Ex-GM Igos Kondytlev, Igors Rausis and Isa Kasimi

    The Latvian player Igors Rausis (1961-2024, 62 years old) was a rather unusual fellow. He was born Igors Kondylev, but changed his name after getting married to Olita Rause, a Latvian Woman Grand master. In 2003, there were allegations that he provided "occasional help" to her in her correspondence tournaments. In 2020 he changed his name again to Isa Kasimi after marrying his second wife Ajgul Kasimova. 

    An FIDE Trainer, he was the Latvian champion in 1995. He had been awarded the Grandmaster title in 1992, but it was revoked in 2019 after he was caught cheating.   

    In the early 2000s, when Rausis was in his 50s, his rating increased over 200 points to near 2700 which put him among the top players in the world. Was he using? You be the judge. 

    This was about the time Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) with programs like Pocket Fritz running the engine Hiarcs were released for Windows Mobile pocket PCs. By 2008, these pocket PCs were already strong enough to win human tournaments. 

    By November 2008, Smartphones were popular and the open source engine Stockfish was released and it was soon available for mobile operating systems. Then in 2009, dedicated mobile apps, such as the Hiarcs was available.

`In July 2019, he was accused of cheating by using a mobile phone in the bathroom during a game. He admitted his guilt and in December 2019, FIDE revoked his GM title and banned him from OTB play. 

    Revoking his GM title seems unfair because he had been a GM before engines were at that level. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2003 and started taking medications and began chemotherapy in 2018. He died on March 28, 2024, at the age of 62. 

[Event "Gausdal Int"] [Site ""] [Date "1989.08.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Henrik Sorensen"] [Black "Igors Rausis"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "2245"] [BlackElo "2560"] [Annotator "Stockfish 18"] [PlyCount "44"] [EventDate "1989.??.??"] {D06: Queen's GambitDeclined} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 Bf5 {Highly unusual. Rausis was a versatile player with a solid, positional style, but he was also known ti have a brilliant tactical side.. He was known to frequently employ closed or strategic openings like the Caro-Kann and the Slav Defense. In the other hand, he also had a strong penchant for eccentric play. Hence, 2...Bf5 is not really a surprise.} 3. Qb3 {White usually ignores the fact that he can pock up the b-Pawn and instead opts to spmply develop with 3.Nf3} e5 4. Qxb7 Nd7 5. Nc3 { Slightly better was 5.cxd5} exd4 (5... Rb8 {yields black a slight advantage after} 6. Qxa7 Nb6 7. Nb5 Bb4+) 6. Nxd5 Bd6 7. e4 {This looks logical, vut developing with 7.Nf3 was better.} (7. Nf3 Rb8 8. Qc6 {A horrible mistake. He had to play 8/Qxa7} Ne7 9. Nxe7 Qxe7 10. Nxd4 Be4 11. Qa4 Bb4+ 12. Kd1 Qd6 13. e3 c5 {and black is winning. Horacek,M (2004)-Asparuhov,P (2125) Sunny Beach BUL 2009}) 7... Nc5 {This should have resulted in no more than equality, but black sets a trap into which white fa;;s. The P on c7 must be ignored!} (7... dxe3 $1 8. Bxe3 Rb8 9. Qxa7 Ngf6 {White has two Ps, but black has a lead in development that should prove to outweigh the material he is missing.}) 8. Nxc7+ Bxc7 9. Qc6+ Nd7 10. exf5 {White is still two Ps uo and his position looks pretty solid, but black has a strong attack with} Ba5+ 11. Kd1 { Interposing the B was no better.} Ne7 12. Qf3 O-O {[%mdl 1024] Black has strong compensation for the two Ps because white has wasted a lot of time with his Q an his K is still in the center. Tausis now whips up a strong attack.} 13. Bf4 Qb6 {He has no interest in regaining a P with 13...Nxf5} (13... d3 { is a possibility. It also sets a trap.} 14. Qxd3 (14. Bxd3 Nc5 15. Kc2 Nc6 16. Ne2 Nb4+ 17. Kb1 Nbxd3 {wins}) 14... Qb6 15. Qc2 Nc6 16. Nf3 Nc5 17. Be3 Nb4 { Black has a winning attack.}) 14. Rb1 Nc6 ({Not} 14... Nxf5 15. Qd5 $11) ({ Less strong is} 14... Qb4 15. a3 $15) 15. a3 Bc3 {This is a clever way od preventing 17.b4, but he missed an even better move.} (15... d3 16. b4 Nc5 { The N cannot be taken because of ...Qxb1+} 17. Be3 Bxb4 18. axb4 Nxb4 19. Bxd3 Rad8 {There are pins all over the place and this is what makes 15...d3 impossible to calculate in practical play. White's best is} 20. Ke2 Qa6 21. g4 Ncxd3 22. Kf1 Qa2 23. Rd1 Qxc4 {and there can be no doubt that black is winning.}) 16. Bd3 Bxb2 17. Kc2 {[%mdl 8192] This loses outright.} (17. Qe2 { would enable white to offer stout resistance.} Qb3+ 18. Qc2 Qxc2+ 19. Bxc2 Bxa3 20. Be4 Rac8 21. Nf3 {with good odds of surviving.}) 17... Rab8 18. Bxb8 Rxb8 19. Ne2 Nce5 20. Qg3 Nxd3 21. Nc1 Nxc1 22. Rhxc1 d3+ {White resigned.} (22... d3+ 23. Qxd3 Qxf2+ 24. Qd2 Qxf5+ 25. Qd3 Qf2+ 26. Qd2 Qxd2+ 27. Kxd2 Bxc1+ 28. Rxc1 f6 {with an easily won ending.}) 0-1