The Ultimate Comeback: Grandmaster Erwin l'Ami On Beating Cancer & Returning To Chess

Mick

Feb 21, 2024, 8:00 AM | 47 | Other

A fan-favorite Chessable course creator, GM Erwin l’Ami has quite literally written the book on some of the most popular ways to start a game with the black pieces.

Thousands of people have benefited from his work as one of the chess world’s best opening theorists, from hobbyists to world championship contenders; L’Ami has been a second for GMs Veselin Topalov and Anish Giri as well as being a dangerous top 100 player in his own right.

In 2021, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and underwent medical treatment. Since then, he has recovered and gone on to record multiple career-best performances, including a Dutch championship and a strong effort at last month’s Tata Steel Challengers tournament in Wijk aan Zee.

We spoke to Erwin about his recovery and return to competitive chess, why the Caro-Kann and Slav are some of his top recommended openings for Black, and his plans for the future.

Why does the Wijk aan Zee tournament have a special place in your heart?

The tournament as a whole is very special for me because it's my home turf in a way. I have been walking around there since I was a child. I’m always happy to do well there.

I saw the famous Kasparov-Topalov game live when I was there as a kid. I was around 13 at the time, and just visiting with my father, so I have all these memories connected to the tournament and it's always special to be there. I’ve also now played the tournament 20 times, so there are so many memories. I think by now it’s 240-something games!

Kings, Queens & Rookies: A 2023 book featuring a chapter by L'Ami on the last 25 years of the tournament; he has attended every single year (and played in most of those).

Was this year your best result? You've faced some scary line-ups over the years!

Hmm… In 2012 I was also in contention for first place in the very last round. I played against [GM Vladimir] Potkin and I lost, and then [GM Pentala] Harikrishna won the tournament. So that was probably another one, but this year is definitely up there.

I also played in the main group twice. I remember playing [GM Magnus] Carlsen, then the next day [GM Hikaru] Nakamura, then Vishy [GM Viswanathan Anand], [GM Vladimir] Kramnik… After that, it’s not that scary anymore!

Now I’m a bit older, I’m 38… Back then I played in 2011 and 2013; so 11 years ago. I was a bit younger and less experienced. Once you get older, you get a little more chilled out. I actually feel I would do things a little differently now, maybe even better. It’s always hard to say, it depends on how the tournament goes.

Back in those days, I don’t think I was ready for it psychologically. Of course, chess-wise these guys are stronger than I am, but it also doesn’t help when you’re psychologically not ready. Kramnik, Carlsen, Anand, they’re all fantastic players and they’re all stronger than me, but in one game anything can happen.

I would definitely like to have the chance to try it one more time; I’ll have to win the Challengers one day!

A lot of people were moved by the video about your recovery and your return to chess.

Yeah, I actually hesitated to bring that out at first! I got a lot of reactions after it was released because I had kept it quite private, the whole ordeal, so to speak. Some people around me said that it could maybe serve as an inspiration for people. I find it a bit difficult to say such a thing about my own story, but that was the idea; that people can see this video and see that you can get sick, get well, and just do well afterwards.

That was definitely the purpose, and if that worked, then I'm very happy.

In 2022, only a month before the Wijk Aan Zee tournament started, you were finishing your radiation therapy. How did it feel to return to chess after such an experience?

So the radiation was the final part of the treatment. They had already done some chemotherapy, and that's the worst part because your energy gets very low and then your hair goes, which is actually minor, but you feel sick. Afterwards, I got some radiation treatment as well and I found it quite doable, but it still takes a lot of energy. I desperately wanted to play that tournament. I didn't want to miss Wijk aan Zee.

I desperately wanted to play that tournament. I didn't want to miss Wijk aan Zee.
— GM Erwin l'Ami

The news came in April, so I was out of it from April to the end of November/December. I finished my treatment and then I got to play Wijk aan Zee; so I can say it was perfect timing in a way. I felt so great being there, and that helped a lot. I also didn’t prepare much… I am normally someone who really likes to prepare and spend some hours behind the laptop, but I didn’t do much of that so I got to save some energy and sleep a lot.

I had a great tournament, but even if it would have gone differently, just being there and playing some nice games was fantastic. I feel that it was one of the best tournaments I ever played. Of course, the Dutch title that came almost a year later was the big thing that was missing in my career, so that was also a great one, but this one felt even bigger because it was like a comeback.

So you came back to Wijk aan Zee a year later, and some people didn’t even know that anything had happened?

Yeah, I was just back again! I had played in the last event in January, then in April I got the diagnosis, and then I played Wijk aan Zee again as if nothing had happened.

I had told a few people who had to know. For example, I was supposed to go with Anish [Giri] to the Candidates Tournament. I had gone with him for the first half and then it got canceled due to Covid famously, so I was supposed to join him for the second half once it restarted. But then obviously I had to cancel that!

So Anish knew, some people from the federation knew, basically people who had to know for practical reasons. Of course, people talk, so some others knew about it, but I never spoke about it as openly as I did in the past few weeks.

I never spoke about [the diagnosis] as openly as I did in the past few weeks.

I found it very nice at the time that it was just a small group of people that knew; that was fine for me. I didn't need to have anything public. But now it's two years ago and I can talk about it very easily; it almost feels like a lifetime ago already. It's easier to talk about now.

L'Ami and Giri together at the 2016 Olympiad. Photo: Peter Doggers.

You've created Chessable courses on different openings, including the Caro-Kann and the Slav, and more...

I’m also quite proud of the videos I made for Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual! Of course, that’s not my book, but I did find it very honorable to make the videos for that course because that’s such an iconic book. That one is also high on my list of things I made for Chessable.

People often recommend Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual, but it’s super hard and lots of people never read it. People should, at some point in their life, try to study it. Many people told me they enjoyed the videos but that they’re suffering their way through the course! I do think it’s very beneficial. Once you’ve done that course, the base of your endgame technique is really there, that’s for sure.

You can also do the 100 Endgames You Must Know as an alternative. It’s not my course, but it’s a more accessible and light version.

The Caro-Kann is having a moment of popularity online. What do you think the appeal of the Caro-Kann is?

I think it's the unbalanced nature of it. With e4 e5 there's symmetry, right? After e4 c6 there’s already some imbalance in the position. I think that appeals to people a lot. Another thing is that after e4 c6, it's move one, you play the Caro-Kann and you decide the course of the game. In e4 e5 White can play the King’s Gambit, the Italian, Ruy Lopez…

You play the Caro-Kann and you decide the course of the game.

I kind of like the boldness of it, and I think many people do. The same goes, I think, for the French Defense, which is also popular. After e4 e6, you decide what kind of game it’s going to be. Those factors I think play a major role. The Caro-Kann limits White’s options a little bit.

"I'm not the target audience, but I watch his videos sometimes! He knows how to make a good presentation and tells the story in a very engaging way. I make courses, so I also have to think about how to present things, and there's a lot to learn from people like Levy and how he presents chess to a wide audience." — GM Erwin l'Ami on his fellow Caro-Kann advocate, IM Levy Rozman.

The Slav isn't quite so glamorous right now. Why is the Slav such a good option against 1.d4?

First of all, it just has a very healthy theoretical foundation. I mean, there have been thousands of games played at the highest level. Back in the 90s, it was the opening... Shirov, Anand, Bareev, everybody was playing it.

It's fashion, right? Sometimes things are in fashion, sometimes they go out of fashion, who knows why? It's hard to say, but for me, the appeal of the Slav is that you have this very healthy position.

In the main line, you have no bad pieces. I think that should appeal to people—it doesn’t appeal to people just yet, but it should! It’s an opening that’s very easy to learn and very healthy. That actually is similar to the Caro-Kann in a way.

People have bought my Caro-Kann course and then asked me what opening they should play against 1.d4 which kind of fits with the Caro-Kann, and I always thought that the Slav was that opening. All your pieces find good squares. Maybe you’re lacking a bit of space, but all your pieces are finding good spots. In that sense, those openings have some correlations.

In the main line, you have no bad pieces. I think that should appeal to people.

Do you have plans for any new Chessable courses or other projects?

I’ve been convinced to do a d4 repertoire. I’ve made lifetime repertoires for Black against 1.d4 and 1.e4, so I think it makes sense to switch to the other side now. I am a d4 player; actually, I became a grandmaster playing mostly e4, but at some point I switched to d4, so it made sense to create a d4 repertoire.

I don’t have any timeframe, it might be months from now before I come even close to finishing that, but that’s the idea: to be complete as an author!

Lastly, and most importantly... will you ever play football on the rest day in Wijk aan Zee?

Haha. That would be the day when that happens! I think it's extremely unlikely. I really enjoy my rest days, and also you have to realize that the weather in Wijk aan Zee in January is terrible! It's cold. It can be freezing cold. So the idea of going out onto a pitch doesn't really appeal to me, and I find it highly unlikely!

GM Erwin l'Ami's courses are available on Chessable, including free 'Short & Sweet' versions of his masterclasses on the Slav and Caro-Kann.

Previous Streamer/Creator of the Month articles:

The Ultimate Comeback: Grandmaster Erwin l'Ami On Beating Cancer & Returning To Chess

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