Perhaps one of the cities with the greatest chess history is Amsterdam in the Netherlands (Holland). Amsterdam is one of the greatest small cities in the world with a long chess tradition. Amsterdam is also one of the most romantic and beautiful cities in Europe. It is a city of tolerance and diversity, and one of the most civilized cities in the world.
A chess club, the Vereenigd Amsterdamsch Schaakgenootschap (VAS) was founded in 1822. In 1824, the VAS played a correspondence chess game with the chess club in Rotterdam. Amsterdam won the match after winning two games.
In 1851, the first Dutch chess tournament (knockout tournament) was held in Amsterdam, won by Maartin van't Kriujs. He was followed by Hijmans, Coopman, Blijdenstein, Seligmann, de Heer, van Praag, and Kloos. There were 38 players.
In 1874, the 2nd Dutch championship was held in Amsterdam, won by A. de Lelie after a play-off with A. Gifford. Gifford had won the 1st Dutch championship in 1873, played at the Hague.
In 1878, the 6th Dutch championship was held in Amsterdam, won by van't Kriujs after a play-off with J. Veraart.
In 1887, the 15th Dutch championship was held in Amsterdam, won by Dirk van Foreest. He had won the Dutch championship in 1885 and 1886.
In 1889, a masters tournament was held in Amsterdam, won by Amos Burn. He was followed by Emanuel Lasker, James Mason, Louis van Vleit, Isidor Gunsberg, Johann Bauer, Rudolf Loman, Arnold van Voreest, and I. Leather (who lost all 8 games).
In 1892, the 20th Dutch championship was held in Amsterdam, won by F. van den Berg.
In 1899, the 27th Dutch championship was held in Amsterdam. The International Section was won by Henry Atkins. Benjamin Leussen and Abraham Speijer tied for 1st in the Dutch championship.
In 1901, Max Euwe was born near Amsterdam. He joined the Amsterdam Chess Club in 1913, when he was 12 years old.
In 1911, Amsterdam hosted an Easter tournament (Paaschwedstrijd van het V.A.S.). Frank Marshall and van Foreest tied for first in the master section.
In 1913, Johannes Esser won the 3rd official Dutch championship (which began in 1909), held in Amsterdam.
In 1914, after World War I broke out, Frank Marshall escaped to Amsterdam after participating in the Mannheim Congress.
In 1919, Max Marchand won the 4th offical Dutch championship, held in Amsterdam.
In 1923, a tournament was organized by the VAS and the ASC, the two largest chess clubs in Amsterdam. The event was won by Max Euwe.
In 1924, the 6th Dutch championship was held in Amsterdam, won by Max Euwe.
In 1925, a tournament was sponsored by the Amsterdamsche Schaacklub (ASC). It was won be Edgar Colle, followed by Tartakower and Euwe.
In 1928, Euwe beat Bogolyubov in a match in the Netherlands. Some of the match was held in Amsterdam.
In 1929, the 8th Dutch championship was held in Amsterdam, won by Max Euwe.
In 1929, Amsterdam staged two games (games 21 and 22) of the Alekhine-Bogoljubow world championship match.
In 1935, Euwe played Alekhine for the World Championship. Some of the games (game 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 12, 13, 18, 20, 23, 25, 26, 29, and 30) games were held in Amsterdam.
In 1937, Euwe played Alekhine for the World Championship return match. Some of the games (game 3, 4, 12, 13, 20, 21) were held in Amsterdam.
In 1938, the 11th Dutch championship was held in Amsterdam, won by Max Euwe.
In November 1938, Amsterdam hosted a few rounds in the AVRO tournament.
In 1939, the 12th Dutch championship was held in Amsterdam, won by Max Euwe.
In 1950, the 15th Dutch championship was held in Amsterdam, won by Max Euwe.
In 1951, Amsterdam held an International tournament, won by Najdorf.
In 1954, the 17th Dutch championship was held in Amsterdam, won by Jan Donner.
In September, 1954, Amsterdam hosted the 11th Chess Olympiad. 26 teams and 149 players participated. USSR took the gold, followed by Argentina and Yugoslavia.
In March-April, 1956, Amsterdam hosted the first 9 rounds of the 3rd Candidates tournament. It was won by Smyslov, followed by Keres, Szabo, Spassky, Petrosian, Bronstein, Geller, Filip, Panno, and Pilnik.
In 1957, the 19th Dutch championship was held in Amsterdam, won by Donner.
In 1958, the 20th Dutch championship was held in Amsterdam, won by Donner.
In 1961, the first annual IBM Schaaktoernooi tournament in Amsterdam was held, sponsored by IBM Corporation. The event was won by Kick Langeweg, followed by Donner, Enevoldsen, and Wade. There were 12 players.
In 1962, M. Czerniak and H. Tan won the 2nd annual IBM tournament.
In 1963, the 3rd IBM International was won by Portisch, followed by Czerniak, Donner, Milic, Parma, Udovcic, Langeweg, Kuypers, Barendgret, and Rooi.
In May-June, 1964, Amsterdam hosted the Interzonal tournament. There were 24 players. It was a four-way tie for 1st place between Smyslov, Larsen, Spassky, and Tal. Following them were Stein, Bronstein, Ivkov, Reshevsky, Portisch, and Gligoric.
In 1964, Bent Larsen won the 4th IBM International, held in Amsterdam. He was followed by Donner, Duckstein, Lehmann, and van Scheltinga.
In 1965, Donner won the 5th IBM International, held in Amsterdam. He was followed by Parma, Szabo, Trifunovic, Kavalek, and Filip.
In 1966, Botvinnik won the 6th IBM International. He was followed by Pomar, Floh, Zuidema.
In 1967, L. Portisch won the 7th IBM International.
In 1968, L. Kavalek (Czech champion) won the 8th IBM International, followed by Bronstein, Ciric, Langeweg, Lengyel, Ree, Shamkovich, and Donner. There were 16 players.
In 1968, Amsterdam hosted the Candidates match between Korchnoi and Reshevsky. Korchnoi won the match.
In 1969, L. Portisch won the 9th IBM International.
In 1970, Spassky and Polugaevsky won the 10th IBM International.
In 1971, Smyslov won the 11th IBM International.
In 1972, Polugaevsky won the 12th IBM International.
In 1973, Petrosian and Planinc won the 13th IBM International.
In 1974, Jansa, Tukmakov, and Ivkov won the 14th IBM International.
In 1975, Ljubojevic won the 15th IBM International.
In 1976, Korchnoi defected from the USSR after playing in the 16th IBM International in Amsterdam. Korchnoi and Miles tied for 1st place.
In 1977, Miles won the 17th IBM tournament, held in Amsterdam.
In 1978, Timman won the 18th IBM International held in Amsterdam.
In 1979, Hort won the 19th IBM International.
In 1980, Karpov won the 20th IBM International.
In 1981, Max Euwe died in Amsterdam.
In 1981, Timman won the 21st IBM International.
In 1982, Hort and Short won the 22nd IBM International.
In 1982, the 38th Dutch championship was held in Amsterdam, won by Hans Ree. Ree had won the Amsterdam Junior Championship twice.
In 1983, Sax and Chandler won the 23rd IBM International.
In 1984, Timman won the 24th IBM International.
In 1985, Karpov won the 25th IBM International.
In 1986, Kasparov won the 26th IBM International.
In 1987, the OHRA International was held in Amsterdam. It was won by van der Wiel.
In 1988, Kasparov won the IBM International.
In 1988, the European Options Exchange tournament (Category 17) was held in Amsterdam. At the time, it was the highest rated tournament of all time. The event was won by Kasparov, followed by Karpov, Timman, and van der Wiel.
In 1989, the OHRA was held in Amsterdam. Beliavsky won the event.
In 1991, the Euwe Memorial was held in Amsterdam. Salov and Short tied for 1st. They were followed by Karpov, Kasparov, and Korchnoi.
In 1994, the 50th Dutch championship was held in Amsterdam, won by Jeroen Piket.
In 1995, the 51st Dutch championship was held in Amsterdam, won by Ivan Sokolov.
In 1996, the 52nd Dutch championship was held in Amsterdam, won by Jan Timman.
In 2003, Amsterdam held the world's first boxing/chess championship.
Yasser Seirawan now lives in Amsterdam.
