New Estonian PM

[Jonathan Rogers]

Kaja Kallas, who definitely used to play chess but I can't find reliable details very easily. Anyone?

(Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen I do know of, but she is "only" the opposition leader in Lithuania, as I understand it. Their successes in politics presumably say something about the enduring respectability of chess in that area of the world).

[Nick Grey]

Look as junior? Try under married names? fred's mum?

[Matt Mackenzie]

There's also the female Latvian government minister who squashed Hou Yifan.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

There's also the female Latvian government minister who squashed Hou Yifan.

Dana Reizniece-Ozola:

In the 4th round of the 42nd Chess Olympiad in 2016, Reizniece-Ozola defeated Women's World Chess Champion Hou Yifan.

Sourced to this article:

Latvian Finance Minister topples world chess number one

Latvia's Finance Minister, Dana Reizniece-Ozola, claimed an impressive non-fiscal scalp September 5 by beating the world chess champion.

Reizniece-Ozola, a long-time grandmaster, beat Chinese world champion and world number one-ranked player Hou Yifan at the Baku Olympiade run by the World Chess Federation (FIDE) in Azerbaijan.

"In the women's section the biggest attention was attached to the victory of Dana Reizniece-Ozola, Latvia's top board and also the country's Minister for Finance, against the world champion Hou Yifan. China still emerged on the top with wins of Ju Wenjun and Guo Qi," said the official FIDE account of the Round 4 match-up.

A picture posted to social media showed Reizniece-Ozola reacting to her notable victory with disbelief.

Photos on Twitter of her reaction.

Big difference in rating at the time: 2243 vs 2658 (i.e. 415 difference).

This is the game on chessgames under the imaginative title "Yes Minister":

[Event "Chess Olympiad (Women)"] [Site "Baku AZE"] [Date "2016.09.05"] [EventDate "2016.09.02"] [Round "4.7"] [Result "1-0"] [White "Dana Reizniece-Ozola"] [Black "Yifan Hou"] [ECO "A14"] [WhiteElo "2243"] [BlackElo "2658"] [PlyCount "101"] 1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. b3 c5 7. e3 Nc6 8. d3 b6 9. Nc3 Ba6 10. Bb2 Rc8 11. Qe2 Qd7 12. Rad1 Rfd8 13. Nb5 Qe8 14. e4 d4 15. e5 Nd7 16. Bc1 Bb7 17. Bg5 Ndxe5 18. Nxe5 Bxg5 19. f4 Bf6 20. Nxa7 Nxa7 21. Bxb7 Rc7 22. Bg2 Nc8 23. a4 Nd6 24. g4 g6 25. Rde1 Bg7 26. h4 Kh8 27. Bh3 f6 28. Nf3 Re7 29. Qg2 Nf7 30. Re2 Qd7 31. Rfe1 Rde8 32. g5 f5 33. h5 gxh5 34. Nh4 Qc7 35. Qf3 Kg8 36. g6 Nh6 37. Qxh5 Qxf4 38. gxh7+ Kxh7 39. Bxf5+ exf5 40. Rxe7 Qg3+ 41. Ng2 Rxe7 42. Rxe7 f4 43. Qe5 Qg4 44. Qxf4 Qd1+ 45. Ne1 Qh5 46. Nf3 Nf5 47. Rb7 Qg6+ 48. Qg5 Qe6 49. Qh5+ Kg8 50. Rb8+ Bf8 51. Qg4+ 1-0

Apparently the opening was the English Opening: Agincourt Defense. Neo Catalan Declined (A14) .

EDIT: With apologies to the new Estonian PM (who did not play that game), that is nice game to play through, with some sparkling tactics. Let's see if Kaja Kallas has any games like that!

[Jonathan Rogers]

I think she also played in the final of 4NCL online (season 2), beating Ravi Haria in a critical game for surprise winning team Chessplus Kingston.

[Nick Grey]

I know who Dana is and what she is now doing. see 4NCl Online and other posts.
Does the New Estonian PM play Chess?

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Kallas or Reizniece-Ozola? I can't find anything relating to chess for Kallas. Oh, presumably Reizniece-Ozola for Chessplus Kingston - how did that happen? I will have to read up on this!

[MJMcCready]

Should we call her Estonian? When she was born she was born as a Soviet citizen, and then grew up as one.

[Jonathan Rogers]

Didn't Estonia obtain independence in 1991? Your question seems bizarre.

[Nick Grey]

Soviets deported from Estonia. So yes The deportations have been repeatedly declared to constitute a crime against humanity by the Parliament of Estonia and acknowledged as such by the European Court of Human Rights.

[Paul McKeown]

Kaja Kallas, who definitely used to play chess but I can't find reliable details very easily. Anyone?

Perhaps some confusion with Carmen Kass? Not only a super-model, but also a former MEP, and former President of the Estonian Chess Federation.

[Paul McKeown]

Didn't Estonia obtain independence in 1991? Your question seems bizarre.

Yes, risible.

[Jonathan Rogers]

Kaja Kallas, who definitely used to play chess but I can't find reliable details very easily. Anyone?

Perhaps some confusion with Carmen Kass? Not only a super-model, but also a former MEP, and former President of the Estonian Chess Federation.

that's possible, indeed I suspect that I confused them when I was earlier so confident. But I did also find some google links to press reports suggesting that she (Kallas) used to play (with the usual accuracy in such matters - naturally, she was a grandmaster, because everyone who played chess at any level was a grandmaster according to mainstream media). Just wondering whether anyone could verify.

[Paul McKeown]

Jonathan, you may well have been right. On the Estonian federation’s website, I found the following:

Augustiunetus on Pärnusse toonud kogukondliku tänavafestivali kultuuri koos ohtrate kohtumiste ja mõnusalt olemise/tegutsemise aladega. Tuletades meelde, et pärnakas olla on tore! 12. augustil alustab Pärnu Ühisgümnaasiumi vilistlaskogu traditsioonide ellukutsumisega, mis tuletab meelde säravaid pärnakaid! Alustame Paul Keresest! Eesti sajandi parimaks sportlaseks valitud malesuurmeister õppis Pärnu Ühisgümnaasiumis, toonase nimega Pärnu Linna Poeglaste Gümnaasiumis, mis asus hoones, kus täna tegutseb Kuninga Tänava Põhikool.

Turniiril võivad osaleda kõik malehuvilised, kes ei oma ega ole varasemalt omanud males reitingut ja/või kõrget spordijärku. Mängijate lõpliku koosseisu turniirile kinnitab korraldustoimkond koos peakohtunikuga. Kuna osalema lubatakse kuni 20 mängijat, siis on soovitav eelnev registreerimine e-posti aadressil: [email protected] Võistlus algab Pärnu Kuninga Tänava Põhikoolis 12. augustil kell 11.00.

I koha auhind on külaskäik Brüsselisse Kaja Kallase kutsel kahele (reis toimub 7.-8.12.2017 ja paketi sees on lennupiletid edasi - tagasi, majutus hotellis koos hommikusöögiga, transfeer lennujaamast ja lennujaama ning üks toidukord, kas ōhtu- vōi lōunasöök (sōltub programmist).

Maleturniiri idee autor on Pärnu Ühisgümnaasiumi Vilistlaskogu ning maleturniiri viib läbi sponsorite toel Eesti Maleliit.

URL: http://www.maleliit.ee/et/uudised/15-ee ... rniir.html

Why would a chess prize involve a trip to meet Kaja Kallas in Brussels, if she were not herself a chess-player?

Edit: included URL reference to quoted passage

[MJMcCready]

Didn't Estonia obtain independence in 1991? Your question seems bizarre.

In what sense? Her birth certificate documents her as a Soviet citizen and the education system she was nurtured by was Soviet also. There was no Estonia then, well not officially, so by birth she's registered as Soviet. From what I gathered when I went there in 96, they despised Soviet rule and crossed out all signs in Russian on the streets...well they certainly did in the old town anyway. But whether she sees herself as a child of the Soviet Union, or more proudly as Estonian, is another matter. For political purposes she has to state she is Estonian but on a personal level perhaps she is more nostalgic, sentimental and sees herself as still Soviet. When I lived in Azerbaijan many people were like that. They wouldn't tell you this in public because they could get into trouble but more privately they were often happy to talk about how much more efficient the Soviet government was comparatively, and showed you all their documents, signifying they were born as members of the communist party and were Soviet by birth. Seems incredulous by the Baltic states aside, the former Soviet states have struggled to find their feet on the whole, some much more than others. Take Turkmenistan for example.