Boris Rõtov was born and raised in Moscow, Russia, where he graduated secondary school.

He played three times for Estonia in the Soviet Team Chess Championships (1972, 1975, 1975).

He also participated three times in the prestigious International Chess tournaments in Tallinn, where in 1973 he ranked 10th,[2] in 1975 – 12th,[3] and in 1979 – 15th.

[9] In the last years of his life he worked as a coach in the Paul Keres Chess Club in Tallinn, the city where he died.

His wife Merike (born 1936) and son Igor (born 1963) were also chess players,[10] and his daughter Regina Narva (born 19 May 1970), née Rõtova, is a Woman FIDE Master, and herself the mother of two Rõtov's granddaughters: Triin Narva (1994– ) and Mai Narva (1999– ).