Janis Kļaviņs (Elo 2349) was born in Ruba, Latvia, a small village in western Latvia near the Lithuanian border.
Klavins had a short but bright chess career that spanned only the years 19501957. He won the Latvian Championship in 1952 and finished third in 1956, 1959 and 1960.
In 1955, he fulfilled chess master norm in the Team Championship of USSR in Voroshilovgrad. In 1956 he won the All-Union Mass Tournament in Moscow ahead Isaac Boleslavsky, Vladimir Makogonov, Leonid Stein and Ratmir Kholmov. He also played for Latvia in Soviet team championship in 1953, 1955, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962 and 1963.
He was a member of the Latvian team "Daugava" in the Soviet team chess cup in 1954 and 1961. He played third board behind Mikhail Tal and Alvars Gipslis.
Although well versed in all aspects of theory his strength was his tactical ability.
Klavins did more than just play chess; he had a career in science.
After obtaining a degree from the University of Latvia in 1957, he enrolled in the Institute of Physics of Latvian Academy of Sciences (now the Institute of Physics of University of Latvia).
That was the beginning of his scientific career and spelled the end of his chess career. He worked as an engineer, scientist, laboratory director, scientific secretary and deputy director of scientific work. He performed research in Magneto-hydrodynamics problems and earning his doctorate degree in Physics.
In the following game Klavins delivers a fine performance to defeat the strong Soviet GM Alexey Suetin (192602001) who won the World Senior Championship in 1996.
[Event "USSR Chp, Semi-Finals, Kharkiv"]
[Site ""]
[Date "1956.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Alexey S Suetin"]
[Black "Janis Klavins"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C82"]
[Annotator "Stockfish/Komodo"]
[PlyCount "70"]
[EventDate "1956.??.??"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
{C82: Open Ruy Lopez} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 {
In the open variation Black tries to make use of the time white will take to
regain the Pawn to gain a foothold in the center. It contains ideas completely
different from the usual Ruy Lopez. It leads to an open game with unbalanced
structures and sharp play.} 6. d4 (6. Re1 {is seldom played, but not bad...at
least in theory, Practically though black often does quite good.} Nc5 7. Bxc6
dxc6 8. Nxe5 Be7 9. d4 Ne6 {with a completely equal position.}) 6... b5 7. Bb3
d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. c3 Nc5 10. Bc2 Bg4 11. Re1 d4 {The main line is 11...Be7
followed by ...O-O} 12. h3 Bh5 13. Bg5 (13. e6 fxe6 14. cxd4 Bxf3 15. Qxf3 Nxd4
16. Qh5+ g6 17. Bxg6+ hxg6 18. Qxh8 {Black is down the exchange but has
reasonable compensation, In Koch,B-German,E Helsinki 1952, black went on to
win.}) (13. Bf4 d3 14. Bb3 Nxb3 15. axb3 Be7 16. Re3 Bg6 17. Nbd2 {Matanovic,
A-Teschner,R Oberhausen 1961. Black is ever so slightly better.}) 13... Qxg5
14. Nxg5 Bxd1 15. Bxd1 {[%mdl 32]} Nd3 (15... dxc3 {only helps white.} 16. Nxc3
Nd4 17. Nd5 Nce6 18. Bh5 {White is much better after 18...O-O-O. Black must
avoid} g6 19. Nf6+ Ke7 20. Nd5+ Kd7 21. Bg4 Kc6 22. Nxf7 {and white is clearly
better.}) 16. Bf3 O-O-O 17. Bxc6 {White gets enough compensation for the
exchange,} (17. Re2 {favors black after} dxc3 18. Nxc3 Ncxe5 19. Be4 h6 20.
Bxd3 Rxd3 21. Rxe5 hxg5 22. Rxg5 Rd2 {with the more active position.}) (17.
Nxf7 {is equal after} Nxe1 18. Bxc6 Nc2 19. Be4 Nxa1 20. Bf5+ Rd7 21. Nxh8 Kd8
22. Bxd7 Kxd7) 17... Nxe1 18. Nxf7 {Slightly better would have been 18.Be4} Nc2
{[%mdl 32] Up to this point chances have been evenly balanced, but white next,
a natural looking move, is a mistake.} 19. Nxh8 {Taking either R is
unfavorable!} (19. Nxd8 Kxd8 20. cxd4 Nxa1 {Black is a R up.}) (19. Be4 {
is an entirely different story.} Nxa1 20. Bf5+ Rd7 21. Nxh8 Kd8 22. Bxd7 Kxd7
23. f4 {with equal chances.}) 19... Nxa1 20. Nf7 {White is lost because black
save the R and. in addition, it reaches a very powerful post} dxc3 21. Nxc3 (
21. Nxd8 c2 {would win}) 21... Rd2 22. e6 {In spite of his poot position
Suetin manages to make the maximum use of his e-Pawn and actively placed
pieces.} Nc2 23. Nd5 {Black must now prevent e7.} Re2 24. Bd7+ Kb8 25. g4 Nd4 {
Black's position is won, but he must still work to gain the point!} 26. Nf4
Rxb2 {Black is clearly winning.} 27. Kg2 Rxa2 28. Ne5 b4 {[%mdl 32]} 29. Nd5 b3
30. e7 {Technically there is nothing better, but with the disappearance of the
e-Pawn all hope i gone.} (30. Nc4 {Makes black work harder to core the point.}
Re2 31. Nde3 Be7 32. Ba4 b2 (32... Bh4 {is also quite good.} 33. Nd1 Rxe6 {
Here, too, with the e-Pawn gone so are all od white's hope.}) 33. Nxb2 Rxb2 {
at this point all white can do is annoy his opponent.}) 30... Bxe7 31. Nxe7 b2
32. N7c6+ Kb7 33. Nd8+ Kb6 34. Bf5 h6 35. Bc2 Ra1 {White resigned. Solid play
by Klavins.} 0-1
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