View source for Jan Hein Donner

{{short description|Dutch chess grandmaster (1927–1988)}}
{{Infobox chess biography
| name        = Jan Hein Donner
| image       = Jan Hein Donner 1978.jpg
| caption     = Donner in 1978
| birthname   = Johannes Hendrikus Donner
| country     = [[Netherlands]]
| birth_date  = {{birth date|1927|7|6|mf=yes}}
| birth_place = [[The Hague]], Netherlands
| death_date  = {{death date and age|1988|11|27|1927|7|6|mf=yes}}
| death_place =
| title       = [[Grandmaster (chess)|Grandmaster]] (1959)
| peakrating  = 2500 (July 1971)
| peakranking = No. 77 (July 1971)
}}

'''Johannes Hendrikus (Hein) Donner''' (July 6, 1927 – November 27, 1988) was a Dutch [[Grandmaster (chess)|chess grandmaster]] and writer. He was born in [[The Hague]]. His father [[Jan Donner]] was a prominent Dutch politician and judge. Donner won the [[Dutch Chess Championship|Dutch Championship]] in 1954, 1957, and 1958. At the [[Gijón]] tournament of 1956 he came third, behind [[Bent Larsen]] and [[Klaus Darga]], equal with [[Alberic O'Kelly]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Mendez|first=Pedro|url=https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/the-gijon-international-chess-tournaments-1944-1965/|title=The Gijon International Chess Tournaments|last2=Mendez|first2=Luis|publisher=McFarland|year=2019|isbn=978-1-4766-7659-3|pages=171}}</ref> [[FIDE]], the World Chess Federation, awarded Donner the GM title in 1959. He played for the Netherlands in the [[Chess Olympiad]]s 11 times (1950–1954, 1958–1962, 1968, 1972–1978).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.olimpbase.org/players/z7f3znjb.html|title=Men's Chess Olympiads: Jan Donner|publisher=OlimpBase|access-date=30 April 2011|archive-date=19 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519082817/http://www.olimpbase.org/players/z7f3znjb.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was the uncle of a former Dutch Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, [[Piet Hein Donner]].

On August 24, 1983, Donner suffered a [[stroke]], which he wrote happened "just in time, because when you are 56 you do not play chess as well as you did when you were 26".<ref>Donner 2006, p. 5.</ref> After surviving the stroke, he went to live in ''Vreugdehof'', which he described as "a kind of nursing-home". He was unable to walk, but had learned to type with one finger, and wrote for ''NRC Handelsblad'' and ''Schaaknieuws''.<ref>Donner 2006, p. 381 (originally published in ''Schaaknieuws'', 20 September 1986).</ref>

The character Onno Quist in the novel (and film) ''[[The Discovery of Heaven]]'' by [[Harry Mulisch]] is based on Donner.

== The columnist ==
Donner was also a chess columnist and writer. He was famous for his outspoken and often outrageous columns about subjects such as women, politics, and fellow Dutch grandmaster [[Lodewijk Prins]], whom Donner claimed "cannot tell a [[Knight (chess)|knight]] from a [[Bishop (chess)|bishop]]".

In 1987, the book ''De Koning'' ("The King") was published, which contained 162 of his chess columns, all but the last written between 1950 and 1983, collected by [[Tim Krabbé]] and [[Max Pam]].<ref name="Donner2006p.10">Donner 2006, p. 10.</ref> Also in 1987, Donner received the [[Henriёtte Roland-Holst Prize]], one of the Netherlands' most prestigious literary awards, for ''Na mijn dood geschreven'' ("Written after my death"), a selection from the mini-columns he had written for ''NRC Handelsblad''.<ref name="Donner2006p.10"/> On November 27, 1988, Donner died of a [[Stomach|gastric]] [[hemorrhage]].<ref name="Donner2006p.10"/> He is buried at [[Zorgvlied (cemetery)|Zorgvlied cemetery]].

In 2006, [[New in Chess]] published an English translation of the complete ''De Koning'', entitled ''The King: Chess Pieces''.<ref>Donner 2006.</ref> An abridged edition had previously appeared in English in the 1990s.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20111016050221/http://chessville.com/reviews/TheKing.htm Chessville Reviews – The King – by GM Jan Hein Donner – New In Chess, 2006 – Reviewed by Rick Kennedy – chess book reviews]}}. Chessville.com. Retrieved on 2012-08-11.</ref>

==Quotes from Donner==
{{Copy to Wikiquote|section=yes}}
[[File:Hoogovenschaaktoernooi te Beverwijk, Jan Hein Donner in actie, Bestanddeelnr 910-9355.jpg|thumb|right|Donner in 1960]]
{{algebraic notation|pos=secleft}}
*"I love all positions. Give me a difficult positional game, I'll play it. Give me a bad position, I'll defend it. Openings, endgames, complicated positions, and dull, drawn positions, I love them all and will give my best efforts. But totally winning positions I cannot stand."<ref>Donner 2006, p. 19 (originally published in ''Club Magazine DD'', July/September 1950). {{ISBN|90-5691-171-6}}.</ref>
*Writing of Lodewijk Prins, after Prins had won the Dutch Championship: "He hasn't got a clue. He is the worst player in the whole wide world. ... Dear Lodewijk. ... You've won the title and I want to congratulate you. But I think you cannot tell a knight from a bishop and I'm prepared to prove it, too. ... We'll play a match."<ref>Donner 2006, p. 81 (originally published in ''De Tijd'', 15 December 1965).</ref> Prins declined Donner's match offer.<ref>Donner 2006, pp. 83-84 (originally published in ''De Tijd'', 11 January 1966).</ref>
*"After I resigned this game with perfect self-control and solemnly shook hands with my opponent in the best of Anglo-Saxon traditions, I rushed home, where I threw myself onto my bed, howling and screaming, and pulled the blankets over my face."<ref>Donner 2006, p. 126 (originally published as ''Donner-[[Hans Ree|Ree]], Polemiek en Tweekamp'' [Polemic and Match], 1972).</ref>
*Donner's remark about winning from a dead-lost position: "I couldn't resist saying something that I had never said before after winning a game of chess. I may have thought it, but I had never said it. I said, 'Sorry.{{' "}}<ref>Donner 2006, p. 133 (originally published in ''Schaakbulletin 52/53'', April 1972).</ref>
*"Chess is and will always be a game of chance."<ref>Donner 2006, p. 86 (originally published in ''Elseviers Weekblad'', 20 November 1967).</ref>
*"It is mainly the irreparability of a mistake that distinguishes chess from other sports. A whole game long and there is only one point to score. Just one mistake and the battle is lost, even though the fight may go on for hours. ... That's why a mistake hits so hard in chess."<ref>Donner 2006, p. 144 (originally published in ''De Tijd'', 31 July 1972).</ref>
*On playing the black pieces against the move 1.e4: "I don't like this move. And they know it." Donner, ''The Master Game'',  BBC2
*"How different is chess in the United States. The game of chess has never been held in great esteem by the North Americans. Their culture is steeped in deeply anti-intellectual tendencies. They pride themselves in having created the game of poker. It is their national game, springing from a tradition of westward expansion, of gun-slinging skirt chasers who slept with cows and horses. They distrust chess as a game of Central European immigrants with a homesick longing for clandestine conspiracies in quiet coffee houses. Their deepest conviction is that bluff and escalation will achieve more than scheming and patience (witness their foreign policy)."<ref>Donner 2006, pp. 138{{ndash}}9 (originally published in ''De Tijd'', 28 June 1972).</ref>
*"... it doesn't take much insight into human nature to predict that [[Bobby Fischer|Fischer]] will not be world champion for long. His quirks, moods and whims will turn against him at the moment when he has reached the top. He'll hit out hard, but at nothing but thin air."<ref>Donner 2006, p. 147 (originally published in ''De Tijd'', 31 July 1972).</ref>
*"The difference between the sexes is remarkable in chess, but not any more so, to my mind, than in any other field of cultural activity. Women cannot play chess, but they cannot paint either, or write, or philosophize. In fact, women have never thought or made anything worth considering."<ref>Donner 2006, p. 151 (originally published in ''Het Parool'', 31 August 1972).</ref>
*According to [[Jonathan Speelman]]:<ref>Jon Speelman, ''Best Chess Games 1970-80'', Unwin Paperbacks, 1983, p. 261. {{ISBN|0-04-794016-6}}.</ref>
<blockquote>In round one of the Olympiad China won a famous victory over Iceland. Amongst the casualties was Grandmaster [[Gudmundur Sigurjonsson|Sigurjonsson]] who lost to [[Qi Jingxuan|Qi Jung Xuan]]. Coming upon Sigurjonsson, ... Donner had attempted to console him with the following unfortunate choice of words: "Tell me, Grandmaster, how can a Western European Grandmaster lose to a Chinaman?" In round eight, the Chinese played Holland. And the unlucky Donner got an answer to his question...</blockquote> 
:Speelman was referring to the game [[Liu Wenzhe]]–Donner, Buenos Aires 1978: 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Be2 Bg7 5.g4 h6 6.h3 c5 7.d5 0-0 8.h4 e6 9.g5 hxg5 10.hxg5 Ne8 11.Qd3 exd5 12.Nxd5 Nc6 13.Qg3 Be6 14.Qh4 f5 15.Qh7+ Kf7 16.Qxg6+ Kxg6 17.Bh5+ Kh7 18.Bf7+ Bh6 19.g6+ Kg7 20.Bxh6+ [[Resign (chess)|1–0]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1260270 |title=Liu Wenzhe vs. Donner, Buenos Aires 1978 |website=[[ChessGames.com]] |access-date=2009-02-27 }}</ref>
*"Computers cannot play chess at all, and they will never be able to, at least not for the next two thousand years or so, for that would take a technology that is still far beyond the horizon ... ."<ref>Donner 2006, p. 345 (originally published in ''NRC Handelsblad'', 13 April 1981).</ref>
* "My name is J. H. Donner, 'Hein' for friends. 'Jan-Hein' was an unseemly joke of malicious sport journalists, but that's not my name, it never was and it never will be."<ref>{{langx|nl|"Jan-Hein" was een misplaatste grap van kwaadwillende sportjournalisten, maar zo heet ik niet, heb ik nooit geheten...}} Donner, ''Van Vroeger'', Bakker, 1989 {{ISBN|9789035105898}}, p. 152.</ref>

==Notable games==
{{AN chess|pos=secright}}
Donner considered the following games to be his two best:<ref>Donner 2006, pp. 247-50 (originally published in [[Raymond Keene]], ''Schaken Met Grootmeesters'' [Chess with Grandmasters], Amsterdam, 1977).</ref>

*Donner vs. [[Octav Troianescu]], Wageningen Zonal, 1957 <br />1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 c5 5.Bd3 0-0 6.Nf3 d5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.a3 cxd4 9.exd4 dxc4 10.Bxc4 Be7 11.Re1 a6 12.Ba2 b5 13.d5 exd5 14.Nxd5 Nxd5 15.Qxd5 Bb7 16.Qh5 g6 17.Qh6 Nd4 18.Ng5 Bxg5 19.Bxg5 Qb6 20.Rad1 Rac8 21.Re7 Qd6 22.Kh1 Qc6 23.Rxb7 Nf5 24.Bd5 Qc2 25.Rc1 Qe2 26.Bxf7+ Kh8 27.Bf6+ {{chessAN|1–0}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1410100 |title=Donner vs. Troianescu, Wageningen 1957 |website=[[Chessgames.com]] |access-date=2009-02-24 }}</ref>
*Donner vs. [[Bent Larsen]], Wageningen Zonal 1957 <br />1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.Nc3 d6 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.0-0 a6 8.d5 Na5 9.Nd2 c5 10.Qc2 Rb8 11.b3 b5 12.cxb5 axb5 13.Bb2 b4 14.Nd1 Ba6 15.Re1 Bh6 16.e4 Bxd2 17.Qxd2 c4 18.e5 Ne8 19.Qd4 c3 20.Nxc3 bxc3 21.Bxc3 f6 22.Qa7 Nxb3 23.axb3 Ra8 24.Ba5 Rxa7 25.Bxd8 fxe5 26.f4 Ng7 27.Bb6 Raa8 28.fxe5 Nf5 29.exd6 exd6 30.Bf2 Rfb8 31.g4 Nh6 32.Re7 Nxg4 33.Bd4 Rb4 34.Rg7+ Kf8 35.Rxh7 Bb7 36.Rf1+ Ke8 37.Bg7 Rd8 38.Rf8+ Kd7 39.Bf6+ 1–0<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1317964 |title=Donner vs. Larsen, Wageningen 1957 |website=[[Chessgames.com]] |access-date=2009-02-24 }}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}

==References==
*Donner, J. H. (2006). ''The King: Chess Pieces''. New in Chess. {{ISBN|90-5691-171-6}}.

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*{{Chessgames player|14765}}
*{{OlimpBase player|z7f3znjb}}
{{Dutch GMs}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donner, Jan Hein}}
[[Category:1927 births]]
[[Category:1988 deaths]]
[[Category:Chess Grandmasters]]
[[Category:Dutch chess writers]]
[[Category:Chess players from The Hague]]
[[Category:Chess Olympiad competitors]]
[[Category:20th-century Dutch chess players]]
[[Category:20th-century Dutch sportsmen]]
[[Category:Deaths from gastrointestinal hemorrhage]]
[[Category:Burials at Zorgvlied Cemetery]]