GMLoek Van Wely

Loek van Wely was born in Heesch in 1972 and became a grandmaster in 1993. He won the Dutch Championship six consecutive times from 2000 through 2005. Further national titles followed in 2014 and 2017. He led the Netherlands to European Team Championship victories in 2001 and 2005. His long association with Wijk aan Zee included nineteen consecutive appearances from 1992 to 2010. In 2003 he shared fourth place there with a group that included Vladimir Kramnik and Vassily Ivanchuk. He drew a four-game match against the computer program Rebel in 2002, with two wins and two losses. Later tournament victories included the Chicago Open in 2010 and Berkeley International in 2011. He won the Hogeschool Zeeland tournament in 2016 with eight points from nine games. Outside chess, he entered politics and was elected to the Dutch Senate in 2019. He subsequently left Forum for Democracy and joined the van Pareren group, which became affiliated with JA21.