Karel van der Weide is a 32 year old chess professional from Amsterdam, Netherlands. Originally, he was intent on getting a degree in medieval history, but an argument with the professor convinced him to try the life of a freewheeling, artistic chess pro. He won several tournaments in Europe: Seefeld, Marienbad, Bad Wiessee, Freudenstad and Bethune. The title of Grandmaster was awarded to him in 2005.

For some ten years now, Karel has worked as a youth trainer for the Dutch federation and even became coach of the Dutch women last year. Unfortunately, this job didn t last long, maybe due to the hilarious reports he wrote about the European team championship in Göteborg (Sweden, 2005). Instead of thorough analyses of the ladies' games, he reported not only about their different views on chess, but also about their emotions, quarrels and affairs.

His articles usually cause quite some disturbance in the dull Dutch chess scene, as he manages to cover several controversial topics of a chess professional's life (money, jealousy, women, artistry etc.). Until now, these attempts to create chess literature are only available in the Dutch language on his website www.karelvanderweide.nl