Kruzkops, Janis

Janis Kruzkops started playing chess at the age of 16, and since then has taken part in many local competitions. In 1937, he reached the final of the Latvian Chess Championship, but played there without much success. During the Second World War, he took part in the Latvian Championship in 1943, as well as in the Latvian and Estonian chess tournament in Riga. ^[1] After the war, Kruzkops actively participated in restoring the chess life of Latvia. He took part in the post-war championships of Latvia in 1945, 1947, ^[2] 1948 ^[3] and 1949 ^[4] . He achieved the greatest success in 1945 when, after playing out of competition Vladimir Alatortsev and championship winner Alexander Koblenz, he took second place in the Latvian championship. ^[five]

In the main specialty, Janis Kruzkops was an English teacher. Nevertheless, for almost 15 years, from 1946 until the end of his life, he was a coach in the chess club of the Riga Palace of Pioneers . In post-war Riga, Kruzkops became the main educator of the young generation of Latvian chess players. His contribution to the development of Latvian chess is enormous. Kruzkops became not only the first chess coach of the future world champion Mikhail Tal , ^[6] but also discovered the talent of such famous grandmasters as Aivar Gipslis , ^[7] Janis Kloans . Among his other students can also be called masters Janis Klyavins , Valentin Kirillov and Mark Pasman . ^[8] The style of young Tal was largely shaped under the influence of his first coach, since Kruzkops taught his students not to be afraid of an active, combination game, to act on the verge of risk.

• Parties of Janis Kruzkops in the database