Hiong Liong Tan

Hiong Liong Tan in 1962

Hiong Liong Tan, a.k.a. Tan Hoan Liong or H.L Tan, (20 August 1938 - Sept. 2009[1]) was an Indonesian–Dutch chess master. He was the first Indonesian and one of the first Asian chess-players to hold the International Master title.

Tan moved from Indonesia to Amsterdam in the mid to later 50s 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.[2]

He played for Indonesia at fourth board in the 14th Chess Olympiad at Leipzig 1960, and won an individual gold medal (+14 –1 =5).[3]

Tan also took the Dutch Chess Championship at The Hague in 1961, defeating Jan Hein Donner on the way.

He was awarded the International Master (IM) title in 1963 after scoring 7.5 out of 17 games at that year's Hoogovens tournament.[4]

Not long after this tournament Tan was hospitalized for alcohol addiction. After he overcame his addiction Tan returned to Indonesia and did not play chess in international tournament anymore.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Peter Hoomans: 'Een kampioen in stilte'. In: Nieuwsbrief Max Euwe Centrum, Dec. 2014, p. 25-29
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Tan Hoan Liong (1938-2010) at http://indonesiabase.com
  3. ↑ OlimpBase :: 14th Chess Olympiad, Leipzig 1960, individual results
  4. ↑ Liste des premiers titrés (chrono) - Chessmile
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