Amin Tabatabaei won the 2026 Reykjavik Open with a dominant 8/9 score, finishing a point and a half clear of the field and never coming close to losing. The Iranian GM delivered the strongest performance of his career at an open event.
Tabatabaei won his first seven games in a row, drew in round eight, then won again in the final round. His eight wins came against opponents rated 2350 to 2650. He showed the same preparation and technique against the top seeds that he showed against lower-rated players. No easy wins and no lucky escapes.
His best game came in round six against a 2620-rated Russian GM. Tabatabaei played the Nimzo-Indian as Black and found an exchange sacrifice on move 22 that was both surprising and objectively correct. His opponent accepted and fell apart over the next 30 moves.
"I felt good from game one," Tabatabaei told reporters at the closing ceremony. "Round seven looked difficult for a while but I trusted my preparation." With his Reykjavik title, Tabatabaei now has four open tournament wins in twelve months. He is knocking on the door of the world top 20.