Oll Lembit (23.04.1966 – 17.05.1999)

Estonian Grandmaster (1992), Estonian Champion in 1992, USSR U20 Champion in 1984. Best national player of the late 1990s.

Best results: Tallinn 1989, 1^st; Helsinki 1989, 1^st; Terrassa 1990, 1^st; Marchena 1990, 1^st; Sevilla 1992, 1^st; Antwerp 1993, 1^st, New York 1994, 1-2^st; Riga (1995), 1^st; Saint-Pétersbourg (1996), 1^st; Hoogeveen 1997, 1^st and Szeged 1997, 1^st.

A great fighter, his scores against the 10 best players of the world were +13=18 -8 in Lembit’s favour (Garry Kasparov (2812) +0=1 –0, Alexey Shirov (2726) +2=6 –3, Alexander Morozevich (2723) +3=1 –0, Michael Adams (2716) +0=0 –0, Veselin Topalov (2700) +2=1 –1, Nigel Short (2697) +0=1 –2, Peter Leko (2694) +0=1 –0, Evgeny Bareev (2679) +3=0 –0, Jan Timman (2649) +0=3 –0, Ivan Sokolov (2610) +3=4 –2).

A participant in four Olympiads from 1992 to 1998. A participant in the 1998 World Championship. A familiar face throughout the world, especially on the international open circuit.

Often in depression, Oll was preparing very hard to play in the 1999 FIDE World Championship. However at around 4:30 am on May 17, 1999, he jumped out of his apartment window.

Peak rating: 2660 in 1998.