Astra Klovāne ( Ērgle, born 13 October 1944 in

Baldone Baldone (; ) is a town in Ķekava Municipality, in the Semigallia region of Latvia. The town is famous for its sulfur water springs and was a spa resort. Viktors Arājs was born here in 1910. Gallery File:Mercendarbes muiža.jpg, Mencendarb ...

) is a former Latvian chess player. Astra Klovāne won the

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 ...

for women seven times - 1963, 1964, 1965, 1969, 1970, 1977, and 1978. She won also the Latvian women speed championship in 1977, 1978, and 1981.

Chess career

She learned to play chess at the age of 11. Her first teachers were her father and brother, but her first coach was Zigurds Pigits. In 1959, at the age of 15, she won the Latvian Girl Championship, and two years later she won the Baldone Club Championship. In 1961 she shared 1-3 prize in a Moscow tournament. Astra Klovāne won three Latvian Ladies Championships in a row - 1963, 1964, and 1965, without losing a game, and won also the Riga Ladies Championship in 1964. Astra Klovāne played for Latvia in Soviet team competitions: * In 1962, the best result at ten board in the 8th Soviet Team Chess Championship in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

(+3, =5, -0). * In 1967, the best result at nine board in the 10th Soviet Team Chess Championship in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

(+6, =2, -1). From time to time, Klovane still participates in chess competition.

Personal life

In 1968 Astra Klovāne graduated from the Latvian University Foreign Language Faculty and worked as a journalist. Astra Klovāne has been active in

Latvian Olympic Committee The Latvian Olympic Committee (, LOK) is a non-profit organization that is the National Olympic Committee for Latvia. Its headquarters are in Riga. History The Committee was created on 23 April 1922. In 1923, it received a notice from the Inter ...

reconstruction, and for several years was President of the Audit Commission. She was married to the nine-time Latvian Champion

Jānis Klovāns Jānis Klovāns (April 9, 1935 – October 5, 2010) was a Latvian chess player who held the FIDE title of Grandmaster (chess), Grandmaster and the ICCF title of Correspondence Chess Grandmaster. He was a career Officer (armed forces), officer in ...

(1935–2010) and had two daughters.

References

* Žuravļevs, N.; Dulbergs, I.; Kuzmičovs, G. (1980), Latvijas šahistu jaunrade, Rīga, Avots., pp. 99 – 101 (in Latvian).

External links

* * *
Astra Klovāne (as Astra Ērgle)
player profile at olimpbase.org (Soviet Team Chess Cup)

player profile at olimpbase.org (Soviet Team Chess Championship)

player profile at olimpbase.org (Soviet Team Chess Championship) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Klovane, Astra 1944 births Living people People from Ķekava Municipality Sportspeople from Vidzeme Latvian chess players Latvian female chess players Soviet female chess players Soviet chess players University of Latvia alumni Latvian journalists Latvian women journalists