Jon Speelman

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Jonathan Simon 'Jon' Speelman

Born	October 2, 1956 (1956-10-02) (age 51)
Fields	Mathematics, Chess
Alma mater	Worcester College, Oxford

Jonathan Simon Speelman (born October 2, 1956) is an English chess player, a Grandmaster, a mathematician, and a chess writer.

He was educated at Worcester College, Oxford. He studied mathematics at university, earning his Doctorate.

Winner of the British Chess Championship in 1978, 1985, and 1986, Speelman is a regular member of the English Chess Olympiad team.

Speelman qualified for two Candidates' Tournaments. In the 1989-1990 cycle, he qualified by placing third in the 1987 Subotica Interzonal tournament. After beating Yasser Seirawan in his first round 4-1, and Nigel Short in the second round 3.5-1.5, he lost to Jan Timman at the semi-final stage 4.5-3.5. In the following championship cycle (1990-93) he lost in the first round to Short, the eventual challenger for Garry Kasparov's crown, 5.5-4.5.

Speelman's highest ranking in the FIDE Elo rating list was equal fourth in the world, in January 1989.^[1]

In 1989 Speelman beat Kasparov in a televised speed tournament, and then went on to win the event. Speelman is noted for his imaginative style, often choosing unobvious ways to carry on his games.

He has written a number of books on chess, including several on the endgame, among them Analysing the Endgame (Batsford, 1981), Endgame Preparation (Batsford, 1981) and Batsford Chess Endings (Batsford, 1993, co-author with Jon Tisdall and Robert Wade). Among his other books are the critically acclaimed Jon Speelman's Best Games (Batsford, 1997), and Best Games 1970-1980, a thesis-like analysis of nearly 50 of the best games by top players from that decade.

In the April 2007 FIDE list Speelman had an Elo rating of 2518, making him England's 12th-highest rated active player.

He is also known as "Spess," short for "specimen," one of the many misspellings of his name in the press over the years.

Married to Lyndsey Thomas, they have a son, Lawrence, born in January 1994.