Jón Loftur Árnason

Who is Jón Loftur Árnason?

Jón Loftur Árnason is an Icelandic chess grandmaster, three-time national champion, and successful businessman.

Like fellow Scandinavians Simen Agdestein and Magnus Carlsen, Árnason in his youth was hailed as a potential world champion after a string of results. In 1976, while only 15, he finished equal first in an event for players under 21. The same year, he won an Icelandic open tournament with the score of 9.5/11. Just a year later, playing in a telex match for Iceland against England, he drew as Black against Jonathan Mestel, an established master. Also in 1977, at Cagnes-sur-Mer, he won the World Under-16 championship, before becoming Icelandic champion on the first of three occasions. Shortly thereafter, he accepted an invitation to join the Botvinnik chess school. In 1979, FIDE awarded him the title of International Master.

In international competition, he took first at Husavik 1985, Plovdiv 1986 and Helsinki 1986. In 1986, FIDE awarded him the International Grandmaster title.

In individual encounters with some of the world's best players, he showed that he was always a very dangerous opponent. He defeated world championship contenders and super-grandmasters of the calibre of Short, Korchnoi, Shirov, Adams, Dreev, Vaganian and Larsen. He has also drawn former world champions Petrosian, Smyslov, Tal, Karpov, and Khalifman.