IM Johan van Mil passed away
He was fighting in a game he couldn't win, last week he resigned and last night he passed away: IM Johan van Mil. A sad day for Dutch chess, which lost a strong chess player, a friendly book seller and foremost, a warm and benevolent person.Johannes A.J. van Mil was born March 26, 1959. He was of the same generation as Herman Grooten, Frans Cuijpers, Rudy Douven, Gerard Welling and Peter Scheeren - a group of strong chess players who became friends, and who all obtained the title of International Master. With their club Eindhoven they won the Dutch League in the 1983-84 season.Johan van Mil participated in the Dutch Championship four times. His best result was a 4th place in 1991, ahead of players such as Van Wely and Nijboer.In 1986 the Dutch chess magazine Schaaknieuws was founded by the same group of friends from Eindhoven, but only Van Mil kept working for it as an editor. As a strong chess player gifted with good language as well as journalistic skills, he was a key player in the magazine team.In 1989 Johan van Mil met the Hungarian chess player Erika Sziva, who became his partner. They started a chess shop, De Beste Zet ("the best move") and many chess readers of this website must have bought one or a dozen books from them at tournaments in The Netherlands or Belgium. At his book stall, Johan always gave very honest suggestions about books, often not in the shop's interest, but in that of the chess player who wanted to improve his game.After a severe illness that started at the end of August, about which Erika reported on their website, last week Johan decided to end all treatments that prolonged his life. Last night he passed away, just 49 years old. Johan van Mil will be greatly missed, but never forgotten.Thanks to Johan Hut for allowing us to use his In Memoriam at Schakers.info.A selection of games by Van Mil:Links:
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