Toms Kantāns (born 16 January 1994) is 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 ...

grandmaster (2017),

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 ...

winner (2023).

Biography

Kantāns started playing chess at the age of six. He has been a Latvian Youth Chess Champion in different age groups, and regularly participated in the European Youth and

World Youth Chess Championship The World Youth Chess Championship is a FIDE-organized worldwide chess competition for boys and girls under the age of 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18. History Twelve world champions are crowned every year. Since 2015 (OR 2016), the event has been s ...

s in different age groups. In 2007, he won silver medal in European Union Youth Championship in the U14 age group, but in 2008 in this same tournament won bronze medal. Since 2009, Toms Kantans has regularly participated in the

s. Best results – 1st place (2023), 2nd place (2015, 2017) and 3rd place (2010, 2014). He is multiple winner of Latvian Team Chess Championship with

Riga Technical University Riga Technical University (RTU) () is the oldest technical university in the Baltic countries established on October 14, 1862. It is located in Riga, Latvia and was previously known as Riga Polytechnical Institute and Riga Polytechnicum. In 1 ...

team (2010, 2012, 2015). In August 2022, Kantāns finished second in the

Riga Technical University Open The Riga Technical University Open (also RTU Open) is an international "open" chess festival annually held in Riga, Latvia in August. It is the largest classical chess tournament in the Baltic states. Abstract The Riga Technical University Open ...

"A" tournament. In June 2023, in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, he won the international chess tournament ''Canadian Transnational 2023 - Classic Crown''. Kantāns played for Latvia team: * in

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 FIDE Onli ...

s (

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

); * in

European Team Chess Championship The European Team Championship (often abbreviated in texts and games databases as ''ETC'') is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of European nations whose chess federations are located in zones 1.1 to 1.9. This more ...

participated in 2015; * in 2013 Summer Universiade chess tournament. In 2014, he was awarded the FIDE International Master (IM) title and received the FIDE International Grandmaster (GM) title three years later.

Personal life

In 2015, Kantāns married Polish chess master Anna Iwanow (born 1995).

References

External links

*
Toms Kantans
chess games at 365Chess.com 1994 births Living people Chess players from Riga Latvian chess players Chess Grandmasters Chess Olympiad competitors {{Latvia-chess-bio-stub