Stefán Kristjánsson

Stefán Kristjánsson (8 December 1982 – 28 February 2018) was an Icelandic chess grandmaster and professional poker player.

For the Icelandic Olympic skier, see Stefán Kristjánsson (alpine skier).

This is an Icelandic name. The last name is patronymic, not a family name; this person is referred to by the given name Stefán.
Stefán Kristjánsson
Stefán Kristjánsson at the 2007 European Team Chess Championship
CountryIceland
Born8 December 1982 (1982-12-08)
Reykjavík, Iceland
Died28 February 2018 (2018-03-01) (aged 35)
Reykjavík, Iceland
TitleGrandmaster (2011)
Peak rating2503 (March 2014)

Stefán began playing chess at the age of 11 and earned his international master title in 2002, at age 19. He won the Reykjavík Chess Championship twice, in 2002 and 2006. He achieved the required norms for his grandmaster title by 2006 and was awarded the title in 2011, after reaching a rating of 2500. He represented Iceland at five Chess Olympiads and four European Team Chess Championships.

Stefán did not compete regularly after attaining his grandmaster title. Outside of chess, he was also a successful poker player and gained fame in the Icelandic poker community. He died in 2018 at the age of 35, becoming the first Icelandic grandmaster to die.

Chess career

Stefán was born on 8 December 1982 in Reykjavík. He began playing chess at the relatively late age of 11, at his elementary school Melaskóli.[1][2] He showed talent and progressed quickly. His attacking playstyle, strong personality and common refusal to accept draws in equal endgames led to elder members of the Reykjavík chess community giving him the affectionate nickname "Pönkið" ("Punk").[2] Stefán continued to improve: he won the Icelandic School Chess Championship in 2000,[3] and earned his international master title in 2002, at the age of 19. International master and journalist Björn Þorfinnsson described him as the strongest of his age group.[2] Also in 2002, he won the Reykjavík Chess Championship, a feat he repeated in 2006.[4]

Stefán earned his first grandmaster (GM) norm at the Drammen International, held at the start of 2005, scoring 7/9.[5] He earned his second and third GM norms in 2006. The former came at the April First Saturday GM tournament, which he won, scoring 8/11 (+5–0=6; 2609 PR).[5][6] He achieved the latter at the 22nd European Club Cup in October, scoring 5/7.[5] Stefán began to compete less regularly after this point as he focused on other pursuits, but he dedicated himself to improving his rating in order to attain the GM title.[2] He was awarded the title by FIDE in October 2011, after reaching a rating of 2500.[7] He was the twelfth Icelander to achieve the GM title.[2]

From 2000 to 2008, Stefán competed in nine international competitions for Iceland: five times at the Chess Olympiad (2000, 2nd reserve board; 2002, reserve board; 2004, 2nd reserve board; 2006, reserve board; 2008, board 4)[8] and four times at the European Team Chess Championship (2001, board 4; 2003, board 3; 2005, board 2; 2007, board 4).[9][10] His overall Olympiad score was 23/41 (+18–13=10),[8] and his overall European Team Championship score was 16½/32 (+11–10=11).[10] Iceland's best Olympiad result with Stefán on the team was 22nd in 2002,[8] and their best European Team Championship result was 20th in 2001 and 2007.[10]

Stefán achieved a peak rating of 2503 in March 2014,[11] and was the No. 10 ranked Icelandic player as of November 2017 with a rating of 2447.[12]

Notable games

The following games are examples of Stefán defeating players with Elo ratings over 2600.

Poker career

Stefán developed an interest in poker following its rise in popularity on television.[2] He was best known as an online player,[16] but he also competed on the European Poker Tour at the Scandinavian Open in 2009.[17][18] Björn Þorfinnsson stated that Stefán's ability to calculate variations in chess translated well to poker, and helped him become a successful player.[2] He earned enough through the game to buy an apartment without debt as well as a Lexus, and gained fame in the Icelandic poker community.[16]

Personal life and death

Stefán had two sisters, Lára Kristín and Anna Margrét,[19] and a son (born 2003/2004).[20] In May 2010, Stefán's mother suffered a debilitating brain injury in Vesturbær after failing off a bicycle which Stefán had bought for her, and thereafter required around-the-clock care.[19] This event affected Stefán very badly and, through his association with poker players of ill repute in Reykjavík, he developed a drug addiction.[2] He squandered much of the money he had earned from poker due to the addiction, which he was unable to shake.[16]

Stefán died on 28 February 2018, aged 35.[21][22] The cause of death was not publicly announced. Vísir.is reported that Stefán's death was greatly mourned by the Icelandic chess community;[16] Björn Þorfinnsson wrote that it will take a long time for Icelandic chess to recover.[2]

Notes
  1. "Zbyněk Hráček vs. Stefán Kristjánsson, 1st Milk Masters (2002)". Chessgames.com.
  2. "Stefán Kristjánsson vs. Ivan Sokolov, European Club Cup (2007)". Chessgames.com.
  3. "Stefán Kristjánsson vs. Radosław Wojtaszek, European Team Chess Championships (2007)". Chessgames.com.

References
  1. Ómar Óskarsson (2 March 2018). "Andlát: Stefán Kristjánsson". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic).
  2. Björn Þorfinnsson (2 March 2018). "Minningarorð um Stefán Kristjánsson stórmeistara". DV (in Icelandic).
  3. Dade Örn Jónsson (1 June 2000). "Stefán Kristjánsson meistari Skákskólans". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic).
  4. Baldur Guðmundsson (2 March 2018). "Stefán Kristjánsson stórmeistari látinn". Fréttablaðið (in Icelandic).
  5. Staff writer(s) (2011). "82nd FIDE Congress 2011, Krakow, 15-22 October, POL". FIDE.
  6. Crowther, Mark (17 April 2006). "597: First Saturday April". The Week In Chess.
  7. Staff writer(s) (10 October 2011). "Skák: Bolvíkingar langefstir" (in Icelandic). Ríkisútvarpið.
  8. Staff writer(s) (2008). "Chess Olympiads : Kristjánsson, Stefán". OlimpBase.
  9. Sunna Kristín Hilmarsdóttir (2 March 2018). "Stefán Kristjánsson látinn". Vísir (in Icelandic).
  10. Staff writer(s) (2007). "European Team Chess Championships : Kristjánsson, Stefán". OlimpBase.
  11. Staff writer(s) (2018). "Stefan Kristjansson chess games and profile". Chess-DB.
  12. Staff writer(s) (November 2017). "Federations Ranking – Iceland". FIDE. Archived from the original on 2017-11-24.
  13. Staff writer(s) (31 July 2014). "Skákin – Kennslustund með Stefáni Kristjánssyni" (in Icelandic). Skákfélagið Huginn.
  14. Helgi Ólafsson (13 October 2007). "TR skákar Helli í Tyrklandi". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic).
  15. Helgi Ólafsson (17 March 2018). "Skákþáttur Morgunblaðsins: Stefáns Kristjánssonar verður sárt saknað". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic).
  16. Jakob Bjarnar Grétarsson (2 March 2018). "Skákheimurinn syrgir Stefán Kristjánsson". Vísir (in Icelandic).
  17. Staff writer(s) (16 February 2009). "EPT'en starter i morgen. Se startlisten". Acemag (in Danish).
  18. Staff writer(s) (17 February 2009). "Pokerstars.com EuropeanPokerTour Copenhagen 2009". PokerNews Nederland (in Dutch).
  19. Viktoría Hermannsdóttir (29 August 2014). "Misstu mömmu eins og hún var". DV (in Icelandic). pp. 28–30.
  20. Ritstjórn DV (1 March 2018). "Stórmeistarinn Stefán Kristjánsson er látinn". DV (in Icelandic).
  21. Gunnar Björnsson (1 March 2018). "Stefán Kristjánsson, stórmeistari í skák, látinn". Skákfrétta (in Icelandic).
  22. Brynjólfur Þór Gudmundsson (1 March 2018). "Stefán Kristjánsson látinn" (in Icelandic). Ríkisútvarpið.
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