Kārlis Karlovich Bētiņš (27 October 1867, Bērzmuiža – 28 March 1943, Riga

Riga

Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...

) was a Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

n chess

Chess

Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...

 master and composer of studies.

He tied for 3rd-5th at Riga 1899 (the 1st Baltic Congress, Robert Behting won), took 3rd at Riga 1900 (won by T. Muller), won at Riga 1900/01, shared 1st with Karl Wilhelm Rosenkrantz

Karl Wilhelm Rosenkrantz

Karl Wilhelm Rosenkrantz was a Russian and Soviet chess master.Rosenkrantz was born in Libava , then in the Courland Governorate of the Russian Empire...

, W. Sohn and Wilhelm von Stamm

Wilhelm von Stamm

Wilhelm von Stamm was a Latvian chess master.He won at Riga 1899 , took 4th at Riga 1900 , tied for 11-12th at Riga 1900/01 , shared 1st with Karl Wilhelm Rosenkrantz, K. Behting and W...

 at Dorpat (Tartu) 1901 (the 2nd Baltic Congress), and tied for 3rd-4th at Reval (Tallinn) 1904 (Bernhard Gregory

Bernhard Gregory

Bernhard Gregory was an Estonian chess master.In 1902, he tied for 16-19th in Hannover . In 1903/04, he tied for 9-10th in Berlin...

 won).

In 1902–1910, he was co-editor with Paul Kerkovius of the Baltische Schachblätter.

After World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, he took 3rd, behind Hermanis Matisons

Hermanis Matisons

Hermanis Matisons , , was a Latvian chess player and one of world's most highly regarded chess masters in the early 1930s. He was also a leading endgame composer...

 and Fricis Apšenieks

Fricis Apšenieks

Fricis Apšenieks was a Latvian chess master.-Biography:...

, at Riga 1924 (1st LAT-ch). Betinš played for Latvia in 1st unofficial Chess Olympiad

1st unofficial Chess Olympiad

The first Team Chess Tournament had been held by coinciding the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, 12th - 20 July 1924, at Hotel Majestic. The core of the organizing committee were the Frenchmen Pierre Vincent and Alexander Alekhine. Fifty-four players representing 18 countries arrived to Paris...

 at Paris 1924 (+7 –4 =2), where he took 4th place (team) and tied for 4-7th in Consolation Cup (individual; Karel Hromadka

Karel Hromádka

Karel Hromádka was a Czech chess player, two-time Czech champion, 1913 and 1921 ....

 won).

The Latvian Gambit

Latvian Gambit

The Latvian Gambit is an aggressive but dubious chess opening, which often leads to wild and tricky positions. This opening is uncommon at the top level of over-the-board play, but some correspondence chess players are devoted to it...

(1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5) was named as a tribute to Karlis Betinš, who analyzed it in the early part of the 20th century.