Daniël Stellwagen

Who is Daniël Stellwagen?

Daniël Stellwagen is a Dutch chess Grandmaster.

In 1999 he won the Dutch Junior Championship and won silver both at the World Junior Championship and the European Junior Championship. In 2003 he won the endgame study solving contest at the De Feijter Festival in Deventer with an unprecedented 100%. In 2004 he became grandmaster, which at 18 year made him the youngest Dutch grandmaster ever. In 2005 and 2007, he became second in the Dutch Chess Championship. He was leading the 2008 Dutch Championship by a half point with one round to play, but lost to Jan Smeets in the final round earning Smeets the crown.

Since failing to win the crown, Daniel has found comfort in his chemistry studies at the university of Utrecht, where he is currently studying for his PhD in inorganic chemistry and catalysis. Daniel has justified his decision to leave chess by saying "In chemistry, you also have the competitive element, because you have to publish your work, you have to come up with better ideas than other people, but you don't have to face and fight against somebody. This is what makes chess a difficult game."

Daniel is currently active in the Bundesliga for SG Solingen, who finished third in 2012, missing out on the title by just 4 points.