Ortvin Sarapu: Difference between revisions

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>

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 ofin a national championship|world record number of wins of any national championship]].<ref>[[Edward Winter (chess historian)|Edward Winter]], ''Kings, Commoners and Knaves: Further Chess Explorations'', Russell Enterprises, Milford, Connecticut, 1999, p. 229. {{ISBN|1-888690-04-6}}, quoting Sarapu 1993, p. vii.</ref> In New Zealand he became known as "Mr Chess", and represented the country at ten [[Chess Olympiad]]s.

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 | chapterurlchapter-url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/1966/chess | title=[[An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand]] | publisher=[[Te Ara]] | author=Newick, Conrad Brice | year=1966 | editor=A. H. McLintock | editorlinkeditor-link=A. H. McLintock| chapter=Chess}}</ref>

[[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]]), and [[Boris Spassky]] (a draw at Wellington 1988), and perennial World Championship candidate [[Viktor Korchnoi]] (a draw at the Sousse Interzonal).<ref>Sarapu 1993, pp. 46-48, 50, 110-12, 137-39.</ref>

In the [[1980 Birthday Honours (New Zealand)|1980 Queen's Birthday Honours]], Sarapu was awardedappointed ana [[Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire|MBE]], for his services to chess.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=48214 |date=14 June 1980 |page=41 |supp=3}}</ref>