Igors Rausis

Igors Rausis (born April 7, 1961) is a retired 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]

Igors Rausis
Igors 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 (since 2020)[4][5][6]
Born (1961-04-07) April 7, 1961
Komunarsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
TitleInternational Master (2019)
FIDE rating2685 (October 2023)
Peak rating2686 (July 2019)
Peak rankingNo. 46 (April 2020)[7]

In July 2019, Rausis 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 6-year ban. At the time, he was the oldest player ranked among FIDE's top 100 players.[8]

Chess career

Rausis won the Latvian Chess Championship in 1995. He played for team Latvia in three Chess Olympiads:[9]

He represented Latvia at the 1993 World Team Chess Championship[10] 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.[11] He admitted to having cheated, and announced his retirement from chess.[12] Prior to the incident, Rausis had been under suspicion for several months;[13] 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.[14] 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.[15]

In 2020, Rausis entered a small tournament in Latvia under the name Isa Kasimi. He was recognised by Arturs Neikšāns, provoking anger from other players, and withdrew from the tournament.[16]

Personal life

Rausis was married to Olita Rause, a Latvian Woman Grandmaster, and has two daughters with her.[17][18] In 2003, there were allegations that he provided "occasional help" to his wife during correspondence chess tournaments.[19]

References
  1. "Rausis, Igors". OlimpBase.
  2. "Transfers in 2003". FIDE. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
  3. "Transfers in 2007". FIDE. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
  4. "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. "PERIOD: DECEMBER 2019 – RANK STANDARD RATING WORLD". FIDE. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
  9. Bartelski, Wojciech (ed.). "Men's Chess Olympiads: Igors Rausis". OlimpBase. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  10. Bartelski, Wojciech (ed.). "World Men's Team Chess Championship: Igors Rausis". OlimpBase. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  11. McGourty, Colin (July 12, 2019). "GM Igors Rausis allegedly caught cheating". Chess24.com. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  12. "Chess grandmaster admits to cheating with phone on toilet during tournament". The Guardian. July 13, 2019. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  13. Shah, Sagar (July 12, 2019). "58-year-old GM Igors Rausis accused of cheating". ChessBase. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  14. Doggers, Peter (July 12, 2019). "GM Igors Rausis Under Cheating Investigation". Chess.com. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  15. Strydom, F.P. (December 5, 2019). "FIDE Ethics Commission" (PDF) (Press release). FIDE. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
  16. Doggers (PeterDoggers), Peter. "Banned For Cheating, Igors Rausis Enters Tournament Under Different Name". Chess.com. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
  17. 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.
  18. Doggers, Peter (October 24, 2020). "From Igors Rausis To Isa Kasimi: Interview With A Chess Cheater". Chess.com.
  19. van Vugt, Wim (August 27, 2003). "Freedom, inequality or brotherhood?". The Campbell Report. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
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