Loek van Wely Leads Amsterdam Mosquitoes
It's no surprise that there's still a great chess tradition in the home country of the fifth world champion, Max Euwe. What would the Pro Chess League be without a team from the capital of the Netherlands?
Funnily enough, many of the players in the Amsterdam Mosquitoes team don't live in Amsterdam or play for an Amsterdam club. Instead, many of them play for a club in Haarlem, the city that passed its name to the Harlem neighborhood in New York.
The Mosquitoes bring one of the biggest legends of Dutch chess to the PRO Chess League: grandmaster Loek Van Wely. He'll play the mythological "Nestor" of the team, guiding a group of young and talented players. Here's the full lineup:
1. GM Loek van Wely: Loek has competed against many of the top players in the world on a regular basis and has had a long and distinguished career. He currently boasts a rating of nearly 2700 FIDE and has won the Dutch Championship an incredible seven times!
Here's a win over Anatoly Karpov by a young Van Wely:
Loek van Wely
Player/manager Lennart Dek provided the descriptions for the other key players in the team:
2. GM Wouter Spoelman: Wouter, also known as Dr. Dynamic, obtained his grandmaster title in 2008 at age 18. He is an ingenious tactician who flourishes in complicated middlegames.
3. GM David Klein: David, also know as the the Logging Gnome, achieved his grandmaster title in 2013 at age 20. He is a talented player with a great feeling for the game. He is especially tricky in (seemingly) lost positions.
4. IM Quinten Ducarmon: Quinten, also known as "Q," achieved the international master title in 2013 at age 18. In the same year, he also won the prestigious open tournament in Zeeland. He is a very balanced player who can strike in every phase of the game and is very hard to beat.
5. IM Miguoel Admiraal: Miguoel, also known as "Mig," achieved the international master title in 2015 at age 20. He made his first norm by winning the top amateur group of Tata by which he advanced to Tata B. He has a strong positional understanding and a near photographic memory of chess positions.
With so many of the top Dutch players on one roster, Amsterdam looks forward to being a top team in the Europe's West division.
The PRO Chess League welcomes the Amsterdam Mosquitoes!
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