Joop van Oosterom
Encyclopedia
Joop van Oosterom is a Dutch
billionaire
and chess
enthusiast. For many years he has staged the annual Melody Amber
tournaments in Monaco
, where world-class Grandmaster
s play rapid and blindfold games.
Van Oosterom was a strong correspondence chess
player, but suffered a severe stroke
some years ago. Nevertheless, he concluded the world correspondence chess championship successfully and became the 18th World Champion in Correspondence Chess. This achievement, however, has been criticized, as at the time of the championship van Oosterom had hired grandmaster Jeroen Piket
as his personal secretary. Earlier, van Oosterom had had two Dutch International Masters on his payroll whose job was to analyse his correspondence games.
Chess author Tim Krabbé
wrote: "The Turk
was operated by William Schlumberger
, Mephisto
was operated by Isidore Gunsberg, Ajeeb
was operated by Harry Pillsbury and Joop van Oosterom is operated by Jeroen Piket."
He didn't stop at only one World Correspondence Chess Championship title, he also won the 21st World Championship Final in Correspondence Chess, being the actual Champion of ICCF
.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
billionaire
Billionaire
A billionaire, in countries that use the short scale number naming system, is a person who has a net worth of at least one billion units of a given currency, usually the United States dollar, Euro, or Pound sterling. Forbes magazine updates a complete list of U.S. dollar billionaires around the...
and chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
enthusiast. For many years he has staged the annual Melody Amber
Melody Amber
The Amber chess tournament was an annual invitation-only event for some of the world's best players, from 1992 to 2011. Since the second edition, the event uniquely combined blindfold chess and speed chess, and has been held in Monte Carlo...
tournaments in Monaco
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
, where world-class Grandmaster
International Grandmaster
The title Grandmaster is awarded to strong chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain....
s play rapid and blindfold games.
Van Oosterom was a strong correspondence chess
Correspondence chess
Correspondence chess is chess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence, usually through a correspondence chess server, through email or by the postal system; less common methods which have been employed include fax and homing pigeon...
player, but suffered a severe stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
some years ago. Nevertheless, he concluded the world correspondence chess championship successfully and became the 18th World Champion in Correspondence Chess. This achievement, however, has been criticized, as at the time of the championship van Oosterom had hired grandmaster Jeroen Piket
Jeroen Piket
Jeroen Piket is a retired Dutch chess player who earned the Grandmaster title in 1989. He won the Dutch Chess Championship in 1990, 1991, 1992, and 1994. Other notable results include a second place at the Hoogovens tournament 1997...
as his personal secretary. Earlier, van Oosterom had had two Dutch International Masters on his payroll whose job was to analyse his correspondence games.
Chess author Tim Krabbé
Tim Krabbé
Tim Krabbé is a Dutch journalist and novelist.Krabbé was born in Amsterdam. His writing has appeared in most major periodicals in the Netherlands. He is known to Dutch readers for his novel De Renner , first published in 1978...
wrote: "The Turk
The Turk
The Turk, also known as the Mechanical Turk or Automaton Chess Player , was a fake chess-playing machine constructed in the late 18th century. From 1770 until its destruction by fire in 1854, it was exhibited by various owners as an automaton, though it was exposed in the early 1820s as an...
was operated by William Schlumberger
William Schlumberger
William Schlumberger was a European chess master. He is known to have taughtPierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Amant to play chess and as the operator of The Turk, a chess-playing machine which purported to be an automaton. It was Bavarian musician and showman Johann Nepomuk Mälzel who hired him to...
, Mephisto
Mephisto (automaton)
Mephisto was the name given to a chess-playing "pseudo-automaton" built in 1876. Unlike The Turk and Ajeeb it had no hidden operator, instead being remotely controlled by electromechanical means....
was operated by Isidore Gunsberg, Ajeeb
Ajeeb
Ajeeb was a chess-playing "automaton", created by Charles Hooper , first presented at the Royal Polytechnical Institute in 1868...
was operated by Harry Pillsbury and Joop van Oosterom is operated by Jeroen Piket."
He didn't stop at only one World Correspondence Chess Championship title, he also won the 21st World Championship Final in Correspondence Chess, being the actual Champion of ICCF
ICCF
ICCF may stand for:*International Conservation Caucus Foundation*International Correspondence Chess Federation...
.