Lembit Oll

Lembit Oll
Country	Estonia
Born	23 April 1966 Kohtla-Järve,Estonia
Died	16 May 1999(1999-05-17)(aged 33) Tallinn,Estonia
Title	Grandmaster(1990)
Peak rating	2650 (July 1998)
Peak ranking	No. 25 (July 1998)

Lembit Oll(23 April 1966 – 16 May 1999) was an Estonianchessgrandmaster.

Chess career

Born inKohtla-Järveon 23 April 1966, Oll becameEstonian Chess Championin 1982 and U20Soviet Chess Championin 1984.FIDEawarded him theinternational mastertitle in 1983 and thegrandmastertitle in 1990. From then on, he regularly played for Estonia at theChess OlympiadsandEuropean Team Chess Championships.In July 1998, he reached his highest rating and position on theFIDE world rankings:2650 and No. 25, respectively. He played his last tournament in 1999 inNova Gorica,sharing second place.

List of victories

• 1989:Espoo,Tallinn (zonal tournament),Helsinki.
• 1990:Terrassa.
• 1991:Sydney,Helsinki.
• 1992:Seville.
• 1993:Vilnius,The Hague,Antwerp.
• 1994:New York CityOpen (shared 1st withJaan Ehlvest).
• 1995: Helsinki,Riga(zonal tournament).
• 1996:Saint Petersburg.
• 1997:Køge,Szeged(shared 1st),Hoogeveen(shared 1st).

Olympiads

Oll played for Estonia four times in Chess Olympiads.

• In 1992, at second board at the30th OlympiadinManila(+7 –1 =6);
• In 1994, at first board at the31st OlympiadinMoscow(+3 –2 =8);
• In 1996, at second board at the32nd OlympiadinYerevan(+2 –1 =9);
• In 1998, at first board at the33rd OlympiadinElista(+1 –0 =7).

Personal life

Oll, who was married and had two sons, fell intodepressionafter hisdivorceand loss ofchild custody.He had received mental health treatment since 1996 and was prescribedanti-depressants.He committed suicide on 16 May 1999 by jumping out of a window of his fourth-floor apartment inTallinn.Despite his personal problems, he was No. 42 on theFIDE world rankingsat the time of his death.He was buried atMetsakalmistucemetery in Tallinn, not far away from the most famous Estonian chess playerPaul Keres.

Further reading

• New In Chess,1999, #4

External links

• Lembit Ollplayer profile and games atChessgames.com
• Crowther, Mark (24 May 1999)."THE WEEK IN CHESS 237: Lembit Oll 1966–1999".London Chess Center.