Aivars Gipslis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Aivars Gipslis |
|
|---|---|
Aivars Gipslis
|
|
| Country | Latvia |
| Born | February 8, 1937 Riga, Latvia |
| Died | April 13, 2000 (aged 63) |
| Title | Grandmaster (1967) ICCF Grandmaster |
| Peak rating | 2580 (July 1971) |
Aivars Gipslis (born February 8, 1937 – died April 13, 2000) was a famous Latvian chess player. He earned the top title of Grandmaster in regular chess and also in correspondence chess. Besides playing, he was also a talented chess writer and editor.
Contents
A Chess Champion's Journey
Aivars Gipslis was born in Riga, Latvia. He quickly became a strong player. He won the Latvian Chess Championship many times: in 1955, 1956, 1957, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, and 1966. That's eight times!
He also competed in the tough USSR Chess Championship. His best result there was in 1966, where he finished tied for third place. This showed he was one of the best players in the Soviet Union.
Top Tournament Successes
One of Aivars Gipslis's most impressive results was at the Alekhine Memorial tournament in Moscow in 1967. He finished second, just behind the winner, Leonid Stein. What made this even more special was that he tied with two World Champions, Vasily Smyslov and Mikhail Tal. He even finished ahead of two other World Champions, Boris Spassky and Tigran Petrosian! This showed he could play against the very best.
Gipslis also shared first place at the Bad Liebenstein tournament in 1963 with Lev Polugaevsky. In 1977, he took second place at a tournament in Budapest, behind David Bronstein. He became a Grandmaster in 1967, which is the highest title a chess player can achieve.
Team Play and Chess Writing
Aivars Gipslis was also a great team player. He represented the Soviet Union in the World Student Team Chess Championships in 1957, 1958, and 1959. He also played for the USSR in the European Team Chess Championship in 1970. Later, in 1993, he played for his home country, Latvia, in the World Team Chess Championship.
Beyond playing, Gipslis helped share his chess knowledge. He was the editor of a Latvian chess magazine called Šahs starting in 1963.
Gipslis's Chess Openings
In chess, an "opening" is the first few moves of a game. When Aivars Gipslis played with the white pieces, he often started with the move 1.e4. This is a very common and strong opening move.
When he played with the black pieces, he used a wider variety of openings. He even has a special chess opening variation named after him! It's called the Gipslis Variation in the Sicilian Defence. He played this specific set of moves many times in the 1960s. It goes like this: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Nf6 6.0-0 d6 7.c4 g6.
Images for kids
-
Aivars Gipslis
See Also
