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Latvian Janis Klovans died Tuesday at the age of 75. He competed with the top Soviet GMs during that era - but didn't receive the GM title intil 1997 at the age of 62. He was also a postal GM - and didn't start playing chess until the age of 14. (I have games in my database from 1951 to 2009)
GM Klovans was a teammate of former World Champion, GM Mikhail Tal, on Latvian youth teams in the early to mid 1950s; those teams did often well in inter-region Soviet team events, competing against regions with much higher population numbers.
GM Klovans had likely reached grandmaster strength by his mid to late 20s, but was caught behind the extraordinarily deep Soviet chess vanguard, a system which rationed norm opportunities, which could then only be normally earned in international tournaments, most of which were outside the USSR. GM Igor Ivanov was a similar victim of this system. He was likely GM strength by his early 30s, but didn't get even the IM title until after he defected to Canada in 1980; he won the 1981 Canadian Zonal to become an IM. By that point, he had defeated World Champion, GM Anatoly Karpov, in 1979 in a Soviet team event.
GM Klovans has to be heartily congratulated for staying with chess competition for so long; he was finally rewarded with the GM title by FIDE after winning the World Senior Championship.
Rest In Peace. Likely, GM Klovans and GM Tal have begun a blitz match in heaven already!!! :) :)
I would like to add that GM Igor Ivanov few Garry Kasparov in 1979 at one of big tournaments. Garry Kasparov analyzed pottion of that game in his book
'Test of Times'. Kasparov praised his high understanding of the game. :)
I think GM Igor Ivanon tied for first with Garry himself.
Yes, Mikhail Egorov is correct! Kasparov (then age 16) and Ivanov did tie for first in the 64-player tournament at Daugavpils (Latvia) in 1979; this Swiss-system event was a qualifier for the Soviet Championship later that year, and there was only one qualifying place, taken by Kasparov on tiebreak. But I didn't know that Kasparov had specifically praised Ivanov's chess understanding on that occasion, so thanks for that! Just another kudo towards Ivanov's chess! Cheers, Mikhail! :D
Yes, Mikhail Egorov is correct! Kasparov (then age 16) and Ivanov did tie for first in the 64-player tournament at Daugavpils (Latvia) in 1979; this Swiss-system event was a qualifier for the Soviet Championship later that year, and there was only one qualifying place, taken by Kasparov on tiebreak
The tournament was in 1978 (not 1979). A single qualifying place was a direct ticket to the Premier League (46th Soviet Championship). Other players got a chance to play in the First League, (and to qualify for Premier L.)
Vitaly Tseshkovsky shared 2-9 in Daugavpils, then 1-2 with V.Tukmakov (currently a Ukrainian Olympic team coach) in the First League, and finally with M.Tal won the championship (both were declared Champions and both qualified for interzonal Riga'79, what was won by M.Tal).
Janis Klovans was an officer of the Soviet Army. In the country occupied by the Soviets it was not the best profession for the Latvian.
But he was a nice guy and helped Mikhail Tal in several occasions. Tal always respected Janis. He was number 3 player in Latvia after Tal and Gipslis in 1960-1980. I don't think that Alvis Vitolins was stronger than Klovans.
I think there will be a book about Klovans published in Latvia soon. There are many books about Tal, 2 books about Gipslis and one nice book about Gipslis.
I think Klovans was number six player in Latvian chess history: Tal, Shirov, Vladimir Petrov, Gipslis, Matison and Klovans.
Last edited by Yakov Zusmanovich; Tuesday, 12th October, 2010, 12:25 AM.
Thanks for the correction on the date of the Daugavpils qualifier; it was definitley 1978, and a typo on my part! Also, thanks very much for the vital information on GM Klovans; certainly with him being an officer of the Soviet Army, that would have eliminated his possibilities for traveling outside the USSR for norm opportunities.
For another very strong player whose career hurt his international chess prospects, we have IM Lev Aronin (1920-1982), a contemporary of such stars as GMs Smyslov, Bronstein, Averbakh, and Taimanov. IM Aronin was a meteorologist, who may have had important technical (and possibly secret) knowledge in that field. The Soviets, having suffered the defections of such top players as GMs Alekhine and Bogolyubov, and IM (should have been GM!) Bogatirchuk (among others), weren't about to let sAronin possibly defect as well; he never got an opportunity in an individual international tournament outside the USSR. GM Bronstein wrote that IM Aronin was certainly of GM strength in the early 1950s, when he was supposed to travel to Stockholm for the 1952 Interzonal, having qualified through the USSR Championship, but was replaced by GM Alexander Kotov at the last minute for that tournament.
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