Introduced to the game by his father, Van Foreest learned to play chess at the age of six but did not play regularly until he was nine.[2] He graduated from the Topsport Talent School [nl] in 2018 and since then he has been a professional chess player.[3]
2013–2016
In 2013, Van Foreest won the European U14 Chess Championship with a score of 7.5/9 (+6–0=3).[4][5] He earned his international master title in 2014 at the age of 15 and secured all the norms needed for the grandmaster title in 2015 at the age of 16.[6] He was officially awarded his grandmaster title by FIDE in 2016.[7] This makes him the Netherlands' youngest ever grandmaster (Anish Giri was awarded the title at a younger age but was not a Dutch player at the time).[8]
In September 2015, he competed in the World Junior Chess Championship. He finished sixth, scoring 8/13 (+5–2=6).[9] In December, Van Foreest won the Groningen Chess Festival with a score of 7.5/9 (+7–1=1).[10]
As of 2017,[update] Van Foreest is coached by three-time Dutch Chess Champion Sergei Tiviakov.[12] From 26 June to 2 July 2017, he competed in the Dutch Chess Championship. He finished seventh, scoring 3/7 (+2–3=2).[13] From 28 October to 6 November, he competed for the Netherlands on board 4 at the 2017 European Team Chess Championship. He scored 5/7 (+4–1=2) for a performance rating of 2723.[14] From 13 to 25 November, he competed at the World Junior Chess Championship. He placed fifth with a score of 8/11 (+7–2=2),[15] half a point behind the winner Aryan Tari.[16]
From 13 to 28 January 2018, Van Foreest competed in the Tata Steel Challengers. He finished fifth, scoring 7.5/13 (+4–2=7).[17] He competed in the 81st Tata Steel Masters in January 2019, placing thirteenth with 4.5/13 (+3–7=3).[18] In July, Van Foreest shared first in the 2019 Dutch Championship with 5/7 (+3–0=4), losing on tiebreak to his younger brother Lucas van Foreest.[19]
Van Foreest is the eldest child of his family and has five siblings: four brothers and one sister.[2] He was born to father Nicky van Foreest who is a professor and faculty of the department of Economics at the University of Groningen and to mother Sheila Timp who is a medical doctor and a programmer. He was homeschooled in his early childhood along with the rest of his siblings. Van Foreest used to play at his local chess clubs after taking an interest in the game at age 9. His younger brother, Lucas (born 2001), earned the title of grandmaster in 2018.[26] His sister, Machteld (born 2007), won the Dutch Girls' U10 Championship at the age of 6 and shared second place in the Dutch Girls' U20 Championship when she was 9. In 2017, she became the first girl ever to win the Dutch U12 Championship.[12] In 2022, she became the Dutch Women's Champion. She has a FIDErating of 2255 as of September 2023.[update][27]
^Verseput, Steven (28 August 2015). "Een wonderlijk Gronings schaakgezin". NRC (in Dutch). Het talent zit in het bloed bij de familie Van Foreest – van het adellijk geslacht, met het predicaat jonkheer.
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