In brief
Fridrik Olafsson, a prominent chess grandmaster, passed away at the age of 90 in Reykjavík, leaving behind a remarkable legacy that transformed Iceland into a chess stronghold. Known for his unexpected triumphs over four world champions, including the legendary Bobby Fischer, Olafsson was a vital figure in the International Chess Federation, serving as its president from 1978 to 1982. Almost entirely self-taught, his early fascination with the game, sparked by observing his father's matches, led him to national and international success. Beginning with his first tournament at age 11, Olafsson rapidly rose to become a national champion by 17 and achieved numerous accolades, helping establish Iceland as a significant chess nation during the 1980s.
Fridrik Olafsson, a chess grandmaster who helped make his native Iceland a bastion of the game, in part by defeating four world champions, including Bobby Fischer, the dominant American player, died on Friday in Reykjavík, the country’s capital. He was 90. The death, in a hospital, was announced by the International Chess Federation, the game’s governing body. He was the organization’s president from 1978 to 1982, when it was known as the World Chess Federation. Mr. Olafsson’s rise to the heights of chess was unexpected; Iceland was not known as a chess powerhouse at the time. But by the 1980s, largely because of his example, it had more grandmasters per capita than any other country. Almost entirely self-taught, Mr. Olafsson learned the game by watching his father play. One day, when he was 7 or 8, he was intently studying his father’s moves on the chessboard in a friendly match against a relative, Mr. Olafsson recalled in an interview for this obituary in 2014. “I remember saying he was not playing so well,” he said of his father. His father replied that if Fridrik thought he could do better, he should take his place. Fridrik did, and won. He played in his first tournament at age 11. When he was 13, he was at master level and among the top 15 players in Iceland. At 17, he won the national championship, the first of six such titles. He went on to win the 1953 Scandinavian championship and share first place with Viktor Korchnoi, one of the best players of the 20th century, in the 1955-56 Hastings International Chess Congress, one of the top tournaments in the world, held in Hastings, England.
