Russian chess champion Yuri Yeliseyev dies after 'plunging from 12th floor balcony' in Moscow

A young Russian chess grandmaster has died after reportedly plunging to his death from a 12th floor balcony.

Former world junior chess champion Yuri Yeliseyev, 20, had been trying to reach another balcony but slipped, a close friend said.

Mr Yeliseyev, who was known to practise parkour which involves climbing and jumping across buildings at height, fell from the balcony in Moscow on Saturday night.

He became world junior chess champion in 2012 and given the title of grandmaster – the highest award a chess player can get – aged just 17.

Fellow chess grandmaster Daniil Dubov said in tribute: "Tonight my close friend died - an outstanding chess player and analyst, one of the most talented people I know, Yura Yeliseyev.

"He was trying to climb from the window onto a balcony on the 12th floor but lost his grip."

Coach of the Russian chess national team, Sergei Yanovsky, said Yeliseyev was “a very talented chess player, a very bright lad, he was always popular in the team.”

He added that even when Mr Yeliseyev was young he liked to climb – but “didn’t go to extremes”.

Police said the marks on Mr Yeliseyev’s body suggested he had fell from the balcony, Gazetea.ru news website reported.

Mr Yeliseyev was ranked 212 in the world and 42nd chess grandmaster in Russia.