District South emerged as the winner of the first-ever City Districts, held on 31 October at the Business Campus of the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. In a close competition against District West, South claimed victory by a margin of just three board points.
The District South team, led by Felix Kuyken, received a granite chess table valued at €3,500 as their prize. The table will be placed at a location of their choice within the district, and the names of the winning team members will be engraved on it.
On Thursday morning, local government manager Jan van der Does of City District Weesp opened the City Districts Tournament, a six-round rapid chess tournament organised by the Amsterdam Chess Open. The tournament was primarily aimed at Amsterdam’s home-based chess players of all ages and backgrounds who wanted to experience participating in a chess competition.
On 27 October 2025, Amsterdam will celebrate its 750th anniversary. Throughout the jubilee year, which began on 27 October 2024, various events and activities are planned, one of which is the Stadsdeel Tournament.
In the tournament, the seven city districts—Centre, North, New-West, East, West, South, Zuideast—and the Weesp city district competed against each other. Each district team captain gathered a team comprising primary school children, pupils, students, and adults who competed against other districts. Over a hundred players participated. A video capturing the tournament highlights can be seen here.
There were also general individual prizes and category prizes. International Master Merijn van Delft won the overall title with a perfect score of six points. The other winners included Jonah Veerman (primary school), Mehmet Keskin (pupils), Tigran Barseghyan (students), and Luc Schiebroek (adults).
In the Netherlands, there are over one million (online) home-based chess players, yet only twenty thousand actively participate in clubs or tournaments. Thanks to the City Districts tournament, home-based players can experience tournament chess, meet like-minded individuals, and perhaps feel encouraged to visit a club.
In November, the Royal Dutch Chess Federation is also promoting chess among home-based players through its Schaak-Off project. This is a national tournament for chess enthusiasts, starting with local rounds at participating chess clubs, with winners progressing to regional matches and, ultimately, a national final.
The following preliminary rounds will be held in Amsterdam:
- SV de Raadsheer, Wednesday, 6 November, 20:00
- TOG, Thursday, 7 November, 19:30
- Isolani, Thursday, 14 November, 20:00
- BovenIJ, Tuesday, 19 November, 19:00
Following the Stadsdeel Tournament, the Amsterdam Chess Open is being held November 1-3 at the HvA Business Campus, the Corry Tendeloo House in Amsterdam Zuidoost. More information is available on the tournament website.