Top Brits Player Profiles

Introduction

Britain is experiencing a growing army of Grandmasters, International masters and FIDE masters. This section aims to show some of the achievements of these players. This year alone (1997 at time of writing), Aaron Summerscale, Dharshan Kumaran and Harriet Hunt have achieved Grandmaster status. Furthermore, Peter Wells, Sadler,  Short, and Adams have all qualified for the 1997 FIDE world championship. Adams reached the semi finals.

For past British tournaments which the following profiles refer to, such as the annual Hastings congress event, etc. games may be available in the rapidly evolving BritBase developed by John Saunders at the 4NCL web site.

This section will naturally evolve, and your feedback is welcome to make this section more accurate, complete and up-to-date.

Key:

  Top World 100  | g Grandmaster | wgm Women Grandmaster | wgjc World girls junior champion | wjc World junior champion | xbc X- British Champion | cbc Current british champion | xjwc X- Junior world champion

1.     Adams, Michael g 2680     , xbc, cbc
2.     Arkell, Keith g
3.     Bellin, Jana  wgm
4.     Chandler, Murray g
5.     Conquest, Stuart g
6.     Davies, Nigel g
7.     Emms, John,g
8.     Flear, Glenn g
9.     Hebden, Mark g
10.     Hodgson, Julian M g 2590 , xbc
11.     Howell, James g
12.     Hunt, Harriet, wgm, wgjc
13.     Keene, Raymond g xbc
14.     King, Daniel g
15.     Kosten, Tony g
16.     Kumaran, Dharshan g
17.     Lallic, Susan, wgm
18.     Levitt, Jonathan g
19.     McDonald, Neil g
20.     Mestel, Jonathan g, xbc
21.     Miles, Anthony John g 2600 , xbc, xjwc
22.     Norwood, David g
23.     Nunn, John Dennis Martin g 2620 , xbc
24.     Penrose, Jonathan g, xbc
25.     Plaskett, Jim g, xbc
26.     Sadler, Matthew g 2665 , xbc, cbc
27.     Short, Nigel David g 2660 , xbc
28.     Speelman, Jonathan Simon g 2630 , xbc
29.     Stean, Michael g
30.     Summerscale, Aaron g
31.     Ward, Chris g, xbc
32.     Watson, William g
33.     Wells, Peter g 2530

A bit of trivia...

Interesting name stats:

Jonathan:4 ; Jon:2 ; Stuart: 2
If you want your son to be a grandmaster, then Jonathan or John is the best first-name choice!
Harriet, Susan and Jana are all good first names for your potential daughter!

Surname first letters.... C-2 H-4 K-5 M-3 P-2 S-5 W-3
therefore K and S are the best letters for a surname!

Adams, Michael

Author's Introduction
Adams is a very calm and relaxed player that has maintained a friendly and outgoing personality whilst rapidly ascending the echelons of British and International chess. His achievements include:-

• 1988 1^st in two London tournaments Lloyds Bank and NatWest Young Masters
• 1^st Preston 1989
• 1989 won the British championship & became GM
• 1^st equal Groningen 1990
• 1^st Brussels rapid 1992
• 1^st Tilburg 1992
• 1^st Dublin zt 1993
• 1^st Burgas 1993
• 1^st equal Amsterdam 1994
• 1994 lost against Gelfand, B 3-5 WC candidates match in Wijk aan Zee
• 1994 drew match against Agdestein, S 2-2 in Oslo
• 1994 lost against Anand 1.5-5.5 PCA candidate match in Linares
• 1^st equal Dos Hermanas 1995
• 1^st Ischia 1995
• 1^st London rapid 1995
• 1^st New York 1996
• 1^st Kilkenny 1996
• 1^st equal British championship 1997
• 1^st 1997 Santiago
• 1^st 1998 Dortmund
• 1^st 1998 London
• 1^st 1999 Bermuda match
  

Adams Michael - Karpov An [B17/06]
Dortmund (1), 1994

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Ng3 e6 7.Bd3 c5 8.0-0 Be7 9.Qe2 0-0 10.Rd1 Qc7 11.c4 Re8 12.dxc5 Nxc5 13.Bc2 Ncd7 14.Ng5 Nf8 15.N3e4 Bd7 16.Nxf6+ Bxf6 17.Qd3 Bxg5 18.Bxg5 Rac8 19.Rac1 Qe5 20.Qd2 Bc6 21.b4 b6 22.Bf4 Qf6 23.Bg5 Qe5 24.Re1 Qb8 25.a4 Ng6 26.f3 Bb7 27.Bb1 h6 28.Be3 e5 29.Qf2 e4 30.f4 Qd6 31.Qd2 Qf6 32.b5 Nh4 33.a5 bxa5 34.c5 a6 35.c6 Ba8 36.Bd4 Qd8 37.Rxe4 axb5 38.c7 Qd7 39.Rxe8+ Rxe8 40.Qd3 Ng6 41.Bf2 Bc6 42.Qxd7 Bxd7 43.Rd1 Nf8 44.f5!

Rc8 45.Bg3 b4 46.Bd6 Nh7 47.Be4 Nf6 48.Bb7 Re8 49.Be5 Bxf5 50.Rd8 Kh7 51.Rxe8 Nxe8 52.Be4 Nxc7 53.Bxf5+ g6 54.Bxc7 gxf5 55.Bxa5 b3 56.Bc3 Kg6 57.Kf2 Kg5 58.Kf3 h5 59.h4+ 1-0

Sadler, Matthew

• Born 15.05.74 in Gillingham, Kent, England.
• Nationality: Dual, Anglo-French
• 1985 British U-11 Champion
• 1987 Silver medal in World U-14
• 1988 IM at 14 and 3 months, at that time a Britsh and world record
• 1989 Silver medal in World U-16
• 1989 Commonwealth U-21 champion
• 1993 GM at age 19, third youngest ever English player
• 1^st 1994 Cuxhaven
• 1^st 1994 Gausdal
• 1^st 1995 Cannes
• 1^st 1995 British Championship
• 1^st 1995 Isle of Man
• Gold medalist on Board 4 in 1996 Chess Olympiad
• Silver medalist on Board 4 in 1997 European team championship which won gold
• chess book author and radio/TV chess commentator
• 1^st 1996 Ischia
• 1^st 1998 Hastings
• 1^st 1998 UK Championship
• Consistently one of the top 20 Under-20 players in the world from 1988 to 1994.

Short, Nigel

Authors Introduction

Nigel short (1965-) has certainly matured since the days when he was part of a rockband!. His agressive uncompromising style, has led him to the doors of the world championship facing Garry Kasparov. Although he lost that match, his games, especially with the white pieces were absolutely tremendous and did much credit for himself and for the general standard of British chess. His achievements include:-

• Youngest holder of International master title, 1980 when he was 15
• 2nd place after Kasparov in World Junior (under 20), 1980
• BBC Master game winner, 1980-1981 ahead of Larsen and Miles
• 1^st equal with Hort, Amsterdam 1982, GM Norm
• 5th, Arnhem-Amesterdam 1983, GM Norm
• 1^st Baku 1983
• International GM title, 1984
• 1^st Esbjerg 1984
• 1^st Wijk aan Zee 1986
• 1^st Reykjavik 1987
• 1^st equal Subotica zt 1987
• 1^st equal Wijk aan Zee 1987
• 1^st Hastings 1987
• 1^st Amsterdam 1988
• 1^st Hastings 1988
• Won candidate match against Sax,G 1989 cycle 1988/90
• Lost candidate match against Speelman, J 1990 cycle 1988/90
• Won candidate match against Speelman, J +3=4-2 in 1991 cycle 1990/93
• 1^st Amsterdam 1991
• 1991 won candidate match against Gelfand, B +4=2-2 cycle 1990/93
• 1^st British Championship 1991
• won candidate final against Karpov, A +4=4-2
• 1993 1^st equal Amsterdam
• 1993 won against Timman WC semi-final 7.5-5.5 San Lorenzo de el Escorial
• lost against Kasparov the PCA WC final 12.5-7.5 in New York
• drew against Gulko 4-4 in PCA candidate match in New York (won 2.5-1.5 tie break)
• lost against Kamsky 1.5-5.5 in PCA candidate match in Linares
• 1^st Parnu 1996
• 1^st 1996 Groningen
• 1^st 1998 Tallinn/Parnu
• 1^st 1998 Isle of Man
• 1^st 1998 Tallinn
• 1^st 1998 UK Championship
• 1^st 1999 Dhaka
  

Short Nigel D - Kasparov G [B87/20]
PCA-Wch01 London, 1993

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 b5 8.0-0 Be7 9.Qf3 Qc7 10.Qg3 Nc6 11.Nxc6 Qxc6 12.Re1 Bb7 13.a3 Rd8 14.f3 0-0 15.Bh6 Ne8 16.Kh1 Kh8 17.Bg5 Bxg5 18.Qxg5 Nf6 19.Rad1 Rd7 20.Rd3 Rfd8 21.Red1 Qc5 22.Qe3 Kg8 23.Kg1 Kf8 24.Qf2 Ba8 25.Ne2 g6 26.Nd4 Qe5 27.Re1 g5 28.c3 Kg7 29.Bc2 Rg8 30.Nb3 Kf8 31.Rd4 Ke7 32.a4 h5 33.axb5 axb5 34.Rb4 h4 35.Nd4 g4 36.Rxb5 d5 37.Qxh4 Qh5 38.Nf5+ 1-0

Nunn, John (up to 1984 only)

Authors Introduction

John Nunn (1955-) is a very exciting agressive grandmaster. His superb attacking games in the Kings Indian Defence, and in the Sveshnikov sicillian are complete inspiration to any serious attacking players. His depth of analysis in books, is absolutely superb, second to none (pardon the pun). His achievements include:- 

• Youngest Oxford entree at age 15, since cardinal Worsold, graduated 1973 gaining B.Sc the following year, and a doctorate in 1978
• 1^st Budapest, 1978
• British Champion 1980
• 1^st equal with Andersson Hastings, 1979-80
• 3rd Baden-biel Wien 1980, cat. 12 behind Spassky and Beliavsky
• 1^st equal with Matulovic, Helsinki, 1981
• 1^st Wiesbaden, 1981
• 1^st equal with Balashov, Wijk aan Zee 1982 ahead of Tal, Hubner and Timman
• 2nd Helsinki 1983 after Karlsson
• 2nd highest individual score, world team solving championship, 1978
• Winner, Solving championship of Great Britain in 1981
• 1984 Triple gold medallist in the Thessalonika Olympiad
• 1^st equal Hastings Premier 1996-97 with Hebden and Rosenthalis
• Author of many excellent books including The Pirc for the Tournament Player, The Benoni for the Tournament player, Secrets of grandmaster play, Beating the Sicillian, Tactical chess endings, co-author of Sicillian defence: Najdorf variation

Nunn John D M - Karpov An [B12/12]
Monaco Amber, 1994

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nc3 e6 5.g4 Bg6 6.Nge2 Ne7 7.Be3 h5 8.Nf4 hxg4 9.Nxg6 Nxg6 10.Qxg4 Nh4 11.Bd3 g6 12.0-0-0 Be7 13.Kb1 Nd7 14.Ne2 Nb6 15.Nf4 Na4 16.Ne2 b5 17.Nc1 Nb6 18.Nb3 Nc4 19.Rhg1 a5 20.Bc1 a4 21.Nc5 Bxc5 22.dxc5 Nxe5 23.Qg3 Nef3 24.Rh1 e5 25.Be4 Qf6 26.Bxf3 Nxf3 27.Rd3 e4 28.Rxf3 exf3 29.Re1+ Kf8 30.Bg5 Qf5 31.h4 Kg8 32.Re5 Qd7 33.Re7 Qf5 34.Re5 Qc8 35.Bf6 Rh7 36.h5 Qf8 37.a3 Qxc5 38.Qg1 Rh6 39.Qg5!

Qf8 40.hxg6 fxg6 41.Re7 Re8 42.Rd7 Rh1+ 43.Ka2 Qh6 44.Qg3 Rhe1 45.Qc7 R1e7 46.Rxe7 Rxe7 47.Qxe7 Qf8 48.Qe6+ Qf7 49.Qxc6 d4+ 50.Kb1 d3 51.cxd3 Kh7 52.Qxf3 Qb3 53.Qh3+ Kg8 54.Qh8+ Kf7 55.Qg7+ Ke8 1-0

Wells, Peter

• Born 17 April 1965 and learned chess at the age of 6.
• 1987 IM title
• Completed degree in Politics and Economics at Oxford University
• 1990 First GM norm in Oostende Open
• 1991 2nd, British Championship
• 1993 1st, Antwerp Open
• 1993 1st, Harkany Open
• 1994 1st, Oakham Masters, got 2nd GM norm.
• 1994 Final GM Norm at Lloyds Bank Masters
• 1995 4th in Linares Zonal
• 1997 1st, Balatonberry GM tournament
• 1997 3rd, Antwep, Belgium
• Author of several chess books, such as  the complete semi-slav
• Captain/trainer of English women's team in Novi Sad and Women's Olympiads.
• Has recently (97) got married!
• Fide 1997 World Championship qualifier

Speelman, Jonathan 

• Born 1956
• 1978, British Champion
• Team member of World Under 26 Youth team championship winners, ahead of USSR
• 1980, 4th place in cat. 13 London tournament, GM Norm
• 2nd, Maribor, GM Norm
• 1980 Grandmaster title
• 1^st equal with Ftáchnik and Kuzmin Dortmund 1981
• 2nd equal Hastings 1981-82 with Smyslov after Kupreichik
• 4th place, London 1982, cat. 14
• 1^st 1983 Banya-Luka
• 1^st 1984 Brighton
• 1^st 1983/84 Hastings
• 1^st 1985 London
• 1^st 1985 British Championship
• 1^st 1986/87 Hastings
• 1^st 1986 British Championship
• 1^st 1987 Bath
• 1^st 1987 Beersheva
• 1^st 1987 Subotica
• 1^st 1993 London
• 1^st 1998 Andorra
• 1^st 1998 Roskilde
• Has written several books including Best Chess Games 1970-80 (1982)

Miles, Anthony John

1974 1^st World Junior Manilla (While a student at Sheffield University!)
1975 Honorary MA awarded for chess achievements
1975 1^st London tournament
1976 1^st equal with Korchnoi, Amsterdam
1977 1^st  Amsterdam
1977 1^st  Biel
1977 2nd Tilburg cat. 14
1978 3rd Tilburg
1980 1^st equal with Andersson and Korchnoi ahead of Larsen
1980 1^st equal with Geller and Petrosyan Las Palmas
1980 1^st Vrbas ahead of Petrosyan
1981 1^st equal with Ribli ahead of Korchnoi
1^st 1983 Biel
1^st 1984 Tilburg
1^st 1985 Biel
1^st 1985 Portorozh-Ljubljana
1^st 1985 Tilburg
1^st 1986 Ostende
1^st 1987 Buzum
1^st 1987 Philadelphia
1^st 1990 Rome
1^st 1990 Bad Worishofen
1^st 1992 Bangi
1^st 1992 Komotini
1^st 1993 Sevilla
1^st 1993 Munster
1^st 1993 Iraklion
1^st 1994 Cappelle la Grande
1^st 1994 Matanzas
1^st 1994 Andorra
1^st 1995 Calcutta
1^st 1995 Cappelle la Grande
1^st 1995 Matanzas
1^st 1995 Benasque
1^st 1995 Isle of Man
1^st 1995/96 Pamplona
1^st 1996 Gran Canaria
1^st 1996 Cuba Capablanca memorial
1^st 1998 Andorra

Karpov Anatoly - Miles Anthony J [B16/09]
Bath, 1983

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+ gxf6 6.Nf3 Bf5 7.Bf4 Nd7 8.c3 Qb6 9.b4 e5 10.Bg3 0-0-0 11.Be2 h5 12.0-0 Be4 13.Nd2 Bd5 14.Bxh5 exd4 15.c4 Be6 16.a3 Ne5 17.Re1 d3 18.c5 Qb5 19.Rb1 Bh6 20.a4 Qa6 21.f4 Nc4 22.b5 cxb5 23.Rxb5 Na3 24.Rb2 Nc2 25.Bf3 Bd5 26.Re7 Bf8 27.Bxd5 Rxd5 28.Rbxb7 Bxe7 29.Rxe7 Qc6 30.Rxf7 Rxc5 31.Qg4+

f5! 32.Qg7 Re8 33.h4 Ne3 34.Bf2 Rc1+ 35.Kh2 Ng4+ 36.Kg3 Nxf2 37.Nf3 Ne4+ 38.Kh2 d2 39.Nxd2 Nxd2 0-1

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