Ortvin Sarapu

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ortvin Sarapu: "Mr. Chess". The Ortvin Sarapu story 1993

Ortvin Sarapu MBE (22 January 1924 in Narva, Estonia – 13 April 1999 in Auckland, New Zealand)

Born "Sarapuu" in Estonia, he won the Estonian Junior Championship. After World War 2, he played with some success in European tournaments, and beat former world chess championship candidate Efim Bogolyubov with a sharp turnaround from a bad position.[1]

He met New Zealander Robert Wade at a tournament, and Wade suggested that New Zealand would be a good place to emigrate to for someone who wanted to escape the war-ravaged Europe. With his German-born wife Barbara (née Bialonczyk), he moved to New Zealand in 1950.

On arrival, there was a huge gap in chess strength between him and the rest. His strength helped raise the general standard of chess in New Zealand. Even so, he won the New Zealand Chess Championship on a record 20 occasions, and became known as "Mr NZ Chess". He also represented New Zealand at 10 Chess Olympiads.

In 1952 he played C. J. S. Purdy, then champion of Australia, for the championship of Australasia. The match, played at Auckland, was drawn, the players becoming joint champions for 1952. Sarapu took first place at the Melbourne International Tournament in 1955.

Was awarded the International Master title in 1966 by FIDE, after winning the Asian Zonal, the second New Zealand player to gain this rank, the first being Robert G Wade.

He was awarded an MBE for his services to chess.

[edit] Literature

Ortvin Sarapu: 25 Years in the New Zealand Chess Championship (1952-1977), 1978.
Ortvin Sarapu: "Mr. Chess". The Ortvin Sarapu story. New Zealand Chess Supplies, Wainuiomata 1993. ISBN 0-473-01607-9
Ortvin Sarapuu: Minu malelugu. Kupar, Tallinn 1998. ISBN 9985-61-117-9