Paul van der Sterren is a Dutch chess grandmaster. He won the Dutch Chess Championship

Dutch Chess Championship

The Dutch Chess Championship was officially established in 1909, although unofficial champions stretch back to the 1870s.-Early years:-Official championships:...

 twice, in 1985 and 1993. In 1993 he qualified for the Candidates Tournament

Candidates Tournament

The Candidates Tournament is a chess tournament organized by the world chess federation FIDE since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship...

 for the FIDE World Chess Championship 1996

FIDE World Chess Championship 1996

The FIDE World Chess Championship 1996 was a chess tournament held by FIDE to determine the World Chess Champion.-Background:At the time the World Chess Champion title was split....

, but was eliminated in the first round (+1 -3 =3) by Gata Kamsky

Gata Kamsky

Gata Kamsky is a Soviet-born American chess grandmaster, and the current World Rapid Chess Champion. He is also the current United States Chess Champion. As of September 2011, he is rated No. 1 in the United States and No...

.

Van der Sterren represented the Netherlands in 10 consecutive Chess Olympiads from 1982 through 2000.

He is the author of the one-volume opening

Chess opening

A chess opening is the group of initial moves of a chess game. Recognized sequences of opening moves are referred to as openings as initiated by White or defenses, as created in reply by Black. There are many dozens of different openings, and hundreds of named variants. The Oxford Companion to...

encyclopedia Fundamental Chess Openings, which was published in 2009.