GMJon L Arnason

Jón Loftur Árnason was born in Reykjavík in 1960. He won the world under-17 championship in 1977, finishing ahead of a field that included Garry Kasparov, and took the Icelandic championship that year. He later attended Mikhail Botvinnik’s chess school in the Soviet Union. He became an international master in 1979 and a grandmaster in 1986, adding Icelandic titles in 1982 and 1988. His tournament successes included Húsavík in 1985 and Plovdiv in 1986. He helped Iceland finish fifth at the 1986 Olympiad and sixth in 1992.

After 1995 Jón reduced his tournament schedule to pursue a business career. He studied finance and accounting at the University of Iceland and became secretary and treasurer of Oz Communications. He continued playing occasional events and local team competitions.