Staff Profiles: Peter
This is part of series of posts to help you get to know the Chess.com team better. Today, we catch up with a man who always has his finger on the pulse of the chess world — the intrepid Peter Doggers!
Where do you live?
I live in Amsterdam, The Netherlands — the city everyone in the world seems to relate to two things only: the legality of (soft) drugs and the Red Light District. I would be the last person to deny these splendid attractions, but at the same time (or simultaneously, if we keep the chess lingo) I must point out to our readers the many other great attractions, such as the huge number of rust-collecting, deserted bikes, the impressive dark-grey clouds that provide the much-needed rain and of course the Dutch people, who are known to be professional complainers. (Oh, and among ones no longer with us are Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Anne Frank, who even got their own museums!)
How long have you worked at Chess.com?
For a bit more than two years. And actually a bit more than that! Officially I started per 1 September 2013, although Chess.com's acquisition of my website/company ChessVibes was announced only a month later. However, I had secretly started writing news reports for Chess.com under the 'webmaster' account from the start of June 2013. :-)
What do you do on the team?
My main responsibility is the chess news. Most of the reports posted on Chess.com/news are by me, although Mike Klein is helping me out a lot, and we might see one or two other names there soon, as I'm getting busier with other things. One important project (or rather, a string of projects) is producing live shows of top events for Chess.com/TV. Together with Lennart Ootes I've now done shows in Wijk aan Zee, Gibraltar, Reykjavik, Jerusalem and Skopje. Before the end of the year we'll do two more: the European Team Championship (again in Reykjavik) and the Qatar Masters.
What do you love about working here?
It's hard to decide what I like more: the freedom or the team! From my ChessVibes period I know what it's like to work from home, or from any coffee place or beach you decide you wanna be that day. Just bring your laptop, find Wifi and boom, your in your ever-changing office. And dividing the work hours is completely up to you. It also means I don't really have weekends, but as said, I'm used to it.
What I didn't know when I started was that I would be part of a wonderful team full of friendly, ambitious people who all in their own ways are trying to make Chess.com better, in every possible area. The annual meetup, where we all meet in one (usually sunny) place, is one of the absolute highlights of the year.
What are you other interests and hobbies?
Lately I've picked up running again. Short distances (close to 5 km) because my left knee doesn't seem to like more than that. Sporadically I pick up the guitar for some very amateuristic string picking. And I still play chess myself, about one game a month, for my club, in a team full of old friends.
Did you know that in your profile picture you look like Daniel Craig?
Several people said so based on this photo (or 'selfie'), which I took at the Kjeragbolten in Norway. I'll take it as a compliment. ;-)
