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Zigfrīds Solmanis
Zigfrīds Aleksandrs Otto Solmanis (July 9, 1913, Riga – September 6, 1984, Jūrmala) was a Latvian chess player. Chess career Zigfrīds Solmanis started to play chess at the age of 6. From him earliest youth participated in various tournaments and other events related to chess. He stood out with his aggressive style of play. In 1938, Solmanis won the Latvian Chess Club tournament and in 1939 he participated at the second Ķemeri International chess tournament. Solmanis was a very good speed chess player having won over 70 such tournaments. In 1938 he visited 25 cities in Latvia and gave simultaneous exhibitions with a very good result 74 percent. After the Second World War, Solmanis actively involved in reconstruction of Latvian chess life. He was a triple champion in chess in Jurmala and in 1947 won Latvian Chess Championship. In 1947 he took third place in Quarterfinal of Championship of USSR in Tbilisi, after the next world champion Tigran Petrosian. In 1948 he repres ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the Baltic states; and is bordered by Estonia to the north, Lithuania to the south, Russia to the east, Belarus to the southeast, and shares a maritime border with Sweden to the west. Latvia covers an area of , with a population of 1.9 million. The country has a temperate seasonal climate. Its capital and largest city is Riga. Latvians belong to the ethno-linguistic group of the Balts; and speak Latvian, one of the only two surviving Baltic languages. Russians are the most prominent minority in the country, at almost a quarter of the population. After centuries of Teutonic, Swedish, Polish-Lithuanian and Russian rule, which was mainly executed by the local Baltic German aristocracy, the independent R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Nekhemyevich Tal; rus, Михаил Нехемьевич Таль, ''Mikhail Nekhem'yevich Tal' '', ; sometimes transliterated ''Mihails Tals'' or ''Mihail Tal'' (9 November 1936 – 28 June 1992) was a Soviet-Latvian chess player and the eighth World Chess Champion. He is considered a creative genius within the game of chess and one of its best ever players. Tal played in an attacking and daring combinatorial style. His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability. It has been said that "Every game for him was as inimitable and invaluable as a poem". His nickname was "Misha", a diminutive for Mikhail, and he earned the nickname "The Magician from Riga". Both ''The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games'' and ''Modern Chess Brilliancies'' include more games by Tal than any other player. He also held the record for the longest unbeaten streak in competitive chess history with 95 games (46 wins, 49 draws) between 23 October 1973 and 16 O ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Latvian Chess Players
Latvian may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Latvia **Latvians, a Baltic ethnic group, native to what is modern-day Latvia and the immediate geographical region **Latvian language, also referred to as Lettish **Latvian cuisine **Latvian culture **Latvian horse *Latvian Gambit, an opening in chess See also *Latvia (other) Latvia is a country in Europe. Latvia can also refer to: *Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (1940–1990) *Latvia (European Parliament constituency) *1284 Latvia - asteroid *Latvia Peak - mountain in Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷ ... * {{disambiguation Language and nationality disambiguation pages ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chess Players From Riga
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to distinguish it from related games, such as xiangqi (Chinese chess) and shogi (Japanese chess). The recorded history of chess goes back at least to the emergence of a similar game, chaturanga, in seventh-century India. The rules of chess as we know them today emerged in Europe at the end of the 15th century, with standardization and universal acceptance by the end of the 19th century. Today, chess is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide. Chess is an abstract strategy game that involves no hidden information and no use of dice or cards. It is played on a chessboard with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. At the start, each player controls sixteen pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two bis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1984 Deaths
Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). * January 10 ** The United States and the Vatican (Holy See) restore full diplomatic relations. ** The Victoria Agreement is signed, institutionalising the Indian Ocean Commission. *January 24 – Steve Jobs launches the Macintosh personal computer in the United States. February * February 3 ** Dr. John Buster and the research team at Harbor–UCLA Medical Center announce history's first embryo transfer from one woman to another, resulting in a live birth. ** STS-41-B: Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' is launched on the 10th Space Shuttle mission. * February 7 – Astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart make the first untethered space walk. * February 8– 19 – The 1984 Winter Olympics are held i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1913 Births
Events January * January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not venture for the rest of the war. * January 13 – Edward Carson founds the (first) Ulster Volunteer Force, by unifying several existing loyalist militias to resist home rule for Ireland. * January 23 – 1913 Ottoman coup d'état: Ismail Enver comes to power. * January – Stalin (whose first article using this name is published this month) travels to Vienna to carry out research. Until he leaves on February 16 the city is home simultaneously to him, Hitler, Trotsky and Tito alongside Berg, Freud and Jung and Ludwig and Paul Wittgenstein. February * February 1 – New York City's Grand Central Terminal, having been rebuilt, reopens as the world's largest railroad station. * February 3 – The 16th Amendment to the United S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexei Shirov
Alexei Shirov (, lv, Aleksejs Širovs; born 4 July 1972) is a Latvian and Spanish chess player. Shirov was ranked number two in the world in 1994. He won a match against Vladimir Kramnik in 1998 to qualify to play as challenger for the classical world championship match with Garry Kasparov; it never took place due to a lack of sponsorship. Career Shirov became the World Youth Chess Championship, world under-16 champion in 1988 and was the runner-up at the World Junior Chess Championship, World Junior Championship in 1990 (second on tiebreaks to Ilya Gurevich). In the same year, he achieved the title of International Grandmaster, Grandmaster. Shirov is the winner of numerous international tournaments: Biel Chess Festival, Biel 1991, Madrid 1997 (shared first place with Veselin Topalov), Ter Apel 1997, Monte Carlo 1998, Mérida, Spain, Mérida 2000, Paul Keres Memorial Tournament, Paul Keres Memorial Rapid Tournament in Tallinn (2004, 2005, 2011, 2012, 2013), Canadian Open Chess ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander Shabalov
Alexander Anatolyevich Shabalov (russian: Алекса́ндр Анато́льевич Шаба́лов; lv, Aleksandrs Šabalovs; born September 12, 1967) is an American chess grandmaster and a four-time winner of the United States Chess Championship (1993, 2000, 2003, 2007). He also won or tied for first place seven times in the U.S. Open Chess Championship (1993, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2015, 2016). Shabalov was born in Riga, Latvia, and was known during much of his career for courting complications even at the cost of objective soundness, much like his fellow Latvians Mikhail Tal and Alexei Shirov. He has transitioned to a more conservative and positional playing style as of 2019. In 2002 he tied for first place at the Aeroflot Open in Moscow with Gregory Kaidanov, Alexander Grischuk, Aleksej Aleksandrov, and Vadim Milov. In 2009 Shabalov shared first place with Fidel Corrales Jimenez in the American Continental Chess Championship. Shabalov regularly lectured chess play ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aleksander Wojtkiewicz
Aleksander Wojtkiewicz ( lv, Aleksandrs Voitkevičs; January 15, 1963 – July 14, 2006) was a Polish chess grandmaster. He was born in Latvia. In his early teens he was already a strong player; a student of ex-world champion Mikhail Tal whom he assisted in the 1979 Interzonal tournament in Riga. He won the Latvian Chess Championship in 1981. His promising chess career was interrupted when he refused to join the Soviet Army. For several years he went undercover but in 1986 he was sentenced to two years in prison. After one year he received an amnesty after the meeting of Presidents Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev. Following his release he moved from Riga to Warsaw where he won two Polish Chess Championships. He played for Poland in the Chess Olympiads of 1990 and 1992. He later resided in the United States, whereupon he became one of the most active players on the tournament circuit, constantly flying around the world. Several times he won the annual $10,000 first prize for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aivars Gipslis
Aivars Gipslis (February 8, 1937 – April 13, 2000) was a Latvian chess player, writer, and editor, who held the FIDE title of Grandmaster (chess), Grandmaster and the ICCF title of Correspondence Chess Grandmaster. Chess biography Born in Riga, he was Latvian Chess Championship, champion of Latvia in 1955, 1956, 1957, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, and 1966. He also played in several USSR Chess Championship, Soviet Chess Championships, his best result coming in 1966, when he was equal third with 12/20. Gipslis played in the Sousse Interzonal of 1967, but did not advance to the Candidates' level. Perhaps his best tournament result was the Alekhine Memorial 1967 in Moscow, where he finished on 10/17, a point behind the winner Leonid Stein. His second place was shared with Milko Bobotsov and two World Champions, Vasily Smyslov and Mikhail Tal, ahead of two others, Boris Spassky and Tigran Petrosian, among a host of other strong players. His other outstanding tournament results include e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anda Šafranska
Anda Šafranska (born December 2, 1960, in Riga) is a Latvian-born chess player who holds the title of Woman Grandmaster. Anda Šafranska for many years was one of the best women's chess players in Latvia. She won the Latvian Chess Championship for women eight times: 1982, 1984, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, and 1997. Šafranska played for Latvia in Chess Olympiads: * In 1992, at second board in the 30th Chess Olympiad in Manila (+6, =0, -6); * In 1994, at first board in the 31st Chess Olympiad in Moscow (+3, =3, -5); * In 1996, at first board in the 32nd Chess Olympiad in Yerevan (+6, =4, -4); * In 2006, at third board in the 37th Chess Olympiad in Turin (+1, =1, -4). She played for Latvia in European Team Chess Championship: * In 1992, at second board in Debrecen (+2, =2, -3); * In 1994, at first board in Pula (+3, =1, -3). Since 2000 Šafranska lives in Léon, France, and she now plays for France. Šafranska played for France in World Team Chess Championship: * In 2013, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Riga
Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Baltic Sea. Riga's territory covers and lies above sea level, on a flat and sandy plain. Riga was founded in 1201 and is a former Hanseatic League member. Riga's historical centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, noted for its Art Nouveau/Jugendstil architecture and 19th century wooden architecture. Riga was the European Capital of Culture in 2014, along with Umeå in Sweden. Riga hosted the 2006 NATO Summit, the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, the 2006 IIHF Men's World Ice Hockey Championships, 2013 World Women's Curling Championship and the 2021 IIHF World Championship. It is home to the European Union's office of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC). In 2017, it was named the European Region of Gastronomy. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
