David Norwood

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David Robert Norwood (born October 3, 1968 in Farnworth, near Bolton, Lancashire) is an English chess Grandmaster, chess writer, and businessman.

The son of an electrician, Norwood read history at Keble College, Oxford University before joining city investment bank Banker's Trust in 1991. FIDE awarded him the International Master title in 1985 and the International Grandmaster title in 1988. He is less active as a player these days, but maintains a strong interest in chess. He has on a number of occasions captained, managed, or sponsored the England squad in major team events such as the Olympiad.

Norwood has written several books including Winning with the Modern (the Modern Defence being a favorite opening of his) and Steve Davis plays Chess (co-authored with Steve Davis). He has also written many articles on chess for the Daily Telegraph.

Norwood is Director of Special Projects at IP Group plc. He is reputed to be worth £10,000,000, making him one of the wealthiest Grandmasters in the world.

He also made a large donation in 2001 to the British Chess Federation to assist with the development of junior chess.

[edit] Illustrative games

In the following game, Norwood's hypermodern opening leads to an old-fashioned king hunt:

Norwood-Marsh, Walsall 1992[1] 1.g3 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bg2 e6 4.O-O Be7 5.d3 c5 6.Nbd2 Nc6 7.e4 b6 8.e5 Nd7 9.Re1 Qc7 10.Qe2 Bb7 11.h4 O-O-O 12.a3 h6 13.h5 Rdg8 14.c4 d4 15.b4 g6 16.bxc5 bxc5 17.hxg6 Rxg6 18.Rb1 h5 19.Ne4 h4 20.Bg5 Bf8 21.Nxh4 Rgg8 22.Nf3 Rh7 23.Nd6+ Bxd6 24.exd6 Qxd6 25.Bf4 Qe7 26.Rxb7 Kxb7 27.Qe4 f5 (diagram at left) 28.Qxc6+!! Kxc6 29.Nxd4+ Kb6 30.Rb1+ Ka6 31.Bb7+ Ka5 32.Bd2+ Ka4 33.Bc6+ Kxa3 34.Bc1+ Ka2 35.Rb2+ Ka1 36.Nc2# 1-0