Fridrik Olafsson (born January 26, 1935) is a chess Grandmaster. January 26 is the 26th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1935 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... From left, a white king, black rook and queen, white pawn, black knight, and white bishop in Staunton chess pieces. ... The title International Grandmaster is awarded to superb chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. It is a lifetime title, in chess literature usually abbreviated as GM or IGM (this is in contrast to WGM for Woman Grandmaster and IM for International Master). ...

He was born in Reykjavik in Iceland. Recognised as the strongst Icelandic player of his time, Olafsson's first result of international note was shared first with Viktor Korchnoi at Hastings 1955-56. He became a Grandmaster in 1958, and his result in the Interzonal tournament at Portoroz in the same year (with the same score as Bobby Fischer) qualified him 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. See also: Reykjavík, Manitoba in Canada Reykjavík is the capital of Iceland, its largest city and the worlds northernmost capital. ... Viktor Korchnoi (Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й) (born March 23, 1931) is sometimes reckoned to be the strongest chess player never to have been world champion. ... Robert James Bobby Fischer (born March 9, 1943) is a former world chess champion from New York City, currently residing in Iceland. ... The 1984 World Chess Championship was between Anatoly Karpov (left) and Garry Kasparov (right). ...

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 Ljubojevic 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. Olafsson 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. Mikhail Tal Mikhail Nekhemievich Tal (Михаил Нехемиевич Тал) (November 9, 1936 - June 28, 1992), born in Riga, Latvia, was the eighth World Chess Champion. ... Max Euwe Machgielis (Max) Euwe (last name is pronounced /ø:wə/) (May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch chess player. ... The Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation is an international organization that connects the various national chess federations around the world. ... Florencio Campomanes (born 1927) is a Filipino chess player and organizer. ... Bent Larsen (born March 4, 1935) is a Danish chess player. ...

Olafsson 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. The Sicilian defence is a chess opening which begins with: 1. ... The Nimzo-Indian Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves (in algebraic notation) 1. ... The English Opening is the chess opening 1. ...

Fridrik Olafsson should not be confused with the Icelandic Grandmaster Helgi Olafsson.