Jaan Ehlvest (born 14 October 1962) is an Estonian-American
chess
Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...
player. He was awarded the title
Grandmaster by
FIDE
The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...
in 1987. Ehlvest was Estonian champion in 1986. Since 2006, he has represented the United States.
He was named
Estonian Athlete of the Year
The Estonian Athlete of the Year () is an annual award presented by the Estonian Olympic Committee (''Eesti Olümpiakomitee'', EOK) to one male and one female sportsperson judged to have delivered the best performance over the course of the year ...
in 1987 and 1989. From July 1990 to July 1991, he was among the top 10 on the
FIDE world rankings
The International Chess Federation (FIDE) governs international chess competition. Each month, FIDE publishes the lists "Top 100 Players", "Top 100 Women", "Top 100 Juniors" and "Top 100 Girls" and rankings of countries according to the average r ...
, peaking at number 5 in the list of January 1991.
[
]
Career
Ehlvest's tournament victories include the 1980 USSR Junior Chess Championship, the 1983 European Junior Championship, the 1986 Estonian Championship, the 1994 New York Open, and the 2003 World Open in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
. When SK Rockaden won the 2001 Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
championship they fielded Ehlvest.
He was a member of the gold medal-winning Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
team at the 28th Chess Olympiad
The 28th Chess Olympiad (, ''I 28i Skakistikí Olympiáda''), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and a women's tournament, as well ...
in Thessaloniki 1988 and played for Estonia in the Chess Olympiads
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in 2020 and ...
of 1992–2004.
In 1997 and 2000, Ehlvest tied for first place at the U.S. Masters Chess Championship
The U.S. Masters Championship is an official national chess championship sanctioned by US Chess that has been held 27 times since 1982. The event is a Swiss tournament usually restricted to players who have established peak ratings over 2200, plus ...
.
In 2006, unsatisfied with the lack of support from the Estonian Chess Federation, Ehlvest decided to move to the United States; since then, he has been a member of the USCF and competed internationally for the US.
In March 2007, Ehlvest accepted an invitation to play an eight-game match against the chess program Rybka
Rybka is a computer chess engine designed by International Master Vasik Rajlich. Around 2011, Rybka was one of the top-rated engines on chess engine rating lists and won many computer chess tournaments.
After Rybka won four consecutive Wor ...
, one of the strongest chess programs in existence. He was playing Black in all games, but was given pawn odds (Rybka was playing each game a pawn down; a different white pawn was removed in each game). He lost the match by 2½:5½ (+1−4=3). In a following rematch, the pawn odds were removed, Ehlvest was given White in every game, twice the time on the clock, and significant computational handicaps were placed on the machine. Ehlvest lost decisively, 1½:4½.
In 2008 he won the Pan American-Continental Championship, which took place in Boca Raton
Boca Raton ( ; ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population was 97,422 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and it ranked as the 23rd-largest city in Florida in 2022. Many people with a Boca Raton Address, ...
, Florida.
Personal life
Ehlvest's younger brother, Jüri Ehlvest
Jüri Ehlvest (15 March 1967 Tallinn – 11 October 2006 New York City) was an Estonian writer. His brother is chess player Jaan Ehlvest. He studied in University of Tartu
The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university loc ...
, was a well-known writer in Estonia.
Ehlvest studied psychology at Tartu State University (now, University of Tartu
The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country. ). In 2004, Ehlvest published his autobiography, ''The Story of a Chess Player''. While U.S. citizen, he spends most of his time in Estonia.
References
Further reading
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ehlvest, Jaan
1962 births
Living people
Chess Grandmasters
Chess Olympiad competitors
Estonian chess players
Soviet chess players
Estonian emigrants to the United States
American chess players
University of Tartu alumni
Chess players from Tallinn