Belgian Grandmaster Luc Winants (1 January 1963 – 7 February 2023) died

by André Schulz
2/8/2023 – For many years, Luc Winants was Belgium's best chess player and at times the country's only grandmaster. He represented his country in many Chess Olympiads and remained undefeated in two Olympiads. Luc Winants died yesterday, 7 February, at the age of 60. | Photo: https://www.chess-and-strategy.com/

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Luc Winants was born on 1 January 1963 in Watermael-Boitsfort near Brussels. His father Henri Winants (1929-2014) was also a strong chess player who won the Belgian Individual Championship in 1975 together with Johan Goormachtigh and José Tonoli.

As a youngster, Luc Winants took part in several international youth Opens. In 1982, as a 19-year-old, Luc Winants was one of the participants in the U20 World Youth Championship in Copenhagen and finished in the middle of the field.

In 1984 Luc Winants played his first Chess Olympiad for the Belgian national team on the first reserve board. Between 1986 and 2016 he played in eight more Chess Olympiads for Belgium, until 2006 and then again in 2014 and 2016 on the top board.

At the 2016 Chess Olympiad, Winants had the chance to play against Magnus Carlsen, among others.

Photo: David Llada

 
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1.e41,151,31554%2422---
1.d4936,81255%2434---
1.Nf3277,85656%2441---
1.c4180,05456%2443---
1.g319,55956%2427---
1.b313,85854%2427---
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1.Nc33,65750%2385---
1.b41,71548%2378---
1.a31,15654%2402---
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1.Na33559%2475---
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Nbd2 0-0 5.a3 Be7 6.e4 d6 7.Be2 c5 8.d5 exd5 9.cxd5 Re8 10.0-0 Bf8 11.Re1 a6 12.Qc2 Bg4 13.b3 Nbd7 14.Bb2 b5 15.a4 Qb6 16.Bf1 Bxf3 17.Nxf3 g6 18.g3 Bg7 19.Kg2 Rac8 20.h3 Rb8 21.axb5 axb5 22.Nd2 Ra8 23.Bc3 h5 24.Qd3 Rxa1 25.Bxa1 Rb8 26.Bc3 Qd8 27.f4 Nb6 28.Nf3 c4 29.bxc4 bxc4 30.Qc2 Ra8 31.Bd4 Nfd7 32.e5 dxe5 33.fxe5 Nxd5 34.Bxc4 N7b6 35.Bxb6 Nxb6 36.e6 Nxc4 37.exf7+ Kxf7 38.Qxc4+ Kf8 39.Rf1 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2857Winants,L25581–02016E11Olympiad-425.1

 

Winants remained unbeaten in Thessaloniki in 1984 and in Calvia in 2004. Only Albéric O'Kelly de Galway had previously achieved this feat among Belgian players, in Moscow in 1956.

Winants also represented Belgium at the European Team Championships in 1989 and 2007.

Winant's tournament successes include winning the Belgian National Championship in 1986 (with 10 out of 12) and first place at the Barcelona Tournament in 1991.

Winants played in team competitions in various leagues, for example in the British Four Nations Leage for Slough Chess Club, in Luxembourg for C.E. Le Cavalier Differdange and in the Netherlands for a long time for Rotterdam, since the 2013-14 season for En Passant Bunschoten-Spakenburg. In France Winants played for L'Echiquier Cappellois from Cappelle la Grande and in Germany for SC Bann.

In Belgium, he reached the semi-finals of the European Club Cup with Anderlecht in 1986. Later he played for KSK Rochade Eupen-Kelmis, for Cercle Royal de Liège, from 2006 to 2008 for Cercle des Echecs de Charleroi, from 2008 to 2010 and again from 2012 to 2016 for Schachfreunde Wirtzfeld. With Wirtzfeld, Winants was Belgian Champion from 2012 to 2016. From 2010 to 2012, Winants played for Ans. In the 2018/19 season, he played for Club d'échecs de Watermael-Boitsfort.

 

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 a5 5.g3 b6 6.Bg2 Bb7 7.0-0 0-0 8.Bf4 8.Bg5 8...Be7 9.Qc2 d5N 9...c5 10.Nc3 10.dxc5! 10...cxd4 11.Nxd4 Bxg2 12.Kxg2 Qc8! 13.b3 Nc6 14.Ndb5 d5 15.cxd5 Nb4 Timman, J-Kortschnoj,V / Hilversum 1982, Match (2) 10.Ne5 Qc8!? 11.Nc3 dxc4 12.e4! Nc6 13.Nxc6 Bxc6 14.d5 Bb7 14...exd5 15.Nxd5 Nxd5 16.exd5 Bb7 17.Rfd1± 15.Rad1? 15.Bh3± 15...exd5! 16.e5!? 16.Nxd5 Nxd5 17.exd5 Bd6 16.exd5 Rd8 17.a3 Bd6 18.Bg5 Be5= 16...Nh5 17.Nxd5 Bxd5 18.Bxd5 c6 19.Bf3 Nxf4 20.gxf4 Qe6!? 20...b5!? 21.Qe4 21.Qe4 g6 22.Qxc6 Qxc6 23.Bxc6 Rac8 24.Bb5 c3 25.bxc3 Rxc3 26.Rd7 Ba3 27.Rfd1 Rfc8 28.Kg2 R8c5 29.Be2 29.e6? Rxb5 29...fxe6?? 30.Rd8+ Kg7 31.R1d7+ Kh6 32.Rh8 Kh5 33.Be2+ Kh4 34.Rdxh7+ Rh5 35.Rxh5+ gxh5 36.Rxh5# 30.Rxf7 Rc8 31.Rdd7 Bb2-+ 29...Rc7 30.e6!?= fxe6 31.Bg4 Kf8 32.Bxe6 Be7 33.f5 b5 34.Rxc7 Rxc7 35.Rd5 Rb7 36.Rd7 Rb6 37.Ra7 a4 38.Kf3 a3 39.Ke4 b4 40.f3 gxf5+ 41.Kxf5 Rb5+ 42.Ke4 Rh5 43.h3 Bd6 44.Kd3 Re5 45.Bb3 Be7 46.Rb7 Re1 46...Kg7? 47.f4 Re1 48.Kd2 47.f4 h5 48.Rb5 h4 49.Rb7 Rf1?! 50.Ke4! Rh1 51.Be6 Re1+ 52.Kf5 Bc5 53.Rb5 Bd6 54.Rb6 Rd1 55.Kg5 Be7+ 56.Kf5 Rc1 57.Kg6 Rg1+ 58.Kf5? 58.Bg4!± 58...Bc5 59.Rb5 Rc1 60.Rb7 Rf1 61.Kg6 Rxf4 62.Rf7+ ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Winants,L2415Karpov,A2710½–½1987E16Brussels5

 

 
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1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 Nf6 3.e3 Bg4 4.f3 Be6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Qd2 Bg7 7.e4 c5 8.dxc5 Nc6 9.0-0-0 dxe4 10.Qxd8+ Rxd8 11.Rxd8+ Kxd8 12.fxe4 Ng4 13.Nge2 Kc8 14.h3 Nge5 15.g3 Rd8 16.Bg2 Bc4 17.b3 Ba6 18.Rd1 e6 19.Be3 Rd7 20.a3 Bf8 21.Nf4 g5 22.Nh5 Be7 23.Rxd7 Nxd7 24.b4 Bc4 25.Nd1 a5 26.c3 Nde5 27.Nb2 Kd7 28.Kd2 Ba6 29.g4 Bd8 30.Ng3 Na7 31.a4 Nc4+ 32.Nxc4 Bxc4 33.b5 Nc8 34.e5 b6 35.c6+ Kc7 36.Kc2 h6 37.Bf1 Bxf1 38.Nxf1 Ne7 39.Nd2 Nd5 1–0
  • Start an analysis engine:
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Winants,L2519Bareev,E27151–02004D00NED-chT 04055.1

 

Luc Winants was awarded the title of International Master in 1986 and the Grandmaster title by FIDE in 1998. Until 2004 Luc Winants was the only Belgian Grandmaster born in the country. Winants' highest rating was 2571 in 2015.

With the white pieces, Luc Winants had a preference for 1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 long before the opening became popular.

Luc Winants died on 7 February. He was 60 years old.
 


André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.

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