Jānis Vitomskis

Jānis Vitomskis (born August 28, 1936 in Riga ; † June 25, 2009 there ) was a Latvian chess player . He was European champion in correspondence chess .

Correspondence chess

Jānis Vitomskis began correspondence chess around 1957. He won the 7th Latvian championship in 1969/70 and defended this title in the 8th Latvian championship in 1971/72. During his participation in European distance tournaments, he qualified for the final round of the 28th European Championship. Here he won in 1987/90 with 10.5 out of 14 points ahead of Werner Stern and became European champion.

At the end of the 1980s he qualified in the ¾ final of the Candidates Tournament for the finals of the 15th Correspondence Chess World Championship. Here he reached 13th place in 2003.

In 2002 he represented Latvia at the 12th Correspondence Chess Olympiad and scored 10 unbeaten points from 12 games on board 2.

For his success, the World Correspondence Chess Federation ( ICCF) awarded him the title of Grand Master in Correspondence Chess in 2001 .

Chess author

Together with Tim Harding and Martin Benedik, Vitomskis released an opening CD The Total Marshall in 2002 .

Private

Vitomskis was a lawyer by profession.

Web links

• Vitomski's obituary ( memento from September 5, 2011 in the Internet Archive )