Friðrik Ólafsson (born January 26, 1935) is an Icelandic chess Grandmaster and former president of FIDE.
He was born in Reykjavík in Iceland. A first time winner of the Icelandic Championship in 1952 and of the Scandinavian Championship a year later, he rapidly became recognised as the strongest Icelandic player of his generation. Friðrik's first result of international note was shared first with Viktor Korchnoi at Hastings 1955-56. He became a Grandmaster in 1958.
Friðrik's best result in World Chess Championship competition was in the 1958 Interzonal tournament at Portorož, where he finished equal 5th-6th and qualified for the Candidates Tournament (the last stage to determine the challenger to the World Chess Champion) the following year. There, however, he finished seventh of eight with 10/28. He also played in the following Interzonal (Stockholm 1962) but failed to qualify for the Candidates.
Among his best tournament results were joint third in the strong Piatigorsky Cup, Los Angeles 1963 with 7.5/14 and shared first with Ljubomir Ljubojević at Wijk aan Zee 1976, ahead of Mikhail Tal. In 1978 he succeeded Max Euwe as President of international chess governing body FIDE. In 1982 he was replaced by Florencio Campomanes and appointed Secretary to the Icelandic Parliament. Friðrik continued to play occasionally into the 21st century, winning a rapid match against fellow veteran Bent Larsen in 2003 by a score of 5-3.
Friðrik usually played the Sicilian Defence against 1.e4 and the Nimzo-Indian Defence against 1.d4. With white, he usually played the English Opening, but played almost as many games with 1.d4 and 1.e4.
In life outside of chess, he is married and has two adult daughters. Prior to 1974 when he became a chess professional, he worked as a lawyer at the Icelandic Ministry of Justice.
Friðrik Ólafsson should not be confused with fellow Icelandic Grandmaster Helgi Ólafsson.
References
- Chess magazine, January 1979 - Interview with David Levy
External links
- FIDE rating card for Fridrik Olafsson
- Friðrik Ólafsson player profile at ChessGames.com
| Preceded by Max Euwe |
FIDE President 1978–1982 |
Succeeded by Florencio Campomanes |
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