Recent years have been sweet chess wise for Werle, and included a huge rating rise of over 100 points, consistent improvement, and achieving the his last Grandmaster norm while tying for second place in Corus C (9/13). One would think that the year he took to be a chess pro will undoubtedly be extended, but not so. The young GM from Groningen decided that pro life was not for him, and he enrolled in law studies in the university of his hometown.

Chess as just a hobby still kept Jan busy playing in several European leagues, some open tournaments (including clear second in the Curacao open) and the Dutch championship, where he finished in the middle of the crosstable with 50%. Another worthy mention was the strong closed Staunton Memorial in London, where he finished in a very good fourth place with 7/11. His current work plan involves getting coaching from his club mate Tiviakov, with whom he analyzes his games, and going over games of former world champions – specifically Petrosian, Smyslov, Karpov and Botvinnik. Jan seems ready for his debut and upgrade to Corus B.