Jānis Klovāns (April 9, 1935 – October 5, 2010) was a

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 ...

chess 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 disti ...

player who held the

FIDE title FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

of Grandmaster and the

ICCF title International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) was founded on 26 March 1951 as a new appearance of the International Correspondence Chess Association (ICCA), which was founded in 1945, as successor of the Internationaler Fernschachbund (IF ...

Correspondence Chess Grandmaster International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster is a correspondence chess title created by FIDE in 1953, second only to that of world correspondence champion. Currently, this title is awarded by the International Correspondence Chess Federation (IC ...

. He was a career

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

in the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

. He won the Latvian Championship nine times (1954, 1962, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1975, 1979, and 1986), and participated in several Soviet Championships. He was a member of several successful Latvian youth teams during the early to mid-1950s, along with stars such as GM

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 GM

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 Ri ...

. Klovāns played for Latvia in two

Chess Olympiad The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in 2020 and ...

s. In Manila 1992, at second reserve board (+0 −0 =2), and in Istanbul 2000, at third board (+5 −4 =4). He was awarded the

International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

(IM) title in 1976, and the Grandmaster (GM) title in 1997, following his win in the World Senior Championship. This achievement is notable in that he was one of the oldest players to be awarded the GM title for current achievements, rather than an honorary or retrospective title. This can be explained by the fact that although he was a strong master for many years, he was rarely allowed to play outside of the Soviet Union, and therefore had few opportunities to gain

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...

titles. Likely his career as a Soviet Army officer hampered his international chess opportunities. In 2001 he earned the International Correspondence Chess GM title. Klovāns won the

World Senior Chess Championship The World Senior Chess Championship is an annual chess tournament established in 1991 by FIDE, the World Chess Federation. Overview Originally, the minimum age was 60 years for men, and 50 for women. Since 2014, the Senior Championship is split i ...

in 1997, 1999, and 2001. He continued to play into his seventies and maintained a

rating of over 2400, making him one of the strongest players in his age group. He was married to the six-time Latvian Champion

Astra Klovāne Astra Klovāne ( Ērgle, born 13 October 1944 in Baldone) is a former Latvian chess player. Astra Klovāne won the Latvian Chess Championship for women seven times - 1963, 1964, 1965, 1969, 1970, 1977, and 1978. She won also the Latvian women s ...

and had two daughters.

References

External links

* * * * 1935 births 2010 deaths Chess grandmasters Chess double grandmasters Chess Olympiad competitors World Senior Chess Champions Latvian chess players Soviet chess players People from Saldus Municipality Soviet Army officers {{Latvia-chess-bio-stub