Gawain Jones
Encyclopedia
Gawain Christopher B. Jones (born 11 December 1987) is an English chess
Grandmaster.
, West Yorkshire
and began playing chess at the age of four, competing in his first tournaments at six. In early 1997 he hit the headlines and was featured on the front page of The Guardian
newspaper when he became the youngest player in the world ever to beat an International Master in an official tournament game. He has represented England in the World Junior
and World Youth
Championships on many occasions and since 2008 has been one of England's highest rated players. He has lived in Italy, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, but in 2010, returned to the United Kingdom to live in London, where he will be focusing on his chess career and related projects.
An active player on the tournament circuit, he secured his grandmaster title with successful results at the 2nd EU Individual Open Championship
Liverpool
2006, European Club Cup Fügen
2006 and 4NCL 2006/7 season. Elsewhere in Europe, he took first place at Porto San Giorgio
and La Laguna (both 2007). During his stay in Australasia, there were many more tournament successes, including a first place at the Sydney
International 2008 and creditable second places at the Doeberl Cup
2008 and Queenstown Classic 2009.
Since returning to the UK, he shared first place with Simon Williams
at the London Chess Classic
FIDE Open 2010, ahead of Boris Avrukh
and Abhijeet Gupta
. He won the Bunratty
Masters in 2011, ahead of Nigel Short
, who he defeated in their individual encounter. In the same year he came first in the Commonwealth Chess Championship
in Ekurhuleni and second in the open section of the 15th Corsican Circuit.
Playing for England at the Chess Olympiad
s of 2008 (Dresden)
and 2010 (Khanty-Mansiysk)
he contributed scores of 50% and 75%, respectively.
His first book, Starting Out: The Grand Prix Attack (ISBN 978-1857445473), was published by Everyman Chess
in March 2008. He then co-authored The Benoni and Benko (Dangerous Weapons Series, Everyman, September 2008) along with John Emms, Chris Ward
and Richard Palliser
. The Benko Gambit
is an opening he plays as Black on a regular basis. (Also see Benoni Defense
and Grand Prix Attack).
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
Grandmaster.
Career
Jones was born in KeighleyKeighley
Keighley is a town and civil parish within the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. It is situated northwest of Bradford and is at the confluence of the River Aire and the River Worth...
, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
and began playing chess at the age of four, competing in his first tournaments at six. In early 1997 he hit the headlines and was featured on the front page of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
newspaper when he became the youngest player in the world ever to beat an International Master in an official tournament game. He has represented England in the World Junior
World Junior Chess Championship
The World Junior Chess Championship is an under-20 chess tournament organized by the World Chess Federation ....
and World Youth
World Youth Chess Championship
The World Youth Chess Championship is a chess competition for girls and boys under the age of 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18.The first predecessor of the youth championship was the Cadet Championship. It started off unofficially in 1974 in France for players under 18. The 1975 and 1976 editions were also...
Championships on many occasions and since 2008 has been one of England's highest rated players. He has lived in Italy, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, but in 2010, returned to the United Kingdom to live in London, where he will be focusing on his chess career and related projects.
An active player on the tournament circuit, he secured his grandmaster title with successful results at the 2nd EU Individual Open Championship
EU Individual Open Chess Championship
The EU Individual Open Championship was first contested in Cork, Ireland in 2005, under the auspices of organising body, the European Chess Union . The event is open to members of chess federations within the European Union...
Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
2006, European Club Cup Fügen
Fügen
Fügen is a municipality in the Schwaz district of Tyrol, Austria.-External links:...
2006 and 4NCL 2006/7 season. Elsewhere in Europe, he took first place at Porto San Giorgio
Porto San Giorgio
Porto San Giorgio is a comune in the Province of Fermo, in the Marche region of Italy. It has approximately 16,200 inhabitants and it is located on the coast of the Adriatic Sea.-History:...
and La Laguna (both 2007). During his stay in Australasia, there were many more tournament successes, including a first place at the Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
International 2008 and creditable second places at the Doeberl Cup
Doeberl Cup
The Doeberl Cup is an annual chess tournament held in Canberra, Australia. It has been held every year since 1963 and is the longest running weekend chess event in Australia. Since its inception the event has grown both larger and stronger, and often attracts more players than the Australian Chess...
2008 and Queenstown Classic 2009.
Since returning to the UK, he shared first place with Simon Williams
Simon Williams (chess player)
Simon Kim Williams is a chess grandmaster and author from England.He became an International Master in 1998 and a Grandmaster in 2008....
at the London Chess Classic
London Chess Classic
The London Chess Classic is a festival of the game of chess held at the Olympia Conference Centre, West Kensington, London. The flagship event is a strong invitational tournament between some of the world's top grandmasters...
FIDE Open 2010, ahead of Boris Avrukh
Boris Avrukh
Boris Leonidovich Avrukh is an Israeli chess grandmaster. He was the World Under-12 champion in 1990.He has played for Israel six times in Chess Olympiads.* In 1998, at second reserve board at the 33rd Chess Olympiad in Elista ;...
and Abhijeet Gupta
Abhijeet Gupta
Abhijeet Gupta is an Indian chess player with the title Grandmaster. He hails from Bhilwara in Rajasthan.He was awarded the title of Grandmaster in 2008, having previously become an International Master in 2005. In 2002, Gupta entered the Limca Book of Records on becoming the youngest National...
. He won the Bunratty
Bunratty
Bunratty is a village in County Clare in the parish of Newmarket on Fergus, Ireland.-History:The first settlement in Bunratty was by Vikings in 970 AD. Bunratty had reached it peak in 1804 AD, with a thriving economy, expanding community, and the construction of much of the buildings and...
Masters in 2011, ahead of Nigel Short
Nigel Short
Nigel David Short MBE is an English chess grandmaster earning the title at the age of 19. Short is often regarded as the strongest English player of the 20th century as he was ranked third in the world, from January 1988 – July 1989 and in 1993, he challenged Garry Kasparov for the World Chess...
, who he defeated in their individual encounter. In the same year he came first in the Commonwealth Chess Championship
Commonwealth Chess Championship
The Commonwealth Chess Championship is a gathering of chess players from Commonwealth countries.-History:A championship was planned for New Zealand in 1949, but it was canceled because the British Chess Federation was unable to attend.-Oxford 1950:...
in Ekurhuleni and second in the open section of the 15th Corsican Circuit.
Playing for England at the Chess Olympiad
Chess Olympiad
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete against each other. The event is organised by FIDE, which selects the host nation.-Birth of the Olympiad:The first Olympiad was unofficial...
s of 2008 (Dresden)
38th Chess Olympiad
The 38th Chess Olympiad, organized by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between 12–25 November 2008, in Dresden, Germany and was won by Armenia.The 2010 Olympiad is...
and 2010 (Khanty-Mansiysk)
39th Chess Olympiad
The 39th Chess Olympiad, organized by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place in 2010 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, on to...
he contributed scores of 50% and 75%, respectively.
His first book, Starting Out: The Grand Prix Attack (ISBN 978-1857445473), was published by Everyman Chess
Everyman Chess
Everyman Chess is a major publisher of books and CDs about chess. The company was formerly called Cadogan Chess. "Everyman" is a registered trademark of Random House and the company headquarters is in London. Former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov is their chief advisor and John Emms is the...
in March 2008. He then co-authored The Benoni and Benko (Dangerous Weapons Series, Everyman, September 2008) along with John Emms, Chris Ward
Chris Ward (chess player)
Chris G Ward is a British chess Grandmaster , chess coach, and author. He won the British Championship in 1996, earning the GM title in the process. He is the author of two well-received books on a variation of the Sicilian Defence known as the Dragon Variation, in addition to a number of other...
and Richard Palliser
Richard Palliser
Richard David Palliser is an English chess player and chess writer who holds the title International Master.Palliser was joint British Rapidplay Chess Champion in 2006. He writes regularly for Everyman Chess who also employ him as an editor and advisor.His handle on the Internet Chess Club is...
. The Benko Gambit
Benko Gambit
The Benko Gambit is a chess opening characterised by the move 3...b5 in the Benoni Defense arising after:- Origin and predecessors :The idea of sacrificing a pawn with ...b5 and ...a6 is quite old. Karel Opočenský applied the idea against, among others, Gideon Ståhlberg at Poděbrady 1936, Paul...
is an opening he plays as Black on a regular basis. (Also see Benoni Defense
Benoni Defense
The Benoni Defense is a group of chess openings generally characterized by the opening moves 1. d4 c5 2. d5, although Black's ...c5 and White's answer d5 are often delayed. The most usual opening sequence for the Benoni is 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5...
and Grand Prix Attack).