Kārlis Klāsups (July 1, 1922,
Zaļenieki parish
Zaļenieki Parish () is an administrative unit in the western part of Jelgava Municipality in the Semigallia region of Latvia.
It borders the Parishes of Glūda, Svēte, Lielplatone, Vilce, Tērvete, and Augstkalne.
Rivers Auce, Dorupīte, Eglon ...
– August 1, 1991,
Riga
Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...
) was a
Latvian chess
Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...
master who won
Latvian Chess Championship
The Latvian Chess Championship () is the annual national chess tournament of Latvia among men and women players, which was established in 1924. It is organized by the Latvian Chess Federation (), previously - Latvian Chess Union ().
Histor ...
in 1959.
Chess career
Kārlis Klāsups participated in the
Latvian Chess Championship finals 12 times. He won third place twice. (1950, 1955) but in 1959, Kārlis Klāsups reached the greatest success in own career and divided first place in this tournament with Pēteris Kampenuss. Kārlis Klāsups won additional match for Latvian title - 4:3.
He has participated in
USSR Chess Championship preliminary tournaments in 1955 and 1959 but without great success.
Also, Kārlis Klāsups played for Latvia in 1955, at sixth board in 4th Soviet Team Chess Championship in
Voroshilovgrad
Luhansk (, ; , ), also known as Lugansk (, ; , ), is a city in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be making Luhansk the Cities in Ukraine, 12th-largest city in Ukraine.
Luhansk served as the administra ...
and won the third place (+2 −1 =6).
Personal life
He worked as a crane driver at the port of
Rīga
Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...
. Because of poor health Kārlis Klāsups had to give up chess. After the end of his chess career, he lived alone and news of his death took a long time to reach the Latvian chess society.
Notable games
Kārlis Klāsups vs Mikhail Tal, Rīga 1950Draw with the future 8th world champion.
Kārlis Klāsups vs Mikhail Tal, Rīga 1953Victory with sacrife over the future 8th world champion.
Mikhail Tal vs Kārlis Klāsups, URS 1951Endgame victory over the future 8th world champion.
References
* Žuravļevs, N.; Dulbergs, I.; Kuzmičovs, G. (1980), Latvijas šahistu jaunrade, Rīga, Avots.(in Latvian), pp. 68 – 69.
External links
*
*
player profile at OlimpBase.org (Soviet Team Chess Championship)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klasups, Karlis
1922 births
1991 deaths
Latvian chess players
Soviet chess players
People from Jelgava Municipality