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

Cross checks, deflections and stunning beauty

8/8/2022 – Inspired by Gukesh’s remarkable win over Gabriel Sargissian in round 6 of the Chess Olympiad, star columnist Jon Speelman looked at a few more instances of cross checks and deflections that left a strong aesthetic impression. A beautiful study by the Danish composer Steffen Slumstrup Nielsen is included in the mix. | Photo: Stev Bonhage
More...
 8

Asking the right questions

7/17/2022 – In recent months, our columnist Jon Speelman had a couple of run-ins with technology, which have necessitated speaking to help lines, and in both cases he initially asked the wrong questions. A perfect excuse to reflect on those times when there are no forcing moves to make in a chess game — when asking ourselves the right questions is crucial. Games by Anatoly Karpov and Fabiano Caruana (pictured) are used to illustrate this topic. | Photo: Anna Shtourman / FIDE
More...
 3

Conversations with the Gods

7/3/2022 – Unlike in ancient times, in our (chess) world, the oracles are not priestesses but silicon based. For high grade but not necessarily perfect information, we turn to computer engines. The crucial thing is that, however splendiferous the software, it has to be we who control the process. We need to put the time to work through the lines with the engine to understand why we should play a specific move in a given position. | Pictured: Ganesha, a Hindu deity, the deva of intellect and wisdom
More...
 2

Bluff and thunder

6/19/2022 – Although chess is a total-information game in which everything is laid bare on the board, in practice we can see only part of the picture. Feelings do play a crucial role, at least in games between humans. One necessary evil is the ability, when the need arises, to bluff — or at the very least to keep a reasonably straight face! | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Saint Louis Chess Club
More...
 7

Eight staircases, two stairwells and a drunken soldier

6/6/2022 – One of the prerequisites for playing chess well is to have a decent feel for the geometry of the board. In today’s column, GM Jon Speelman explores this theme through a couple of somewhat unusual patterns — the staircase and the stairwell. He also looks at a game by Will Watson, a player once described by Boris Spassky as “a drunk with a machine gun”. | Pictured: ‘Relativity’ by M. C. Escher
More...
 2

A few chestnuts more

5/15/2022 – Unashamed ultra-violence. Jon Speelman continues to share findings from his bookshelf, and today explores Irving Chernev’s “The 1000 best short games of chess”, a collection of miniatures first published in 1957. Speelman adds notes to selected games from the collection of thud and blunder.
More...
 4

A fistful of chestnuts

5/1/2022 – Our columnist Jon Speelman found an old book by Alexey Suetin on his shelves. “Scribed in the ancient English descriptive tongue, I hadn’t touched it for years, but when opened, it proved to be a treasure trove of ‘old chestnuts’, some of which I’m going to share”. | Photo: The Spruce Crafts
More...
 8

The importance of irresolution

4/17/2022 – Chess is always tense, and the closer you get to lifting the tension, the tenser it normally gets. This is something that stronger players often exploit against weaker opposition. Grandmaster Jon Speelman uses three notable games to explore this all-important subject, including a fascinating encounter between Reuben Fine and Jose Raul Capablanca. | Pictured: Erich Gottlieb Eliskases
More...
 5

Defence and the unforeseeability of voluntary rerouting

4/3/2022 – It can be confusing when the opponent’s pieces don’t go where you were expecting them to go. After looking at a couple of games from the recent Grand Prix by Amin Tabatabaei, Jon Speelman decided to write about unexpected defensive moves! | Pictured: Murray Chandler, Jonathan Speelman and Jonathan Mestel at the British Zonal in February 1987

A tale of two universities and two engines

3/20/2022 – Jon Speelman worked as commentator at this year’s edition of the long-standing Varsity Match between Oxford and Cambridge Universities. Looking at the games alongside computer-chess expert Matthew Sadler prompted him to reflect on the value of using engines for chess improvement and preparation. | Pictured: The Oxford team - Victor Vasiesiu, Tom O'Gorman, Daniel Karim Abbas, Daniel Sutton, 0Dominic Miller, Filip Mihov, AkShaya Kalaiyalahan, Max French. | Photo: John Saunders

Inspired defence

3/6/2022 – In the opening rounds of the Belgrade Grand Prix there were two splendid instances of defensive queen sacrifices. These remarkable efforts set Jon Speelman thinking about defence in general. He thus turned to one of his favourite books, The Middlegame by Max Euwe and Hans Kramer, and cherry-picked a couple of games from the chapters on Steinitz and Lasker. | Pictured: Emanuel Lasker / Collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame

Christmas knights

2/20/2022 – Star columnist Jon Speelman continues to link chess positions with Monty Python sketches. Readers pitched in with further suggestions, and in particular one noted the unexpected absence of the expectedly ‘Unexpected Spanish Inquisition’!

Dirty forks and dead parrots

2/6/2022 – A talk with his son Lawrence got Jon Speelman thinking about how many Monty Python sketches he could link to specific chess themes. He thus came up with ‘dirty forks’, ‘dead parrots’, ‘four Yorkshiremen’ and ‘the Ministry of silly walks’. Enjoy!

Bring your own bottle and fork

1/16/2022 – Years ago the great Mikhail Tal pithily expounded a critical aspect of all out attacking chess, noting that it is only possible to capture one piece at a time. In full battle cry, Tal’s instinct was not to retreat attacked pieces, especially minor pieces — but to pour more oil on the fire by putting further units en prise! Jonathan Speelman explores this theme using games by Tal and Fischer, as well as more recent examples. | Pictured: Fischer and Tal in Zurich, 1959 / Photo via skaksogufelagid.is

Battles in Hastings

1/2/2022 – Jon Speelman looks forwards and backwards as we enter the new year, looking at a game between Magnus Carlsen and World Rapid Champion Nodirbek Abdusattorov after recapping what went on in 2021. He also analyses three games from previous editions of the traditional Hastings Tournament, incluidng one of his, in which he played his “most outrageous move ever”! | Photo: Nigel Short, Lev Psakhis and Jon Speelman in Hastings (c. 1987) / Nigel Short’s Facebook page

Boxing in White City

12/19/2021 – The recent World Championship appears in hindsight to have been very one-sided, with Ian Nepomniachtchi’s collapse being dramatic but far from unprecedented. Thinking about collapses, star columnist Jon Speelman went back to the famous battle between Viktor Korchnoi (pictured) and Boris Spassky in Belgrade 1977!

Single battles

12/6/2021 – Match chess is very different from tournament play and, with no respite from your only enemy, considerably more stressful. The first game of a World Championship is a huge deal even for the defending champion (who has played championship matches before) and more so for debutants. In an excellent column, Jon Speelman looks at four first games from matches for the crown, all played between 1954 and 1972. | Pictured: Mikhail Tal | Photo: Bert Verhoeff, Anefo

The hacking of steely sprogs

11/21/2021 – In this week’s column, Jon Speelman returns to his explorations of remarkable games by the world’s top juniors. Naturally, he looks at games by Kirill Shevchenko (pictured), Arjun Erigaisi and Alireza Firouzja, three young stars who left a strong mark in top tournaments during the last month or so. | Photo: Anastasiya Karlovich
Scroll down to reload more