Jonathan Speelman

Jonathan Speelman was born in 1956 and graduated from Worcester College Oxford, where he read mathematics. He became an IM and a professional chess player in 1977, a GM in 1980 and was a member of the English Olympic team from 1980–2006. Three times British Champion he played twice in the Candidates, reaching the semi-final (of what was then a knockout series of matches) in 1989 when he lost 4.5-3.5 to Jan Timman. He was twice a second to a world championship challenger: Nigel Short and then Viswanathan Anand against Garry Kasparov in London 1993 and New York 1995.

Jon has written for The Observer (weekly) since 1993 and The Independent since 1998. With its closure (going online, but without Jon on board) he is expanding online activity and is also now offering online tuition. He likes puzzles, especially (cryptic) crosswords and killer sudokus. If you'd like to contact Jon, then please write to jonathan@speelman.demon.co.uk

Recent news

A sharp Four Pawns Attack

7/21/2019 – An interesting King's Indian from a FIDE Master was the submission of the fortnight featured by GM Jon Speelman, but he's also thrown in a bonus study (pictured) for your Sunday perusal. | Send in your own games! Jon can always use more material from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!

A premature peace

7/7/2019 – Jon starts the second half of the year with an Agony column submission from a Palestinian chess coach from Bethlehem. | Send in your own games! Jon can always use more material from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!

Racing to victory

6/16/2019 – In the 100th edition of his Agony column, grandmaster JON SPEELMAN takes a look at three games from Ph.D. in Computer Science and race car driver Guy Argo, a player who "is happiest at the chess board when hacking". | Send in your own games! Jon can always use more material from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!

Material, structure and energy

6/2/2019 – This week our columnist JON SPEELMAN shares his own agonizing loss from over 40 years ago as a fine example of the "tension between structure and energy". Plus, in this study from GM John Nunn (pictured) it's White to play and draw! | Send in your own games! Jon can always use more material from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!

Development of the Bryntse Gambit

5/19/2019 – Our grandmaster columnist JON SPEELMAN reveals an embarrassing mishap at the closing dinner of the London Chess Classic and continues his investigation of games in the "Bryntse Gambit" queen sacrifice in the opening (on move six!) with theoretical contributions from a Polish IM by the name of Wladyslav Krol. Send in your own games! Jon can always use more material from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!

The Bryntse Gambit: A queen sacrifice

5/5/2019 – This week JON SPEELMAN marvels at an obscure queen sacrifice in the opening (on move six!) that USA expert Dana Mackenzie used to ensnare two titled players in over-the-board tournament games! Send in your own games! Jon can always use more material from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!

Grandmasters can make enormous blunders too

4/21/2019 – JON SPEELMAN is currently fighting with the English team at the Senior World Team Championship in Rhodes, but he sends this column with games courtesy of a senior American who spent his career as a maths teacher. Send in your own games! Jon can always use more material from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!

Amateur vs Grandmaster

4/7/2019 – JON SPEELMAN returns after a week off, with a trio of simul games played by an expert against a Grandmaster. Send in your own games! Jon can always use more material from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!

Recalling a famous pawn ending

3/3/2019 – This week, JON SPEELMAN takes a gander at the games of an Indian junior rated 1628. The Agony is a London System that turned into a difficult rook endgame. Send in your own games! Jon can always use more material from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!

The importance of endgame training

2/17/2019 – This week, JON SPEELMAN takes a gander at two games played by Niels Engelen, a 37-year-old Dutch software developer from The Hague (pictured), who is enjoying chess more than ever. Niels says he has been playing more often after having found a couple of chess buddies at his town's club, but he has also started to focus on training endgames, an activity that has already borne fruit. | Photo: Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

Resigning a won game

2/3/2019 – True Agony! Columnist GM JON SPEELMAN briefly rifs on AlphaZero and Giri-Shankland before turning his attention to this week's submission from Zimbabwean Class A player, Tapiwa Allister Gora. Feel free to send in your own games! Jon can always use more material from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account! | Photo: Tapiwa Gora (right) vs Simon Bokamoso at a recent tournament

A dubious Greek gift

1/20/2019 – Fittingly, since the Netherlands is the focus of the chess world this week, a Dutchman is featured in this week's Agony/Ecstasy column. Both games feature bishop sacrifices to attack the castled king. Feel free to send in your own games! Jon can always use more material from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account! | Image: ChessBase 15 Raytracing

Happy New Year! Don't give up!

1/6/2019 – In his first Agony/Ecstasy column of 2019, GM JON SPEELMAN hears from a Turkish sociologist who focuses on the Queen's Gambit Declined. The games show why it's important to keep fighting, even when you fear a loss. Feel free to send in your own games! Jon can always use more material from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!

One that got away

12/16/2018 – In this week's Agony/Ecstasy column, GM JON SPEELMAN analyses a pair of online games from American tournament veteran Ted Jewell, one an English Opening and the other a King's Indian Defence. Feel free to send in your own games! Jon can always use more material from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!

Pirc power

12/2/2018 – This week GM JON SPEELMAN takes a submission from a Belgian 2200 player featuring the Pirc Defence. Feel free to send in your own games! Jon can always use more material from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!

Eight egregious elite errors

11/18/2018 – This week, in honour of the Carlsen vs Caruana match, GM JON SPEELMAN examines eight blunders from World Championship history. One of them features Magnus himself! But, dear regular column readers, do continue sending in your own games! Jon can always use more material from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!

Speelman's Agony #86

11/4/2018 – This week Jon examines two games from the top scorer for Sri Lanka in the Batumi Chess Olympiad. As the coach of the team, he was impressed by the play of the youngest member, fifteen-year-old Harshana Thilakarathne (pictured). But continue sending in your own games! Jon can always use more material from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account! | Photo: Panagoda Buddhi

Speelman's Agony #85

10/14/2018 – This week's games are from Polish IM Jan Przewoznik who is rekindling his chess passion and reflecting on his youth, including these games from 1979! Jon can always use more material from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!
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