Lodewijk Prins (27 January 1913,

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

– 11 November 1999) was a Dutch

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

player and referee of chess competitions.

Biography

Prins was awarded the International Master title in 1950, and was made an International Arbiter in 1960. In 1982

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...

made him an honorary Grandmaster. Prins represented the Netherlands twelve times in all

Chess Olympiad The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in FIDE Onli ...

s from 1937 to 1968. He won two individual silver medals (1939, 1950) and one bronze (1968). At the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

(1939–1940), he played in tournaments in the Netherlands. In 1940, he won jointly with Salo Landau and Nicolaas Cortlever in Leeuwarden, took 2nd, behind

Max Euwe Machgielis "Max" Euwe (; May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch chess player, mathematician, author, and chess administrator. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, a title he held from 1935 ...

, in Amsterdam (VVGA), and tied for 3rd–4th in Amsterdam (VAS, Hans Kmoch won). After the German invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940, his name did not appear in any tournament in the occupied Netherlands because of his Jewish origin. After the war, he took first place at Gijón in 1947, at Hoogovens Beverwijk in 1948 and at

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

1951 with 12.5/17, ahead of Herman Steiner, Hermann Pilnik, and Ossip Bernstein. Prins qualified for the 1952

Interzonal Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by the World Chess Federation FIDE from the 1950s to the 1990s. They were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle and were held after the Zonal tournaments, and before the Ca ...

and was Dutch Champion in 1965. Despite his strong performance at the 1968 Chess Olympiad in Lugano, where he scored 9/12 and gained a bronze medal, Prins was not selected for the Dutch team at the 1970 Chess Olympiad. Subsequently, he broke from the Dutch Chess Federation and played only occasionally after this. His final tournament was a large open in

Cattolica Cattolica (; ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Rimini, Italy, with 16,233 inhabitants as of 2007. History Archaeological excavations show that the area was already settled in ancient Rome, Roman times. According to one legend, Catto ...

, Italy in 1993, where he finished in the middle of the field.Cattolica Open 1993, Italian Chess Federation
/ref> Prins coauthored several chess books with

, including the 1949 biography of Capablanca ''Het Schaakphenomeen Capablanca'' and several tournament books.

References

* * *

External links

*
Tim Krabbe's tribute to Prins
Open Chess Diary #37 {{DEFAULTSORT:Prins, Lodewijk 1913 births 1999 deaths Dutch Jews Jewish chess players Jewish Dutch sportspeople Chess Grandmasters Chess arbiters Chess players from Amsterdam 20th-century Dutch chess players 20th-century Dutch sportsmen Chess Olympiad competitors