The tragic story of Tan Hiong Liong
The tournaments in Beverwijk, and then Wijk aan Zee form one of the oldest tournament series in the world. What began as a company tournament at the Hoogovens steelworks in Ijmuiden grew after the Second World War into one of the most important and charismatic international tournaments. The best players in the world came and still come here. The rise to a world-class tournament began about the time the 1950s changed into the 1960s and the Mega Database helps to follow the history of the tournament.
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Ten players took part in the 1960 tournament, and one of them was Tigran Petrosian, who celebrated his debut in the tournament series. Three years later Petrosian became World Champion and was the only Soviet player to take part. Later usually at least two Soviet grandmasters travelled together to foreign tournaments in the West, with an additional chaperone from the KGB, of course. Petrosian won the 1960 tournament together with Bent Larsen.
Tables of old tournaments often reveal interesting things - for example the names of unjustly forgotten players.
Who, for example, was Tan Hiong Liong, who played in the same tournament as Petrosian, Larsen and several other well-known grandmasters in 1960?
Tan Hiong Liong was born in 1938 in the Dutch East Indies, which became independent as Indonesia after the Second World War. He came from a bourgeois family and was brought up by a governess. He learned chess from his elder brother Tan Boen when he was five years old. At the age of 14, Tan Hiong Liong became a member of a chess club in Brandung (Indonesia) and improved his chess with the help of books by Max Euwe. In 1956 he came to the Netherlands with his family and studied actuarial mathematics in Amsterdam, but with only moderate success, as he concentrated more on his progress in chess. In 1958 Tan had the opportunity to play against Mikhail Botvinnik in a simul game and lost in 31 moves.
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 0-0 5.f3 d6 6.Be3 Nc6 7.Qd2 Nd7 7...a6 8.Nge2 Rb8 8.Nge2 e6 9.g3 Nb6?! 10.b3 a5 10...d5 11.Bg2 a4 12.0-0 Na5 13.Rab1 axb3 14.axb3 c6 15.Bh6 Bxh6 16.Qxh6 e5 17.d5 Nd7 18.Qe3 Nc5 19.Nc1 Qb6? 19...b5= 20.Rf2 Qc7 21.Ra2 21.b4? Nxc4 22.Qe2 Na3 21...Na6 22.Nd3 Bd7 23.Ra3 b5? 23...c5 24.dxc6 bxc4 25.Nd5 Qd8 26.cxd7 cxd3 27.Qxd3 Nc7 28.Rba1 Nc6 29.Rxa8 Nxa8 30.Qa6 Ne7 31.Qxa8 1–0
Tan Hiong Liong played in some local tournaments and competitions and became a member of the chess club VAS Amsterdam. There Hans Bouwmeester was to take care of the talented young man from Indonesia, who by then he was almost as good as his new coach.
In July 1960, Tan Hiong Liong played for the Dutch team in the Student World Championship in Leningrad and the team finished in the middle of the field. In round six, Tan managed to defeat Lubomir Kavalek, who was still playing for Czechoslovakia in 1960.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.c3 g6 6.d4 Bd7 7.dxe5 dxe5 8.Bg5 Be7 9.h4 Nf6 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.Nbd2 b5 12.Bc2 Bg4 13.Nf1 Na5 14.Ne3 h5 15.Qxd8+ Bxd8? 15...Kxd8 16.Nd5 Bxf3 17.gxf3 Bg7 18.a4 16.Nxe5 Be6 17.a4 b4 18.cxb4 Bf6 19.Nd3 19.Nxg6!? fxg6 20.bxa5 Bxb2 21.Rb1 Bc3+ 22.Ke2 Bxa5 23.Bb3+- 19...Nc6 20.f4 0-0 21.Nc5? 21.f5! 21...Bxb2 21...Bd4 22.Nxe6 fxe6 23.Ke2 Nxb4 22.Nxe6?! 22.Rb1= 22...fxe6 23.Rb1 Bc3+ 24.Ke2 Rxf4 25.g3 25...Nd4+? 25...Rf7 26.Kd3 Rf3 27.Bd1 Rxg3 28.Kxc3 Rd8 28...Rxe3+ 29.Kxd4-+ 29.Re1 Rh3 30.Rb2 Rxh4 31.Rg2 Kh7 32.Nc4 Rh3+ 33.Re3 Rxe3+ 34.Nxe3 e5 35.Rd2 Rf8 36.Nc4 Rf4 37.Nxe5 Rxe4 38.Nxg6 1–0
In October of the same year, Tan Hiong Liong played on board four for Indonesia at the Chess Olympiad in Leipzig. The Indonesian team reached the C-final and finished second behind the Philippines. Tan was the best player at board four with 16.5/20 and received an individual gold medal.
The following year, Tan won the national championships of the Netherlands and defeated Jan Hein Donner during the tournament, who was considered the strongest player in the country at that time. Fanny Heemskerk won the women's title, her tenth and last title.
Tan (on the left) and Donner, Euwe makes the first move
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Bg5 h6 5.Bh4 c5 6.d5 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 d6 8.f3 Qe7!? 8...e5 9.e4 Nbd7 10.Bd3 9.e4 Nbd7 10.Qd2 Ne5 10...Nxe4!? 11.Bxe7 Nxd2 12.Bxd6 Nxf1 13.Kxf1 b6 11.f4 Ng6 12.Bxf6 Qxf6 13.g3 exd5 14.cxd5 0-0 15.Bd3 Re8 16.0-0-0 16.Ne2 Bh3 16...Rb8 17.Nf3 Bg4 18.Rhf1 Bxf3 19.Rxf3 b5 20.Re3 Nf8 21.Rde1 Nd7 22.Kd1 a5 23.Ke2 b4 24.c4 Qd4 25.Kf1 b3 26.axb3 Rxb3 27.e5 27...Rb2? 27...a4-+ 28.Qxa5? 28.exd6! Rxd2 28...Rxe3? 29.Qxe3 Qxe3 30.Rxe3 Rb8 31.Re7 Rd8 32.Ke2+- 29.Rxe8+ Nf8 30.Be2 Rxe2 31.R1xe2 Qd1+ 32.Kf2 Qd4+ 28...dxe5 29.Qa4 Rd8 30.Bc2 Nb6 31.Rxe5 g6 32.R1e4 Nxa4 33.Rxd4 Rxc2 34.Rde4 0–1
Tan Hiong Liong
Ludwig Rellstab, Jan Hein Donner, Tan Hiong Liong, Robert Hartoch, IBM Tournament 1962
In 1962, Tan shared first place with Moshe Czerniak at the IBM chess tournament in Amsterdam and was now invited to participate in the prestigious Hoogovens tournament due to his good results. The tournament was played in Beverwijk at that time and 18 players participated in the A tournament. Tan achieved a draw against Bronstein, Parma, and Pilnik, who finished in second, third, and fourth place respectively. Tan was able to win against Averbakh and Robatsch.
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Nbd2 d5 5.a3 Be7 6.Qc2 Nc6 7.e3 a5 8.b3 0-0 9.Bb2 Bd7 10.Be2 a4 11.b4 dxc4 12.Nxc4 Na7 13.Nfe5 Bb5 14.0-0 c6 15.Rfd1 Nc8 16.Bf3 Nd6 17.Nd2 Nd5 18.Nd3 Bg5 19.Re1 Nb6 20.Nc5 Qc7 21.Nb1 Rfe8 22.Nc3 Bf6 23.Rad1 Nbc4 24.Bc1 Ra7 25.Be2 b6 26.N5e4 Be7 27.Bd3 27.Ng3 e5 28.e4 f6 29.Nxb5 cxb5 30.dxe5 fxe5 31.Bg4 27...h6 28.Qe2 Nxe4 29.Nxe4 Nd6 30.Nxd6 Bxd6 31.Bxb5 cxb5 32.Qxb5 Bxh2+ 33.Kf1 Rd8 34.e4 Bd6 35.Be3 Bf8 36.d5 36.g3 -- 37.Rc1 36...exd5 37.Rxd5 Rxd5 38.exd5 Rb7? 38...Qh2= 39.Qc6+- Qb8 40.Rd1 40.d6 Bxd6 41.Bf4! 40...Bd6 41.Qxa4 Ra7 42.Qc6 Rxa3 43.Qxb6 Qxb6 44.Bxb6 Rc3 45.Bd4 Rc4 46.b5 Rb4 47.b6 Rb5 48.Be3 Kf8 49.g4 Ke7 50.Kg2 g6 51.Kf3 f5 52.gxf5 gxf5 53.Rh1 Rxd5 54.Rxh6 Rb5 55.b7 Rb3 56.Rxd6 1–0
In the end, Tan finished twelfth with 7.5/17. The tournament winner was Jan Hein Donner, with an outstanding score of 12.5/17 against a strong field. Donner also took revenge for his defeat against Tan in the Dutch Championship two years earlier.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.0-0 Nf6 6.Re1 Nc6 7.b3 e6 8.Bb2 Be7 9.d4 cxd4 10.Nxd4 d5 11.Nxc6 11.Nd2 dxe4 12.Nxe4 Nxe4 13.Rxe4 Bf6 14.Nxc6 Bxb2 15.Qxd7+ Kxd7 16.Ne5+ Ke7 17.Rd1 Rhd8 18.Rxd8 Rxd8 19.Nd3 Bd4 20.Kf1 h5 21.Nf4 g6 22.c4 e5 23.Nd5+ Kd6 24.f4 f5 25.Re1 e4 26.Rd1 Kc5 27.Nc7 Rd6 28.Rxd4 Kxd4 29.Nb5+ 11.exd5 Qxd5 12.c4 Qd7 13.Nxc6 Qxc6 14.Nc3 Rd8 15.Qe2 0-0 16.Rad1 a6 17.Rxd8 Rxd8 18.Rd1 Rxd1+ 19.Qxd1 Nd7 20.h3 f5 21.Qd3 Bf6 22.Na4 Kf7 23.Bxf6 Nxf6 24.Nc3 Qc5 25.Qf3 Qc8 26.g3 g5 27.Qe3 h6 28.Qe5 11...Qxc6 12.exd5 Nxd5 13.Nd2 Rd8 14.Nc4? 14.Nf3 Nc3 14...Ne3?! 15.Qe2 15.Qc1 Bf6 16.Qf4 0-0 17.Ne5 Qc7 18.Qc4 14...Ne3 15.Nxe3 15.Qe2 Qxg2# 15...Rxd1 16.Raxd1 0-0 17.c4 Bc5 18.Nc2 Qb6 19.Bd4 Bxd4 20.Rxd4 Qa5 21.Rd3 Qxa2 22.Ne3 h5 23.g3 g6 24.Ng2 a5 25.Ne3 Qb2 26.Red1 Kg7 27.R1d2 Qe5 28.Rd4 b5 29.cxb5 Qxb5 30.R2d3 Rc8 31.Nc4 Rc5 32.Rd7 Rd5 33.R3xd5 exd5 34.Ne5 Kf6 35.f4 Qxb3 0–1
The Max Euwe Center recently published a photo of the tournament hall at the time on Twitter - the hall was a bit smaller than it is today.
In addition to the A-tournament, a B-tournament and a C-tournament were also played, in which a number of strong Dutch but also some Germans took part. In the C-tournament, the 66-year-old Friedrich Sämisch played, but finished last.
There was also a women's tournament with ten players, which was won by freshly crowned world champion Nona Gaprindshvili with 9 out of 9 in her first appearance as title holder abroad.
The Deutsche Schachzeitung, with Rudolf Teschner as editor, paid tribute to the tournament, which was played from January 8th to 27th, and Jan Hein Donner's victory in its March issue of 1963 under the title "The Thunder from Beverwijk", (the German word "Donner" means "Thunder") praised the winner and criticized Petar Trifunović's 16 draws, some of which were quite short. But in some games the Yugoslav was forced to fight for his half point.
In addition to a number of annotated games, the German Chess Magazine also published this nice group photo:
Due to his good results, FIDE awarded Tan Hiong Liong the title of International Master in 1963. Tan was the first player from Indonesia to be awarded this title. As a strong Go player, Tan Hiong Liong also held a Dan rank in Go.
However, the life of Tan Hiong Liong also had a different side. Since 1958, he struggled with mental health problems, had to cancel competitions in the Dutch league and also the planned participation in the Zonal tournament in Jakarta. He began to drink more alcohol than was tolerable. After repeatedly stealing bicycles, Tan was recorded by the Dutch police. He was admitted to a psychiatric clinic in Santpoort, where doctors suspected he had schizophrenia.
By the end of 1963, his parents came to the Netherlands and brought their son back to Indonesia, where Tan was further treated. He worked at his father's company, doing lighter tasks in the administration. When taking walks, he had to be accompanied by a servant, as there was always a risk that Tan would not find his way back.
Occasionally, Tan Hiong Liong still played chess, but only as a hobby though he occasionally visited his old chess club. In September 2009, at the age of 71, Tan Hiong Liong died after choking on his food.
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