Paul van der Sterren

In this Dutch name, the surname is van der Sterren, not Sterren.

Paul van der Sterren (born 17 March 1956) is a Dutch chess grandmaster and author.

Paul van der Sterren
Van der Sterren in 2023
Country	Netherlands
Born	(1956-03-17) 17 March 1956 (age 69) Venlo, Netherlands
Title	Grandmaster (1989)
FIDE rating	2462 (August 2025)
Peak rating	2605 (January 1994)
Peak ranking	No. 45 (January 1994)

Chess career

Van der Sterren won the Dutch Chess Championship twice, in 1985 and 1993. In 1993 he qualified for the Candidates Tournament for the FIDE World Chess Championship 1996, but was eliminated in the first round (+1 −3 =3) by Gata Kamsky.

He represented the Netherlands in 11 consecutive Chess Olympiads between 1982 and 2000.^[1]

Publications

• Fundamental Chess Openings. Gambit. 2009. ISBN 9781906454135.
• Your First Chess Lessons: A Simple Guide to Chess for Absolute Beginners. Gambit. 2016. ISBN 9781910093955.
• Kings of the Chessboard. Thinkers. 2019. ISBN 9789492510532.
• In Black and White: The Chess Autobiography of a World Champion Candidate. New in Chess. 2023. ISBN 9789083336510.
• Mindful Chess: The Spiritual Journey of a Professional Chess Player. New in Chess. 2024. ISBN 9789083347912.