Sürengiin Möömöö (Mongolian: Сүрэнгийн Мөөмөө) was a Mongolian linguist and chess player. He was born in 1930 in Khyargas, Uvs,^[1] and died on 7 July 2021 due to illness.^[2]

Sürengiin Möömöö graduated from the National University of Mongolia in 1957 with a degree in Mongolian language, literature and linguistics. He then began a teaching career at that university which lasted over 50 years,^[3] becoming an associate professor in 1982 and a full professor in 1995.^[2] He obtained a Candidate of Sciences degree for his pioneering studies of Mongolian phonetics^[4] at Leningrad State University in 1970,^[3] and a Doctor of Science degree from the Humboldt University of Berlin in 1984 for his dissertation on Mongolian dialectology.^[5] He taught at the University of Warsaw from 1969 to 1973 and was a visiting professor at Osaka University from 1978 to 1980.^[3]

In 1982, Möömöö co-authored a book on Mongolian dialects with his student Yümjiriin Mönkh-Amgalan.^[3] He edited Damdinsüren and Osor's 1983 Mongolian Orthographic Dictionary (Mongolian: Монгол үсгийн дүрмийн толь),^[6][7] the standard source for Mongolian Cyrillic orthography until 2018.^[8][9] He was a member of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences,^[3] and was awarded the Order of the Polar Star in 2003,^[2] and the title of Honoured Teacher of Mongolia by President Nambaryn Enkhbayar in 2008.^[10]

Sürengiin Möömöö competed in several editions of the Mongolian Chess Championship. He finished second at the 1955 championship, won it in 1958, and finished third in 1961.^[1]

In the first international chess tournament held in Mongolia (Ulan Bator 1956, won by Heinz Liebert), Möömöö finished in seventh place with 9/15, making the best score among the Mongolian participants.^[1][11] He tied for third with Andor Lilienthal in a tournament held in Tashkent in 1959, which was won by Alexander Grushevsky.^[12] In 1960, he played a match for the West Asian subzonal (a qualifying stage for the 1963 World Chess Championship) held in Madras, losing 1–3 to Manuel Aaron.^[13]

Möömöö played for Mongolia in three Chess Olympiads:^[14]

• In 1956, on third board in the 12th Chess Olympiad in Moscow, scoring +5, =4, -4;
• In 1960, on second board in the 14th Chess Olympiad in Leipzig, scoring +7, =2, -8;
• In 1962, on second board in the 15th Chess Olympiad in Varna, scoring +5, =6, -5.

Möömöö also represented Mongolia three times in the World Student Team Chess Championships:^[15]

• In 1958, on first board in the 5th World Student Team Chess Championship in Varna, scoring +4, =0, -5;
• In 1959, on second board in the 6th World Student Team Chess Championship in Budapest, scoring +5, =3, -5;
• In 1960, on second board in the 7th World Student Team Chess Championship in Leningrad, scoring +5, =0, -7.

Möömöö competed in the inaugural World Senior Chess Championship held in Bad Wörishofen in 1991, where he scored 6.5/11 and finished in a tie for 23rd place.^[16][17]

• Möömöö, Sürengiin (1962). Зөв бичих дүрмийн толь (in Mongolian). Улсын Хэвлэлийн хэрэг эрхлэл хороо. OCLC 1062289151.
• Möömöö, Sürengiin (1970). Система фонем современного монгольского языка: экспериментальное исследование [The phoneme system of modern Mongolian: an experimental study] (к. филол. н.) (in Russian). Leningrad State University.
• Möömöö, Sürengiin (1982). Galsan, S. (ed.). Орчин үеийн монгол хэлний аялгуу [Modern Mongolian phonetics] (in Mongolian). Ulsyn Khevleliin Gazar. OCLC 41284881.
• Möömöö, Sürengiin; Mönkh-Amgalan, Yümjiriin (1982). Орчин цагийн монгол хэлний авиазүй [Modern Mongolian language and dialects] (in Mongolian). Mongolian Academy of Sciences. OCLC 1015012225.
• Möömöö, Sürengiin (1984). Die Sprechkultur und das System der Intonation in der mongolischen Sprache [The linguistic culture and the system of intonation in the Mongolian language] (Diss. B [de]) (in German). Humboldt University of Berlin. OCLC 916980822.
• Möömöö, Sürengiin; Tsedendamba, Tsogdogiin, eds. (1997). Орчин цагийн Монгол хэл [Modern Mongolian] (in Mongolian). Mongolian Academy of Sciences. OCLC 131282441.