sentences:  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.Van der Sterren represented the Netherlands in 11 consecutive Chess Olympiads from 1982 through 2001.He is the author of the two-volume opening encyclopedia "Fundamental Chess Openings", which was published in 2009 and 2011.