Hiong Liong Tan

Hiong Liong Tan, a.k.a. ''Tan Hoan Liong'' or ''H.L Tan'' (; 20 August 1938,

Buitenzorg Bogor ( su, , nl, Buitenzorg) is a city in the West Java province, Indonesia. Located around south of the national capital of Jakarta, Bogor is the 6th largest city in the Jakarta metropolitan area and the 14th overall nationwide.Bogor Bogor ( su, , nl, Buitenzorg) is a city in the West Java province, Indonesia. Located around south of the national capital of Jakarta, Bogor is the 6th largest city in the Jakarta metropolitan area and the 14th overall nationwide.Een kampioen in stilte
In: ''Nieuwsbrief Max Euwe Centrum'', Dec. 2014, p. 25-29 was an

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

n–

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

player. He was the first Indonesian and one of the first Asian chess players to hold the

International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

title. Tan moved from Indonesia to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

in 1956 to finish high school, after which he went to study Insurance Mathematics. His first foray in chess was a 31 move loss in one of Botvinnik's simultaneous games in 1958, but he soon became a much stronger player.Tan Hoan Liong (1938-2010)
at http://indonesiabase.com He played for Indonesia at fourth board in the

14th Chess Olympiad The 14th Chess Olympiad (german: Die 14. Schacholympiade), organized by Fédération Internationale des Échecs, FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female playe ...

at Leipzig 1960, and won an individual gold medal (+14 –1 =5). Tan also took the

Dutch Chess Championship The Dutch Chess Championship was officially established in 1909, although unofficial champions stretch back to the 1870s. Early years : Official championships The official championship was established in 1909 as a biennial, twelve-player, round-ro ...

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

in 1961, defeating

Jan Hein Donner Johannes Hendrikus (Hein) Donner (July 6, 1927 – November 27, 1988) was a Dutch chess grandmaster (GM) and writer. Donner was born in The Hague and won the Dutch Championship in 1954, 1957, and 1958. He took part in the Internacional Chess Tou ...

on the way. In 1962, he was co-winner of the traditional

IBM international chess tournament The IBM international chess tournament was a series of very strong chess tournaments held in the Amsterdam, Netherlands from 1961 to 1981, and was sponsored by IBM. The list of winners of the main group includes five world champions. Parallel the ...

, alongside

Moshe Czerniak Moshe Czerniak (born Moizes Czerniak, also knowns as Miguel Czerniak; he, משה צ'רניאק; 3 February 1910 – 31 August 1984) was a Polish-Israeli chess player. He was awarded the title of International Master (IM) by FIDE in 1952. Biog ...

. He was awarded the

(IM) title in 1963 after scoring 7.5 out of 17 games at that year's Hoogovens tournament.Liste des premiers titrés (chrono) - Chessmile
/ref> Tan also had a dan rank in Go. Not long after this tournament Tan was hospitalized for schizophrenia and alcohol addiction. His parents came over from Indonesia, and brought him back to

Bandung Bandung ( su, ᮘᮔ᮪ᮓᮥᮀ, Bandung, ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of West Java. It has a population of 2,452,943 within its city limits according to the official estimates as at mid 2021, making it the fourth most ...

, where he initially lived in a clinic. After his parents' death, he returned to his birthplace of

Bogor Bogor ( su, , nl, Buitenzorg) is a city in the West Java province, Indonesia. Located around south of the national capital of Jakarta, Bogor is the 6th largest city in the Jakarta metropolitan area and the 14th overall nationwide.
De mysterieuze Hoan Liong Tan (in Dutch) {{DEFAULTSORT:Tan, Hiong Liong 1938 births 2009 deaths Chess International Masters Indonesian chess players Dutch chess players European Go players Asian Go players Indonesian people of Chinese descent Indonesian Hokkien people People from Bogor 20th-century chess players