Isa Kasimi/Igors Rausis

[Simon Rogers]

The sad news has just been reported that the Latvian Chess Master Igors Rausis passed away yesterday at the age of 62.
He was born Igor Kondylev on 7th April 1961 in Luhansk, Ukraine, he then became known as Igors Rausis until 2020.
Isa was a Latvian 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 to 2007, when he switched to the Czech Republic.
RIP

[Chris Rice]

Peter Doggers did an excellent obit. I remember playing Rausis in the Isle of Man in 1997. It was a long game where he expertly outplayed me in a queen & rook ending. He chatted to me afterwards and I thought he was a great guy. He certainly wasn't cheating then and was a highly respected GM so it was sad to see what happened to him in later years.

[Nick Ivell]

Sad that he will be remembered more for the cheating than his expertise in the endgame.

[Matt Mackenzie]

Well, he achieved fame didn't he.

Not much else to say really, a terrific shame.

[LawrenceCooper]

A video of him playing a blitz game in Charlotte 2024 against Dina Belenkaya: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnKJx3oiD2U&t=319s

[Roger Lancaster]

Never met him but agree it's a shame that someone who seems to have been a nice guy will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

[Ronnie Burton]

Played a nice game against Dina and agreed a draw despite winning on time