Jan, who hails from Oestgeest is another young Dutch GM who tried his hand at being a pro for a year but had a change of heart. He recently said that more than anything, the ‘dead times’ between chess events got to him, and were no fun to fill. Now a full time student of Economics in the university of Rotterdam with a busy schedule, he makes sure to find the time to work on chess.

2006 brought mixed results to the easygoing Dutchman: he qualified for the national championships, but finished it with a minus 2 score. He had a few mediocre results in open tourneys, and had a contrasting result in his league play: a sad 2.5/7 in the Bundesliga, but a thundering 8.5/11 in the Dutch league.

After two very successful years in Wijk aan Zee – Third place and a final GM norm for the title in 2004, and an even more impressive 2005 with a tie for second (8.5/13), Smeets had experienced a disappointing event last year, with practically nothing going right and a 4/13 finish. Now absent the pressures of being a pro, chances are that the 2007 edition of Corus would be the forum for a nice comeback for Jan.