Loek van Wely

Loek van Wely, born in Heesch in 1972,
is a Dutch chess grandmaster and eight-time national champion.
He learned chess at the age of four and was soon regarded as one of his country’s greatest talents.
Van Wely earned the grandmaster title in 1993.
He reached his peak rating of 2714 in October 2001,
when he was ranked number ten in the world. Known as “King Loek”,
he won the Dutch Championship six consecutive times from 2000 to 2005, adding further titles in 2014 and 2017.
His major tournament successes include victories at the 1991 Berlin Open,
the 1992 World Open in Philadelphia and the 1995 New York Open.
With the Dutch national team, van Wely won the European Team Chess Championship in León in 2001 and Gothenburg in 2005.
He has represented his country at 14 Chess Olympiads.
Van Wely remains active as a player: in 2025, he once again reached the final of the Dutch Championship
and maintained a rating above 2600 even in his fifties.
He also increasingly works as a chess trainer and coach.