he chess world was recently saddened to learn of the death of Latvian grandmaster Aivars P. Gipslis. He died in a German hospital after being in a coma for several weeks. Aivars Gipslis was one of an elite group of chessplayers to hold both the FIDE and ICCF GM titles and be regularly active in both forms of the game. We dedicate this month's column in his memory.

Aivars Gipslis was a contemporary of Mikhail Tal, and he was the second strongest Latvian player for several decades. In addition to being a very strong player he edited the magazine Sahs/Shakmaty for many years and was well noted for his theoretical articles and analysis. His services as a chess trainer and teacher were in great demand.

The following obituary summarizing his chess achievements was posted recently on the ICCF webpage:

By Artis Gaujens, Latvia

Aivars Gipslis died on April 14, 2000 in Berlin at the age of 63. He played for a local Berlin chessclub and suffered a stroke during a chess game; a stroke from which he did not recover.

Aivars Gipslis was born February 8, 1937. He started to play chess at the age of 12 with his contemporaries - FIDE world champion Mikhail Tal, FIDE GM & ICCF IM Janis Klovans, Janis Klavins, Valentin Kirilov , and ICCF IM Janis Vitomskis. He graduated from Latvian University as an economist, but later devoted his life to chess as a player, trainer, theoretician, and chess journalist. In 1971 he became chief editor of the chess journal "Sahs" in Riga where he published many of his theoretical articles.

The following are his Greatest Achievements in Chess:

OTB chess :

-Fide grandmaster 1967
-3rd place in 1966/67 Soviet Union championship
-8 times Latvian champion
-World student champion (on team) 1957
-European champion (in team) 1970

Trainer :

-Trainer of the world champion Nona Gaprindashvilli 1966-1979
-Chief coach of the Soviet Union women's team in the 1972, 1974, 1978, 1980, 1982 Olympiads

Correspondence Chess :

-ICCF GM 1996
-1st place in the Alekhine Memorial (ahead of two former CC World Champions: Sanakoev, Zagorovsky)

We commemorate his passing by featuring one of the many fine games that Aivars Gipslis created during his lifetime. It's a difficult task to choose just one game from so many fine wins. But, after playing over many of Aivars' games, I chose the following correspondence game for several reasons.  

First, I believe that this game is very illustrative of his style and his superior understanding of positional themes. It's not that he could not play exciting and complicated combinations, as his beautiful win against Juan Morgado well illustrates. But, I was most impressed by his wins from what appeared to be very simple and equal positions; a style very reminiscent of Capablanca. These are the type of games that win tournaments and show the true strength of a player. Secondly, this correspondence game is between two very strong OTB GMs that also participated in CC. His opponent, Vladas Mikenas of Lithuania, also had many wins against the world's best including Alekhine (twice), Flohr (Twice), Keres, Tartakover, Bogulyubov, etc. The third reason is more personal. The game is from an invitational tournament that was organized in 1988 to commemorate 100 years of Correspondence Chess in Lithuania. For several reasons, I missed a wonderful opportunity to play against these chess legends in this tournament. It was my loss. 

The game begins as a Caro-Kann but quickly transposes into a Queen' Gambit Declined, where White has the usual compensation of better piece placement for the isolated pawn. As often happens in these type of positions, White exchanges on d5 eliminating his isolated pawn and gaining control of the Black squares. But, then the difficult part of the game lies ahead; how to convert this advantage into a win. This part of the game Aivars Gipslis carries out in great style. The placement of his Knight, the dominance of key squares, the final breakup of the Black pawn structure, and the triumphant advance of the d-pawn are lessons to be learned from this game.

The game annotations are by Aivars Gipslis, except for the several denoted by VVP.

Gipslis, Aivars (LAT) - Mikenas, Vladas (LIT)
100 years of CC in Lithuania, 1988
D42 [Annotated by A. Gipslis, INF 50]

12...h6
A) 13.h4 Bd7 14.a3 Bc6 15.Bd2 Rc8 16.Rad1 a6 17.g3 Qd6 18.Nh2 Nxc3 19.Bxc3 1/2 Vyzhmanavin - Kron, USSR 1989;
B) 13.Ne5 Nxc3 14.Qxc3 Nf5 15.Be3 Nxe3 16.fxe3 (RR16.Qxe3 Qb6 17.Rad1 Rd8 18.b3 Bd7= Sher - L.Hansen, Vejle 1994) 16...Rb8 17.Rad1 Bd7 18.Bb1 Be8 19.Ng4 Bg5 20.e4 h5 21.Nf2 Rc8 22.Qh3 g6 23.d5 e5 24.Qb3 b5= Chiburdanidze - Ioseliani, Telavi 1988;
C) 13.Qe2 13...Bd7 14.Bb1 Nxc3 15.bxc3 Bc6 16.Ne5 Bxe5 17.Qxe5 Qd5 18.Qg3 Qh5 19.Bc2 Nf5 20.Bxf5 exf5 21.c4 Rfe8 22.Be3 Qg4 23.d5+= Adams - An.Karpov, Monaco 1992; RR12...Ng6 13.Bd2 b6 14.h4 Bb7 15.h5 Ngf4 16.Qb1 Qc7 17.Bxh7+ Kh8 18.Be4 Nxh5 19.Bxd5 exd5 20.Ne5 g6 21.Nb5 Qd8 22.Bb4± Kamsky - Epishin, Las Palmas 1994

RR13.h4 Bd7 14.Ne5 Bc6 15.Bh6 Re8 16.h5 Nf5 17.hxg6 hxg6 18.Nxc6 bxc6 19.Nxd5 cxd5 20.Bxf5 exf5 21.Bf4 Re4 22.Be5 Bxe5 23.dxe5 Qa5=+ Kveinys - Gawehns, Godesburg 1994

RR13...Re8 14.h4 Qd6 15.Ne5 Bxh4 16.g3 Bf6 17.Qf3!± J.Sorensen - Smagin, Denmark 1993

14.Bxg7 Kxg7 15.Bxd5 (15.Rac1 b6 16.a3 Bb7 17.Rc2 1/2 Dely - L.Lengyel, Hungary 1992) 15...Nxd5 16.Nxd5 Qxd5 17.Re5 Qd6 18.Rae1unclear

14...b6 15.h4 Bb7 16.h5 Nf5 17.Bxg7 Kxg7 18.Nxd5 Bxd5 19.Bxd5 Qxd5 20.Re5 Qd8 ( 20...Qd6) 21.d5!± Gipslis - Tavadian, Yurmala 1983; 14...Qd6 15.Bxd5 (15.h4!?) 15...Nxd5 16.Bxg7 Kxg7 17.Nxd5 Qxd5 18.Re5 Qd6 19.Rae1 Rd8 20.h4± Gipslis - Borer, Berlin 1991; RR14...Nf6 15.Bc2 b6 16.Rad1 Bb7 17.Ne5 Nc6?! 18.Bg5! Ne7 19.Re3 Nfd5 20.Nxd5 Bxd5 21.Rh3! f6 22.Bh6 fxe5 23.Bxg7 Kxg7 24.Qh6+ Kf6 25.Qh4+ Kg7 26.Qxh7+ Kf6 27.Qh4+ Kf7 28.dxe5! g5 29.Bg6+! Nxg6 30.Qh7+ Ke8 31.Qxg6+ Kd7 32.Rxd5+! 1-0 Winslow - Nur, New York 1993

16...Nxd5 17.Nxd5 exd5 18.Re5 Bc6 19.Rae1 Re8 20.Rxe8 Bxe8 21.Ne5+= Gligoric - Deze, Yugoslavia 1976

17.Qf4

17...f6 18.Re2 Rf7 19.Rae1 Bc6 20.Re6 Ng8 21.h4 Rc8 22.g4! Qc7 23.Qxc7 Rcxc7± 24.R6e3

24.g5 fxg5 25.R6e3 (25.Nxg5 Rfe7) 25...gxh4 26.Ng5 Wins the exchange, but the position is unclear. VVP

24...Nh6

True to his nature, Mikenas pursues an aggressive continuation rather than exchanging rooks with 24....Rfe7 or Rce7.. VVP

25.Nh2 Kf8

25...f5 26.g5±

26.Kg2 Bd7 27.f3 f5 28.g5 f4 29.Rd3! Nf5 30.Ng4 Nxh4+ 31.Kf2 Nf5

31...Bxg4!? 32.fxg4 f3! 33.Rf1 Ng2 34.Rxf3+=

32.Ne5 Rg7 33.Rd2!

33...Ne3 34.Ne2 Nc4 35.Nxc4 dxc4 36.Nxf4 b5 37.Nd5 Rb7?!

37...Rc8!?

38.Nf6 b4 39.d5 Re7

39...c3 40.bxc3 bxc3 41.Rc2 Rb2 42.Rxb2 cxb2 43.Rb1+-

40.Rc1 Bb5 41.d6 Rf7 42.a4!!+-

A great move that takes advantage of the overworked Bishop. The Bishop cannot keep an eye on d7 and at the same time, protect the pawn on c4. So Mikenas must allow the breakup of his Queenside pawn structure. VVP

42...Bxa4 43.Rxc4+-

The same pretty theme! Now the Rook on c1 joins the attack decisively. VVP

44...Bxa4 45.Rxc4 Bb5 46.Rc8++-

45...hxg5 46.Rc7! Bf5 47.d7+-

Rf5

50...Rc8 51.Rd8 Kf7 52.Nd5+- and the Black King is completely sealed off from the Queenside. VVP

52...Rc2 53.Ne8+!+-

53.Kd4 Rh4+ 54.Kd5 Rxa4 55.Rd7+!

55...Bxd7 56.Nxd7 Gipslis 1-0

A pretty ending to a fine game!

Additional information about Aivars P. Gipslis, his win against J. Morgado (Argentina) in the Estrin Memorial, and a collection of his games for download can be found at the website www.Chessmail.com