Jóhann Hjartarson is an Icelandic chess Grandmaster who has earned a notable reputation in the international chess community. Born on 8th of February 1963, Hjartarson initially learned to play chess when he was five years old.
Hjartarson was awarded the title of International Master in 1984 and a year later, he became Iceland's second chess Grandmaster. He rose to worldwide fame after he defeated former world champion Anatoly Karpov in the Candidates Tournament in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1988. However, he did not proceed to the next Candidates match against Lajos Portisch as he did not want to take his family to a country where capital punishment still existed.
In addition to his international achievements, Jóhann has also won the Icelandic Chess Championship on four occasions: 1980, 1984, 1996, and 2012. After a number of years away from competitive chess, he returned in 2006 to participate in the Icelandic Chess Championship, in which he tied for first place.
Hjartarson balanced his chess career with studies in law, and he graduated from the University of Iceland in 1991. He retired from chess that same year and went on to forge a successful career as a lawyer.