René
in his family circle |
René
van der Heijden, a founding member of the KWA and a passionate collector
of chess books, has passed away much too young. In his struggle against
cancer he was playing a losing game. We wish that his partner Tia van der
Let together with her children Gwendoline, Natalie and Angelique may summon
courage and strength to endure and to overcome this severe loss.
Geurt Gijssen, René van
der Heijden and Pierre Voss
(Wijk aan Zee 2005)
|
René
liked to play chess and was a member of several clubs, in the last years
he played for "Nieuw Amelisweerd", a circle of chess friends with
the objective to enjoy the game and a friendly get-together. And he could
win his last game played on December 14th, 2006. It’s true that his
favourite book was Dostojewski’s The Player but above all
he was a collector. Anyone who visited him at home knows what that means:
various rooms filled with books from different fields: science, mathematics,
literature in different languages, art, music, economy and of course chess.
In bookcases, boxes, piles. Naturally each incomplete series had to be completed.
René
and collector friend Joop Jansen
(Book market in the Max Euwe-Centrum, Amsterdam) |
A
personal episode: Jurgen Stigter had found the missing volumes of the BCM
and the Tijdschrift van den Nederlandschen Schaakbond for René.
I phoned René for a date and promised to bring him the eagerly awaited
items. Now he knew that his collection would be complete at least in this
area. On Friday we dropped by his house – unfortunately too late as
René was already deceased a few hours before. Accordingly he couldn’t
"really" experience any more the completion of his collection
but only in the preview of his mind’s eye. We would like to believe
that at least that was not completely insignificant.
René van der Heijden will be cremated on Friday, April 13th, in his
family circle.
(Hans Engberts)
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