I was born on the 14^th of October1962 in Tallinn Estonia in the family of doctors. I have one younger brother. My mother taught me the first chess moves when I was six years old. Besides studying in Tallinn High School no.32 from 1970 to 1981 I also attended a special school of chess. In 1981-87 I studied and graduated from Tartu State University with degree in psychology. I became an International Master in chess in 1983 winning the European Junior Championship. In 1987 I tied second third place in Interzonal tournament in Zagreb and became a grandmaster.

In the first series of the World Cup tournaments 1988-1989 I came fourth after A. Karpov, G. Kasparov and V.Salov. In 1989 I won the Reggio Emilia super tournament ahead of V. Ivanchuk and A. Karpov. In the last World Championship in Delhi I finished on the top 16th.