Ilmārs Starostīts (born May 30, 1979, in Rēzekne) is a

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

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 ...

player who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster (2010).

Career

Ilmārs Starostīts participated in various Junior World Championships from 1993 to 1999. In 2001 he achieved the International Master title. Ilmārs Starostīts twice 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 ...

: 2002 and 2022. He has played in more than 80 important tournaments and won the Stockholm Elo Challenge in 2010, and was second in Rodrigo Memorial ( Ferrol,

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

) in 2010. During the 2007 Vandœuvre Open in late December, Starostīts, falsely accused Anna Rudolf of cheating by hiding a computer in her lip balm. Starostīts in particular asked the arbiter to confiscate her belongings and refused to shake her hand before their game, the latter of which could have been penalized. Marie Boyarchenko, another player at the event, believed these actions were key factors in Rudolf losing that last-round game and cost her the championship. Starostīts has never apologized for his behavior towards Rudolf. Ilmārs Starostīts played for Latvia 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: * In 2002, at second reserve board in the

35th Chess Olympiad The 35th Chess Olympiad (), organized by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and women's tournament, took ...

in Bled (+5 −3 =4); * In 2012, at reserve board in the 40th Chess Olympiad in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

(+4 -2 =2); * In 2024, at reserve board in the 45th Chess Olympiad in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

(+5 -0 =3). Ilmārs Starostīts played for Latvia in European Team Chess Championship: * In 2011, at fourth board in Porto Carras (+4 −3 =2).

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Starostits, Ilmars 1979 births Living people Latvian chess players Chess Grandmasters Chess Olympiad competitors People from Rēzekne