Young chess grandmaster dies after daredevil climbing stunt at Russian tower block goes wrong
Yuri Eliseev, 20, plunged from a window of his 12th floor Moscow apartment block
A YOUNG chess grandmaster died when a daredevil climbing stunt at a tower block in Russia went tragically wrong.
Yuri Eliseev, 20, plunged from a window of his 12th floor Moscow apartment block while trying to swing on to the balcony of an adjoining apartment.
The former world under 16 champion mocked his studious match image by taking part in the extreme acrobat sport of parkour made famous in the James Bond film Casino Royale and Bourne movies .
It involves running, jumping and clambering over buildings as though they are an obstacle course.
Yuri had performed that particular stunt at the 17-storey Soviet-era tower block in the Mitino district on the outskirts of the capital several times before.
Fellow chess player Shamil Arslanov, who shared Yuri's rented flat, said: "He loved extreme things. He tried to climb from a window to a balcony but he lost grip and fell.
"I was in another room. It happened around 11pm. We ran into the street and called an ambulance. He had a weak pulse.
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"Maybe if he had fallen into the snow piled at the side of the road he would have had a chance.
"He was sober, he never smoke or drank. Everybody loves doing their own thing in life - this was his hobby."
He death on Saturday evening was announced 90 minutes later by fellow grand master Naniil Dubov who wrote on social media: "My very close friend has been tragically killed - he was one of the most talented people I know."
He was one of the most talented people I know
Yuri - made a grand master at 17 - had posted pictures of his hair-raising exploits on Russia's version of Facebook including one of him grinning into the camera while clutching a tower block ledge.
Chess coach Sergei Yanovski added: "Even when he was a small boy he used to climb up two metres to show he was not afraid of heights."
In January this year Yuri was emboiled in a controversy when opponent Ivan Bukavshin, 20, died during a match.
Her had taken an overdose of the over-the-counter anti-spasm drug No-shpa, and his parents claimed he had been deliberately poisoned in a murder plot.