympiad and Nordic Chess Cup. Playing at the

European Chess Club Cup The European Chess Club Cup is an annual chess tournament for club teams from Europe. It is organised by the European Chess Union. The competition is held with the Swiss system over seven rounds. It consists of two sections, open and women's, with ...

, he won the gold medal with German tea
Bayern Munich
in 1992.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hjartarson, Johann 1963 births Living people Chess Grandmasters Chess Olympiad competitors

Johann Hjartarson Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name '' Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...