This week’s episode of the New In Chess Podcast features an interview with Dutch grandmaster Loek van Wely.
One of our return guests, Loek needs no introduction for our regular listeners. An eight-time Dutch national champion, Loek had his career peak in 2001, when he made it to the world top 10 with a rating of 2714. Besides his own achievements on the chess board, Loek is a successful coach, who has worked with stars like Gata Kamsky, Vladimir Kramnik (2007), Veselin Topalov, and more recently the Italian national team and Dutch grandmaster Max Warmerdam.
With an incredible 25 appearances in the Masters group, Loek is the most experienced Tata Steel Chess Tournament player alive. Going back all the way to 1989, Loek has faced off with virtually every strong contemporary player at the event, from Viktor Korchnoi to the Polgar sisters as well as every World Champion of his era. Interviewed by Dirk Jan Ten Geuzendam, he looks back on the performances of several top players at this year’s event, while also recalling several legendary Wijk aan Zee moments and traditions, such as "handshake-gate" and the famous Wijk aan Zee football match.
0:00 – Intro
2:23 – Why Loek is the ultimate Wijk aan Zee expert
8:38 – Differences between Wijk aan Zee now versus in the past
10:50 – Loek guesses Wijk aan Zee record holders
12:20 – Loek reflects on his own best and worst Wijk aan Zee experiences
15:42 – “Handshake-gate”
19:23 – AD BREAK
19:55 – Loek’s favourite Wijk aan Zee tournament
28:02 – Why players often go on losing streaks in Wijk aan Zee
29:35 – Gukesh’s performance
35:16 – Caruana’s performance
38:10 – Erigaisi’s performance
42:47 – Pragg’s performance
44:54 – Are tiebreaks a satisfactory way to decide the winner of the tournament?
49:07 – The tiebreaks between Gukesh and Pragg
50:43 – The crazy last round of this year’s event
55:03 – AD BREAK
56:04 – Should Pragg consider this win a milestone in his career?
57:14 – The Challengers group
1:00:27 – The famous Wijk aan Zee football match
1:07:37 – Outro