Wouter is Holland’s youngest International Master, and has under his belt several youth championships titles. An obvious talent who made a significant progress in the last few years, Spoelman is quite an experienced competitor. He had represented his country a few times in European and World youth competitions, and plays regularly in many open and closed events. His 6.5/13 finish during his first visit to Corus C in 2005 can be called a success. 2006 was a good chess year for the youngster: he may be just a few lower than his recent peak, but one cannot ignore the huge gain of nearly 100 points since last year.

Early in the year he jumped into the fray by partaking in two of the most GM-loaded events in the world: Capelle la Grand and Aeroflot, where he finished with very good 5.5/9 and 4.5/9 respectively, with nice ELO gains. He had further success in the Staufer open in Germany, where he placed high with 7/9. Wouter complemented the opens with league play in secondary leagues in Germany and his own national league – all with plus scores. Is it time to think of a GM norm for the promising Dutchman?