Guðmundur Sigurjónsson scored a splendid victory in the fourth Reykjavík Chess Tournament, which was held at Hagaskóli from 15 January to 5 February 1970. Guðmundur scored 12 points out of 15 and did not lose a single game. The turning point of the tournament was the tremendous fighting game between Guðmundur and Friðrik Ólafsson in the fifth round. Guðmundur came out on top, and this was the first time Friðrik had lost to an Icelander in a Reykjavík tournament.

Before the tournament began, Friðrik and the Yugoslav grandmaster Milan Matulović were considered the strongest favourites. Matulović, born in 1937, became Yugoslav champion in 1965 and 1967 and had already achieved many victories in international tournaments. He never found his form at Hagaskóli and finished tied for seventh and eighth place with Jón Kristinsson. Jón performed the remarkable feat of defeating both Friðrik and Matulović in the tournament.

The Romanian Gheorghiu, born in 1934, finished second with 11½ points, while the Canadian Bruce Amos surprised most observers by taking third place with 11 points.

Grandmaster Helgi Ólafsson writes in his entertaining book about the Reykjavík tournaments that, judging from the tournament table and the games Friðrik played, one might conclude that Friðrik had been in a slight decline around this time. Little was seen of the brilliant inspiration that had characterized his play at the third Reykjavík tournament.

Guðmundur’s magnificent victory was therefore a cause for celebration among all Icelandic chess enthusiasts and showed that Iceland now had another master likely to reach the highest ranks. Guðmundur lived up to those expectations and became Iceland’s second grandmaster in 1975.