The Max Euwe Memorial Tournament was an annual international invitation
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 ...
tournament played in honour of
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 ...
(1901–1981) from 1987 to 1996. It was played in
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 ...
,
the Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
(with the exception of 1990 when it was played in
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
). In 1976, while Euwe was still alive, a jubilee tournament was held which can be seen as a prequel of the series.
History
From 1987 to 1996, ten consecutive Euwe Memorial editions were held. The event was usually played as a mini-tournament in a double round-robin of four top players from the absolute world elite with the exception of the fifth edition in 1991 and the tenth edition in 1996 inviting ten players in a single round robin. If there was a tie on top, there was no play-off.
The last edition of the principal Memorial series was organized in 1996, mainly because the main sponsor
Verenigde Spaarbank (VSB) lost its interest.
In addition, there was later a moderate strong and independent "Euwe Stimulans" tournament, played at Arnhem in 2007,
Amon Simutowe from
Zambia
Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...
won, completing his final GM norm in the process to become a
chess grandmaster. Also at that event, which had a line-up of ten players,
Fridrik Olafsson played a famous game against
Vincent Rothuis.
The Ideal Max Euwe International Tournament in São Paulo 2008 was subclaimed as "2nd Euwe Stimulans" Tournament.
This ten-player round robin featured three players from Brazil plus seven players from other countries.
Zhao Zong Yuan and
Gilberto Milos were shared winners, ahead of clear third
John van der Wiel
Van der Wiel in 1983, thumb
John van der Wiel (born 9 August 1959) is a Dutch chess grandmaster. He is a two-time Dutch Chess Champion.
Chess career
Born in 1959, Van der Wiel won the ''Daniël Noteboom tournament'' in Leiden in 1976 and 197 ...
.
A next Max Euwe Memorial commemorating the former World Chess Champion and President of FIDE who died 26 November 1981 took place in Amsterdam on 13–20 November 2011. Aside from various events (i.e. simultaneous exhibitions), a men's and a women's four-player double round robin was held which was won by (then 13-time Dutch Women's Champion)
Zhaoqin Peng in Group 1, while
Robin van Kampen took the honours in Group 2.
Winners
:
Results
1996
:
References
Euwe Jubilee and Memorials
{{Chess tournaments
Chess in the Netherlands
Chess memorial tournaments
Sports competitions in Amsterdam