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{{Short description|Estonian-New Zealand chess player}}
{{Redirect|Sarapu|the mountain in Peru|Sarapu (Peru)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
[[File:Ortvin Sarapu.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Ortvin Sarapu: '' 'Mr. NZ Chess' The Ortvin Sarapu Story'' 1993]]▼
'''Ortvin Sarapu''' {{post-nominals|country=NZL|MBE}} (born '''Ortvin Sarapuu'''; 22 January 1924 – 13 April 1999), known in New Zealand as "Mr Chess",<ref name="Te Ara-Sarapu">{{cite book | chapterurl=https://www.teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/44234/ortvin-sarapu | title=[[Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] | author= Mark Derby| date= September 5, 2013 | chapter= Cards, board games and puzzles - Non-gambling games: Ortvin Sarapu}}</ref> was an [[Estonia|Estonian]]-born [[chess]] player who emigrated to New Zealand and won or shared the [[New Zealand Chess Championship]] 20 times from 1952 to 1990.▼
▲[[File:Ortvin Sarapu.jpg|thumb
▲'''Ortvin Sarapu''' {{post-nominals|country=NZL|MBE}} (born '''Ortvin Sarapuu'''; 22 January 1924 – 13 April 1999), known in New Zealand as "Mr Chess",<ref name="Te Ara-Sarapu">{{cite book |
==Early life==
Born Ortvin Sarapuu in [[Narva]], Estonia, he won the Estonian Junior Championship in 1940,<ref>Ortvin Sarapu, ''Mr Chess: The Ortvin Sarapu Story'', New Zealand Chess Supplies Ltd, Wainuiomata, 1993, pp. 3-4.</ref> then defected to [[Finland]] from then Nazi-occupied Estonia in 1943, thence to Sweden.<ref name="Sarapu1993p.4">Sarapu 1993, p. 4.</ref> In 1945, just after [[World War II]] ended, Sarapu was invited to stay with a family friend in [[Denmark]].<ref name="Sarapu1993p.4"/> In 1946, he won the [[Copenhagen]] championship and the Copenhagen five-minute [[lightning chess]] championship.<ref name="Sarapu1993p.4"/> In 1948, he played twenty games of [[blindfold chess]] simultaneously in Denmark.<ref>Sarapu 1993, p. 172.</ref>
Sarapu's first and last international tournament in Europe was at [[Oldenburg (city)|Oldenburg]] 1949.<ref>Sarapu 1993, p. 6.</ref> There, he defeated former [[world chess championship]] candidate [[Efim Bogoljubov]] with a sharp turnaround from a bad position.<ref>[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1269019 Bogolyubov-Sarapu, Oldenburg 1950]. ChessGames.com. Retrieved on 2009-05-25.</ref> Sarapu finished in fifth place with 11-6, a point behind tournament winners Bogolyubov and [[Elmārs Zemgalis]], and a half-point behind [[Nicolas Rossolimo]] and Herbert Heinicke.<ref>Sarapu 1993, p. 7.</ref>
==New Zealand==
One of Sarapu's opponents at the 1949 [[Oldenburg (city)|Oldenburg]] tournament was former New Zealander [[Robert Wade (chess player)|Robert Wade]]; in a conversation after their game, Wade suggested that New Zealand would be a good place for someone like Sarapu, who wanted to escape war-ravaged Europe.<ref>Sarapu 1993, pp. 5-6. {{ISBN|0-473-01607-9}}.</ref> He met Barbara Bialonczyk after the Oldenburg tournament, and they married in 1950.<ref>Sarapu 1993, p. 10.</ref> Immediately thereafter, the newlyweds emigrated to New Zealand, arriving in [[Wellington]] in October 1950.<ref>Sarapu 1993, pp. 6-10.</ref> They had one son, Peter.
On the Sarapus' 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 or shared the [[New Zealand Chess Championship]] 20 times between 1952, when he won his first championship with 10.5 points out of 11 games, and 1990, when he tied with [[Benjamin Martin (chess player)|Ben Martin]] at 7.5 out of 11.<ref>Sarapu 1993, pp. 12, 152.</ref> Sarapu claimed that this was a [[List of world records in chess#Most wins
In 1952 he played [[Cecil Purdy|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.<ref>Sarapu 1993, pp. 12-13.</ref><ref>C. J. S. Purdy, ''C. J. S. Purdy: His Life, His Games, and His Writings'', Belmont Printing Company, 1982, pp. 319-31.</ref> Sarapu took first place at the Melbourne International Tournament in 1955.<ref name="Te Ara">{{cite book |
==Honours and awards==
[[FIDE]] awarded Sarapu the [[International Master]] title in 1966 after he won the Asian Zonal, making him the second New Zealand player to gain the IM title, the first being [[Robert Wade (chess player)|Robert G Wade]]. In addition to Bogolyubov, other world-class players whom Sarapu played include World Champions [[Bobby Fischer]] (a loss at the Sousse 1967 Interzonal), [[Garry Kasparov]] (a loss at the Lucerne 1982 [[Chess Olympiad|Olympiad]]),
In the [[1980 Birthday Honours (New Zealand)|1980 Queen's Birthday Honours]], Sarapu was appointed a [[Member of the Order of the British Empire]], for services to chess.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=48214 |date=14 June 1980 |page=41 |supp=3}}</ref>
==Publications==
* 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}}▼
==See also==
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== References ==
{{reflist}}
▲* 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}}
==External links==
* {{Chessgames.com player|23652}}
* [http://www.nzchess.co.nz/ Official NZCF Website]
* [http://www.teara.govt.nz/NewZealanders/NewZealandPeoples/RussiansUkrainiansAndBalticPeoples/2/ENZ-Resources/Standard/3/en/ NZ History Encyclopedia entry for Sarapu]
* {{OlimpBase player|6wegm4me}}
{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:Sportspeople from Narva]]
[[Category:Estonian emigrants to New Zealand]]
[[Category:20th-century chess players]]
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