Kārlis Bētiņš (; 27 October 1867, Bērzmuiža – 28 March 1943,

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

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 ...

master and composer of studies. He tied for 3rd-5th place at Riga 1899 (the 1st Baltic Congress, his brother Roberts Bētiņš won), took 3rd place at Riga 1900 (won by T. Muller), won at Riga 1900 and 1901, shared 1st place with Karl Wilhelm Rosenkrantz, W. Sohn and Wilhelm von Stamm at

Dorpat Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

(Tartu) 1901 (the 2nd Baltic Congress), and tied for 3rd-4th place at

Reval Tallinn is the capital and most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and administratively lies in the Harju ''maakond'' (co ...

(Tallinn) 1904 ( Bernhard Gregory won). In 1902–1910, he was a co-editor with Paul Kerkovius of the ''Baltische Schachblätter''. After

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he took 3rd place, behind

Hermanis Matisons Hermanis Matisons (; 1894, Riga – 1932) was a Latvian chess player and one of world's most highly regarded chess masters in the early 1930s. He was also a leading Chess composer, composer of Endgame study, endgame studies. He died of tuberculosi ...

and Fricis Apšenieks, at Riga 1924 (1st LAT-ch). Bētinš played for Latvia in the

1st unofficial Chess Olympiad The 1st Team Chess Tournament was held together with the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, 12–20 July 1924, at the Hotel Majestic. Fifty-four players representing 18 countries were split into nine preliminary groups of six. The winner of each roun ...

at Paris 1924 (+7 –4 =2), where he took 4th place (team) and tied for 4-7th place in Consolation Cup (individual; Karel Hromadka won). The

Latvian Gambit The Latvian Gambit (or Greco Countergambit) is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 f5 It is one of the oldest chess openings, having been analysed in the 16th century by Giulio Cesare Polerio and then the 17th cent ...

(1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5) was named as a tribute to Kārlis Bētiņš, who analyzed it in the early part of the 20th century.Slavas zale
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References

1867 births 1943 deaths Latvian chess players Chess theoreticians Chess composers People from Dobele Municipality Chess players from the Russian Empire {{Latvia-chess-bio-stub