Yrjö Aukusti Rantanen (23 April 1950 – 14 January 2021) was a Finnish

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 was awarded the title of grandmaster by

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 ...

in 1981. He was a two-time Finnish chess champion, and won three medals at the Chess Olympiad.

Biography

Born in

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

, Rantanen learned to play chess at the age of six from by his father, Matti Rantanen. In the 1970s and 1980s, Rantanen was one of the top Finnish chess players. He has twice won gold medals at the

Finnish Chess Championship The Finnish Chess Championship is the national championship in chess in Finland. Winners Women's winners References External links * (2006 crosstable)Finnish Championship July 2008 Finland FIDE Chess Tournament report {{Chess national ch ...

s (1978, 1986), three times won silver medals (1976, 1982, 1990) and won bronze medal in 1972. Yrjö Rantanen was the winner of many international chess tournaments, including 3rd place in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

(1981), and won in

Järvenpää Järvenpää (; sv, Träskända) is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located on the Helsinki–Riihimäki railway track in Uusimaa region, some north of Helsinki. Neighbouring municipalities are Tuusula, Sipoo and Mäntsälä. People ...

(1982). Yrjö Rantanen played for Finland in the Chess Olympiads: * In 1972, at first reserve board in the

20th Chess Olympiad The 20th Chess Olympiad ( mk, 20. Шаховска олимпијада, ''20. Šahovska olimpijada''), organized by Fédération Internationale des Échecs, FIDE and comprising an open team tournament, as well as several other events designed t ...

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...

(+11, =2, -2) and won individual bronze medal, * In 1974, at third board in the

21st Chess Olympiad The 21st Chess Olympiad (french: La 21e Olympiade d'échecs), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. team tournament, as well as severa ...

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

(+8, =3, -6), * In 1976, at second board in the

22nd Chess Olympiad The 22nd Chess Olympiad ( he, אולימפיאדת השחמט ה-22, ''Olimpiada ha-shachmat ha-22''), organized by Fédération Internationale des Échecs, FIDE, took place between October 26 and November 10, 1976, in Haifa, Israel. For the firs ...

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

(+3, =6, -2), * In 1978, at second board in the

23rd Chess Olympiad The 23rd Chess Olympiad ( es, La 23a Olimpíada de ajedrez), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and a women's tournament, as well a ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

(+5, =6, -0) and won individual bronze medal, * In 1980, at second board in the

24th Chess Olympiad The 24th Chess Olympiad ( mt, L-24 Olimpijadi taċ-Ċess), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and a women's tournament, as well as ...

La Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an administrative unit and capital of Malta. Located on the main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, its population within administrative limits in 2014 was ...

(+6, =7, -0) and won individual gold medal, * In 1982, at first board in the

25th Chess Olympiad The 25th Chess Olympiad (german: Die 25. Schacholympiade), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and a women's tournament, as well as ...

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...

(+5, =1, -6), * In 1984, at first board in the

26th Chess Olympiad The 26th Chess Olympiad ( el, Η 26η Σκακιστική Ολυμπιάδα, ''I 26i Skakistikí Olympiáda''), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male an ...

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

(+2, =5, -4), * In 1986, at second board in the

27th Chess Olympiad The 27th Chess Olympiad ( ar, أولمبياد الشطرنج ال27, ''uwlimbiad al-shatranj al-27''), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female ...

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

(+6, =3, -3), * In 1990, at fourth board in the

29th Chess Olympiad The 29th Chess Olympiad ( sr, 29. Шаховска олимпијада, ''29. Šahovska olimpijada''), organized by Fédération Internationale des Échecs, FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this ...

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...

(+6, =3, -3). Yrjö Rantanen played for Finland in the

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 ...

: * In 1989, at sixth board in the 9th European Team Chess Championship in

(+4, =1, -1) and won individual bronze medal. Yrjö Rantanen played for Finland in the Nordic Chess Cups: * In 1973, at third board in the 4th Nordic Chess Cup in Ribe (+1, =0, -4), * In 1974, at second board in the 5th Nordic Chess Cup in

Eckernförde Eckernförde ( da, Egernførde, sometimes also , nds, Eckernför, sometimes also ) () is a German town in Schleswig-Holstein, Rendsburg-Eckernförde, on the coast of the Baltic Sea approximately 30 km north-west of Kiel. The population is ...

(+1, =3, -1), * In 1975, at second board in the 6th Nordic Chess Cup in

Hindås Hindås is a town centre in Härryda Municipality, about 35 km east of Gothenburg. A resort is at Västra Nedsjön, and the Mölndalsån starts here. There is a railway station between Gothenburg and Borås, part of the coast to the coastal path. I ...

(+2, =2, -1) and won team bronze and individual gold medals, * In 1977, at first board in the 8th Nordic Chess Cup in

Glücksburg Glücksburg (; da, Lyksborg) is a small town northeast of Flensburg in the district Schleswig-Flensburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany and is the northernmost town in Germany. It is situated on the south side of the Flensborg Fjord, an inlet ...

(+0, =1, -4), * In 1985, at second board in the 10th Nordic Chess Cup in Pohja (+3, =2, -2), * In 1989, at second board in the 12th Nordic Chess Cup in Aabybro (+3, =2, -2). In 1977 he was awarded the title of international master (IM) and in 1981 that of international grandmaster (GM). Rantanen became the second Finnish chess grandmaster after

Heikki Westerinen Heikki Markku Julius Westerinen (born 27 April 1944) is a Finnish chess player, born in Helsinki. He became a national master at age sixteen, and earned the FIDE titles of International Master in 1967 and Grandmaster in 1975. Westerinen won the ...

References

External links

*
Yrjö Rantanen
chess games at 365Chess.com 1950 births 2021 deaths Sportspeople from Tampere Finnish chess players Chess Grandmasters Chess Olympiad competitors Place of death missing {{Finland-chess-bio-stub