Isa Kasimi, higher often called Igors Rausis, the Latvian Worldwide Grasp and coach who was banned for six years and was stripped of his GM title after being caught dishonest, has died on the age of 62. The information was confirmed by his ex-wife Olita after a put up on Fb by GM Alexei Shirov.

Kasimi was born Igor Kondylev on April 7, 1961 in Komunarsk, a small city within the Lugansk province in japanese Ukraine. Solely on the age of 14 did he begin to get all for chess, first attempting out correspondence chess earlier than he turned to regular video games. Whereas in school in Sevastopol (Crimea), he began taking part in increasingly more.

He bought a medical schooling and was schooled as a neurologist, though he additionally confirmed a expertise for languages as he realized to talk English, German, and French fluently. He labored within the emergency unit in Sevastopol and was a crew member of an ambulance.

Though he had grow to be a critical chess participant at this level, his curiosity quickly switched to teaching. He labored as a chess instructor within the Simferopol Pioneer’s Palace and, after he moved to Latvia in 1984, he began teaching the nationwide youth group in Riga. Amongst his pupils have been Shirov and GM Andrei Sokolov.

He then completed the Greater Faculty of Trainers in Moscow in 1988. Round that point, on the age of 27, he bought his first worldwide score, and in 1992 FIDE awarded him the grandmaster title. He would characterize Latvia in three Olympiads (1996, 1998, and 2002) and one World Staff Championship (1993). In 1995, he gained the Latvian Championship.

He labored as a coach in many various nations. He spent the years 2003-2007 in Bangladesh and in addition represented that nation as a participant in these years. In 2007, he began representing the Czech Republic. At Olympiads, he coached the Latvian girls’s group (1994), the Bangladeshi group (2000, 2002, 2008), Algeria (2010), and Jersey (2012, 2014). In 2018 he obtained the FIDE Coach title.

In December 2019, the FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Fee banned Kasimi for six years and took away his grandmaster title after he was caught holding a telephone in a rest room cubicle through the Strasbourg Open earlier that 12 months. The ban would have expired on July 30, 2025.

Kasimi had been below investigation for dishonest for a very long time. He had raised suspicions after he elevated his score to 2685 in 2019. He had gained nearly 200 factors in a interval of about 10 years. Then the world number-50, he was the oldest participant on the planet’s high 100.

After the incident in Strasbourg, the place he voluntarily withdrew from the match, he commented to Chess.com: “I merely misplaced my thoughts yesterday. (…) At the least what I dedicated yesterday is an efficient lesson, not for me—I performed my final recreation of chess already.”

Nonetheless, in October 2020, Kasimi confirmed up at a small fast match in Valka, Latvia, taking part in below his new title. He was allowed to take part as a result of the video games weren’t FIDE-rated, however he withdrew from the match after a protest from the Latvian grandmaster Arturs Neiksans.

“After what occurred yesterday, truly I’m not very upset,” he advised Chess.com. “As a result of now I understood that my first want was to not come to chess in any respect after Strasbourg occurred. However yesterday I regretted that I returned to chess.”

After Kasimi married his first spouse Olita Rause, a Latvian Girl Grandmaster, he modified his surname from Kondylev to Rausis. He had two daughters and two grandsons together with her. After the dishonest scandal, he modified his surname title to Kasimi, after his second spouse Ajgul Kasimova.

Kasimi advised Chess.com that he modified his title due to the unflattering picture that was printed in quite a few publications and on social media. He stated he additionally modified his title as a result of he felt ashamed for his household. 

In our final interview, Kasimi advised Chess.com that he was identified with most cancers in 2003. He had been taking medicine since, and in addition began to endure chemotherapy, from 2018 onwards.

He revealed that, two days earlier than the beginning of that fateful Strasbourg match, he had accomplished his sixth chemotherapy session. “I used to be fully loopy, I used to be out of my thoughts,” he stated. I should not have gone there however I used to be within the working to interrupt 2700.”

He emphasised that he did not need to use his bodily state of affairs as an excuse: “I take full duty for myself. I can’t blame my weak spot or my illness or no matter. I did very harmful issues that will hurt all the chess world. I consider I did probably the most dangerous factor you are able to do for chess.”

Shirov, a former world class participant, broke the information of Kasimi’s loss of life on Thursday on Fb. The Spanish-Latvian grandmaster commented:

I realise and take it as a on condition that many of the chess world had a moderately damaging angle to this grasp over the past 5 years (and a few for even longer).

Igors will likely be remembered by me at the beginning as a person who would usually, and in good time, come to your assist. The final time was within the “pandemic” 12 months of 2020, when, thanks largely to him, I used to be in a position to deal with one other artistic disaster and dramatically enhance my recreation for a time period.

The primary expertise of working collectively dates again to the distant 1986. Igors considerably expanded the boundaries of my notion of chess and taught me tips on how to play dynamically. He additionally taught me the Arkhangelsk variation, nonetheless the “previous” model on the time, and lots of memorable episodes in my chess life and profession are related with it.

Possessing encyclopaedic data, in addition to a peaceful, even, and gentle character, Igors was a beautiful mentor and coach, however sadly, as everyone knows, he was not at all times Dr Jekyll…. 🙁

In 1989 Igors coached the Latvian nationwide group on the Youth Video games in Kramatorsk, the place I (at the moment a global grasp) was fortunate sufficient to beat Vasyl Ivanchuk, who was already the world number-three. We then analyzed the sport for a very long time with Igors and the entire group, Igors discovered how I might have improved on the sport within the opening, and a 12 months and a half later I managed to beat Olivier Renet utilizing that concept.

Igors performed many sensible video games in his life, and never simply those you are pondering of. Maybe I ought to search the database and make a wide selection, however by some means exactly at this second I do not really feel prefer it… However his black victory over Sasha [Alexander] Shabalov within the Latvian Championship in 1989 (I did not play there anymore) sticks in my reminiscence. Within the Latvian hierarchy Shabalov was rated a lot increased than Rausis, and was on the verge of an enormous rise. Rausis was considerably drawn towards the offbeat, which was at all times welcomed in Latvia, however Shabalov performed within the basic Tal fashion, in order that he gave the impression to be the clear favourite of their recreation.

In the present day, due to Stockfish, it’s simple to say that Sasha Shabalov had an enormous, nearly decisive benefit. However in these distant occasions Igors and I analysed the sport (our joint commentary might be discovered within the archives of the New In Chess Yearbook), and this truth was not so clear to us. Ultimately, Igors managed to grab the initiative and outplay one of many brightest representatives of Latvian chess in nice issues.

Under are the three video games Shirov mentioned in his Fb put up:

Among the many individuals responding to Shirov’s put up have been a number of grandmasters, nearly universally emphasizing Kasimi’s variety nature. GM Michal Krasenkow known as him “a beautiful chess participant and particular person,” whereas GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov wrote: “He’ll at all times stay in our reminiscence as a beautiful and pleasant particular person.”

Neiksans, who clashed with Kasimi on the Latvian fast match in 2020, advised Chess.com: “We have had some disagreeable clashes up to now, together with the final scandal when he was taking part in below disguise, however aside from that I believed that we at all times had a collegial relationship and did not maintain something private. Albeit Igors was a controversial participant and made errors that I am certain he deeply regretted, he may even be remembered as an amazing chess coach, efficiently working with many main Latvian gamers up to now. Relaxation in peace.”

In January 2024, WGM Dina Belenkaya posted a video on YouTube wherein she performed a blitz recreation towards Kasimi on the Charlotte Chess Middle. Her opponent confirmed humor by taking part in the Latvian gambit. After the sport, when requested why he misplaced his GM title, Kasimi replied: “Really no one understood this. I bought my grandmaster title when no web and smartphones existed. [It was] to point out to different cheaters that punishments could possibly be very harsh. It is smart, as a result of it is grow to be an enormous drawback these days.”

Belenkaya commented to Chess.com: “It’s totally unhappy, I realized [it] this morning. As I attempted to depict him in my video, regardless of the controversy round his title, as an individual he was extraordinarily nice, variety, galant, and constructive. I used to be fortunate to get a possibility to fulfill him in particular person and he did go away a really heat impression on me.”

Tarjei Svensen contributed to this story.