10/4/2023 – Geurt Gijssen, born in 1934, is one of the most famous chess arbiters in the world of chess. He was the chief arbiter for the World Championship match between Kasparov and Karpov in 1987. He has been the top arbiter for several world championships, Olympiads and also the chairman of the FIDE rules commission for 20 years! What makes him so special? In this interview IM Sagar Shah sits down with Geurt and gets to know all about his life story. Towards the end Geurt also gives his advice to young and budding people who want to become chess arbiters.
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Winning starts with what you know The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
This course isn’t just another addition to your chess library—it’s the definitive guide to elevate your endgame play. From fundamental principles to advanced techniques, “Practical Endgames” covers every aspect of endgame strategy.
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Geurt Gijssen was born in Germany, but has lived in Nijmegen, Netherlands since 1952, where he worked as a mathematics teacher at a secondary school until he retired in 1983. He has been the head arbiter of several Chess Olympiads (1998, 2000, 2002, 2006), as well as several matches and tournaments for World Chess Champion titles: Garry Kasparov-Anatoly Karpov (1987, 1990), Anatoly Karpov-Gata Kamsky (1996), Anatoly Karpov-Vishwanathan Anand (1998), FIDE World Chess Championship (1999), Vladimir Kramnik-Veselin Topalov (2006).
Geurt is also a chess writer and has written several books on the game. In 2013 he was awarded the title of FIDE Honorary Member in recognition of his outstanding contributions to chess. Here are some of Gijssen's most notable achievements:
International Arbiter (1979)
FIDE Honorary Member (2013)
Head referee of several Chess Olympiads (1998, 2000, 2002, 2006)
Head referee of several World Chess Championship matches and tournaments
Chess writer, author of several books on the game
Geurt Gijssen is a highly respected figure in the world of chess. He is a dedicated and experienced referee who has made significant contributions to the game. IM Sagar Shah interviewed him during his coverage of the Levitov Chess Week 2023:
Sagar ShahSagar is an International Master from India with two GM norms. He loves to cover chess tournaments, as that helps him understand and improve at the game he loves so much. He is the co-founder and CEO of ChessBase India, the biggest chess news portal in the country. His YouTube channel has over a million subscribers, and to date close to a billion views. ChessBase India is the sole distributor of ChessBase products in India and seven adjoining countries, where the software is available at a 60% discount. compared to International prices.
Ruy Lopez Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 12092 games from Mega 2025 and the Correspondence Database 2024, of which 1276 are annotated.
In this 60 Minutes, Andrew Martin guides you through all the key ideas you need to know to play with confidence. Whether you’re looking to surprise your opponents, or simply want a straightforward weapon against e5, the Centre Attack has you covered.
Videos by Mihail Marin: Najdorf Variation with 6.f4 and Nico Zwirs: Italian ‘giucco pianissimo’. ‘Lucky bag’ with 45 analyses by Edouard, Ftacnik, Gupta, Pelletier and others. Update service with over 50,000 new games for your database!
This video course provides a comprehensive and practical White repertoire in the Ruy Lopez! Through instructive model games and in-depth theoretical explanations, you will learn how to confidently handle both main lines and sidelines.
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