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Isa Kasimi

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Isa Kasimi
Rausis at the 2011 Winterthurer Schachwoche tournament
CountrySoviet Union (until 1991)
Latvia (1992–2002)[1]
Bangladesh (2003–2007)[2]
Czech Republic (2007–2020)[3]
FIDE (2020–2024)[4][5][6]
Born(1961-04-07)April 7, 1961
Komunarsk, Luhansk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, USSR
DiedMarch 28, 2024(2024-03-28) (aged 62)
TitleGrandmaster (1992, stripped in 2019)
International Master (2019)
Peak rating2686 (July 2019)
Peak rankingNo. 46 (April 2020)[7]

Isa Kasimi[8][9] (April 7, 1961 – March 28, 2024), born Igor Kondylev and known as Igors Rausis until 2020, was a Latvian chess International Master. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1992, but the title was stripped away after he was caught cheating in 2019. He won the Latvian Chess Championship in 1995. He represented Bangladesh from 2003[2] to 2007, when he switched to the Czech Republic.[3]

In July 2019, Kasimi was caught cheating in a Strasbourg tournament, after which he admitted to the transgression and announced his immediate retirement from chess. The Czech Chess Federation subsequently cancelled his membership,[4] and the FIDE Ethics Commission stripped him of his Grandmaster title and gave him a six-year ban. At the time, he was the oldest player ranked among FIDE's top 100 players.[10] Kasimi is featured as a key character in the Juhani Seppovaara novel Shakkimestari ("The Chess Master", 2024).[11]

Chess career

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Rausis won the Latvian Chess Championship in 1995. He played for team Latvia in three Chess Olympiads:[12]

Rausis represented Latvia at the 1993 World Team Chess Championship[13] in Lucerne, at the first reserve board (+0−2=2).

Rausis was also active as a trainer; he coached the Latvian women's team at the 1994 Olympiad, the Bangladeshi team at the 2000, 2002, 2008 and 2018 Olympiads, the Algerian team at the 2010 Olympiad, and the team of Jersey at the 2012 and 2014 Olympiads. In 2018, he was awarded the title of FIDE Trainer.

In July 2019, Rausis was caught cheating in the Strasbourg Open, using a mobile phone in the toilet.[14] He admitted to having cheated, and announced his retirement from chess.[15] Prior to the incident, Rausis had been under suspicion for several months;[16] FIDE's Fair Play Commission Secretary, Yuri Garrett, stated in a Facebook post that the Commission "has been closely following [Rausis] for months" on the basis of Ken Regan's statistical insights.[17] On December 5, 2019, the FIDE Ethics Commission banned Rausis from all FIDE-rated chess tournaments for 6 years and formally revoked his Grandmaster title, without, however, affecting his other titles or his rating.[18]

In 2020, Kasimi entered a small tournament in Latvia, which was not rated by FIDE so not subject to his ban from chess. He was recognised by Arturs Neikšāns, provoking anger from other players, and withdrew from the tournament.[8]

Personal life

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Kasimi was first married to Olita Rause, a Latvian Woman Grandmaster, changed his surname from Kondylev to Rausis after her, and had two daughters with her. He changed his surname again to Kasimi after his second wife Ajgul Kasimova.[19][9] In 2003, there were allegations that he provided "occasional help" to his wife during correspondence chess tournaments.[20]

Kasimi was diagnosed with cancer in 2003. He had been taking medication since, and started to undergo chemotherapy, from 2018 onwards.[21] Kasimi died on March 28, 2024, at the age of 62.[22]

References

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  1. ^ "Rausis, Igors". OlimpBase.
  2. ^ a b "Transfers in 2003". FIDE. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Transfers in 2007". FIDE. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Vyloučení I. Rausise" [Expulsion of I. Rausis] (in Czech). August 27, 2019. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
  5. ^ "Top 100 Players February 2020 - Archive". FIDE.
  6. ^ "Rausis, Igors". FIDE.
  7. ^ "PERIOD: APRIL 2020 – RANK STANDARD RATING WORLD". FIDE.
  8. ^ a b Doggers (PeterDoggers), Peter. "Banned For Cheating, Igors Rausis Enters Tournament Under Different Name". Chess.com. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
  9. ^ a b Doggers, Peter (October 24, 2020). "From Igors Rausis To Isa Kasimi: Interview With A Chess Cheater". Chess.com.
  10. ^ "PERIOD: DECEMBER 2019 – RANK STANDARD RATING WORLD". FIDE. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
  11. ^ "Shakkimestari". docendo.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved October 18, 2024.
  12. ^ Bartelski, Wojciech (ed.). "Men's Chess Olympiads: Igors Rausis". OlimpBase. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  13. ^ Bartelski, Wojciech (ed.). "World Men's Team Chess Championship: Igors Rausis". OlimpBase. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  14. ^ McGourty, Colin (July 12, 2019). "GM Igors Rausis allegedly caught cheating". Chess24.com. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  15. ^ "Chess grandmaster admits to cheating with phone on toilet during tournament". The Guardian. July 13, 2019. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  16. ^ Shah, Sagar (July 12, 2019). "58-year-old GM Igors Rausis accused of cheating". ChessBase. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  17. ^ Doggers, Peter (July 12, 2019). "GM Igors Rausis Under Cheating Investigation". Chess.com. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  18. ^ Strydom, F.P. (December 5, 2019). "FIDE Ethics Commission" (PDF) (Press release). FIDE. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
  19. ^ Grahn, Lars (2000). "SSKK 60 år - en av världens starkaste jubileumsturneringar" (PDF). Korrschack (in Swedish). Vol. 48, no. 1. p. 4. ISSN 1403-5057. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  20. ^ van Vugt, Wim (August 27, 2003). "Freedom, inequality or brotherhood?". The Campbell Report. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  21. ^ Doggers, Peter (March 29, 2024). "Isa Kasimi (Igors Rausis) 1961-2024". Chess.com. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
  22. ^ Lorenz, Roger (April 5, 2024). "Remembering Igors Rausis (*7 April 1961, †28 March 2024)". Chess News. Retrieved June 17, 2024.
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