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

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!

Speelman's Agony #84

9/16/2018 – This week's lovely pair of games are by David Sprenkle an American who was 60 in April. A former Illinois champion, he now lives in Spokane, Washington. One game even reminded Jon of a classic Nezhmetdinov game. 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 #83

9/2/2018 – From Bradford, England comes a pair of games by Kevin Winter (pictured with Nigel Short). 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! | Photos: Kevin Winter

Speelman's Agony #82

8/19/2018 – A "moment of madness" and a "snappy win" from an English chess coach. Want to join in the fun? 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 #81

8/5/2018 – A young Indian junior sends one troublesome experience and one triumph from his recent tournament praxis, while Jon provides his usual sage advice. Want to join in the fun? 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 #80

7/23/2018 – Jonathan looks at his own agony / ecstasy pair of games from the recent World Senior Team Championship near Dresden. In two weeks he'll be back to looking at reader submissions — and 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 #79

7/2/2018 – Jonathan annotates Jonathan...Rubeck that is, a math teacher from North London. And by the by — 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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