Heikki Westerinen

Heikki Westerinen, 1987 in Altensteig
Surname	Heikki Markku Julius Westerinen
Association	Finland
Born	April 27, 1944 Helsinki
title	International Master (1967) Grand Master (1975)
Current  Elo rating	2263 (March 2020)
Best Elo rating	2485 (January 1976)
Tab at the FIDE (English)

Heikki Markku Julius Westerinen (born April 27, 1944 in Helsinki ) is a Finnish chess player .

Life

Heikki Westerinen, 1970

Borik , Lobron and Westerinen at the 1980 Chess Olympiad in Malta

Vlastimil Hort and Westerinen, Dortmunder Schachtage 2007

Although Westerinen trained as a teacher after studying mathematics, physics and chemistry, he began the uncertain career of a professional chess player. In 1967 he won the title of International Master . In 1975, after winning the tournament at the Dortmund Chess Days, he became Finland's first grandmaster .

He is a multiple Finnish national champion (1965, 1966, 1968, 1970). In the fall of 1971 Westerinen was third in the International German Championship , which Svetozar Gligorić won. His greatest successes are wins at the tournaments Palma de Mallorca 1973, Dortmund 1973 and 1975, Stockholm 1975, London 1979. Twenty years later at an IM tournament in 1996 in Timrå , Sweden , which Holger Grund won ahead of Paul Motwani , he finished fourth. In August 2019, Westerinen won an anniversary tournament in Helsinki in honor of his 75th birthday in front of Yrjö Rantanen .

National team

With the Finnish national team, Westerinen took part in all 18 chess Olympiads from 1962 to 1996 , the 19th participation followed in 2006 . In 1964 he achieved the second best result on the second board, and in 1966 also the third best result on the second board. He also took part in the European Team Championships in 1989, 1992, 1997 and 2007 with Finland .

societies

In Finland Westerinen played for Gaia Helsinki and Salon SK , with whom he took part in the European Club Cup . In Germany he played in the 1970s and 1980s for Solingen SG 1868 , with whom he became German team champion in 1980 , won the European Club Cup in 1976 and reached the semi-finals of the European Club Cup in 1979.

Theory contributions

A line in the King's Indian Defense is named after Heikki Westerinen : the Westerinen variant is created after the moves 1. d2 – d4 Ng8 – f6 2. c2 – c4 g7 – g6 3. Nb1 – c3 Bf8 – g7 4. e2 – e4 d7 -D6 5. Ng1-f3 0-0 6. Bf1-e2 Bc8-g4 7. Bc1-e3 Nf6-d7 . Westerinen popularized his invention through frequent use in the 1970s. Even nowadays it finds supporters at the top level: the Azerbaijani Şəhriyar Məmmədyarov used it in his game against Loek van Wely in Wijk aan Zee 2006.

Heikki Westerinen also wrote a booklet on lines of the Samisch system of the King's Indian Defense with an early Nb8 – c6.

literature

• Erkki Havansi: Heikki Westerinen, shakin mestari . Kirja shop, Helsinki 1969. (Finnish)

Web links

Commons : Heikki Westerinen  - Collection of images

• Replayable chess games by Heikki Westerinen on chessgames.com (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Match former winner of the Dortmund Chess Days: Vlastimil Hort - Heikki Westerinen on TeleSchach
2. ^ Willy Iclicki: FIDE Golden book 1924-2002 . Euroadria, Slovenia, 2002, p. 76.
3. ↑ 52nd German individual chess championship 1971 in Berlin on TeleSchach (cross table and games)
4. ↑ Dortmund Chess Days 1973 - Report from TeleSchach
5. ↑ Dortmund Chess Days 1975 on TeleSchach
6. ^ IM title for Holger Grund . JugendSchach issue 4/96, pp. 4–6 (report, photo, table and game).
7. ↑ [1] Helsinki Chess Festival Senior (65+) and GM Heikki Westerinen 75 year jubilee
8. ↑ [2] Final result Helsinki Chess Festival Seniors 2019
9. ↑ Heikki Westerinen's results at the Chess Olympiads on olimpbase.org (English)
10. ↑ Heikki Westerinen's results at European team championships on olimpbase.org (English)
11. ↑ ^{a b} Heikki Westerinen's results at European Club Cups on olimpbase.org (English)
12. ↑ Westerinen, Heikki: Nc6!?. Schackbulletinens Förlag, Kuhmo 1972.