Vereenigd Amsterdamsch Schaakgenootschap

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The (United) Amsterdam Chess Society or Vereenigd Amsterdamsch Schaakgenootschap ( VAS for short ), which has existed since 1822, is the oldest and historically most important chess club in the Netherlands .

History of the chess society

A lot of chess was played in Dutch cities as early as the 18th century, and Amsterdam was considered a chess stronghold from an early stage. The Amsterdamsch Schaakgenootschap , as the name was initially, was founded on September 19, 1822. The club was created five years before the oldest German chess club still in existence today, the Berlin Chess Society .

In 1824 the Amsterdam chess players fought a correspondence match with the Rotterdam chess club . Amsterdam won both games. Further long-distance games against Antwerp and The Hague followed . Between 1853 and 1860 international correspondence competitions were held against the Krefeld chess club and the Elberfeld chess society.

The chess society was the largest club in Amsterdam and a center of Dutch chess life for many decades. The first Dutch chess tournament, won by Maarten van 't Kruijs , took place in Amsterdam in 1851 . The country's first international chess tournament was also organized by the Amsterdam Chess Society in 1889. Second prize (behind Amos Burn ) was won by the young Emanuel Lasker . The future German chess world champion achieved his first success abroad and later felt connected to the club as a member.

The club included leading Dutch chess players. The future world champion Max Euwe joined the chess society in 1913 at the age of twelve. The shine of his success then outshone the development between the two world wars. In 1923 he won a tournament jointly organized by the city's two largest chess clubs, VAS and the Amsterdam Chess Club (ASC). A series of major chess events, including Euwe's two title fights against Alexander Alekhine in 1935 and 1937, as well as the AVRO tournament in 1938, also took place partly or mainly in Amsterdam.

The success story initially continued in the post-war period. Until the 1960s, VAS won numerous titles as Dutch national champion.

Crisis and rebuilding of the club

The generally elitist design of the respected club then became one of the causes of the decline. The number of members fell sharply, and in the years after 1980 there was even a temporary closure in the room - a fate that was ultimately spared the traditional chess club.

A circle of active members around Rob van Dongen managed to revive the association. Signs of the new beginning were the website launched in February 1996 and the targeted establishment of an independent youth department. Hopes for membership growth were fulfilled. In youth chess , VAS quickly caught up with the strongest Dutch competitive clubs.

Most recently, the club comprised around 100 adult members and 70 youth players (as of March 2008). VAS takes part in national games with a larger number of teams . The association maintains two websites, whereby a certain preponderance of the youth department is expressed.

Web links