Luke McShane facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Luke McShane |
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McShane at the 2013 European Chess Team Championship
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| Full name | Luke James McShane |
| Country | England |
| Born | 7 January 1984 London, England |
| Title | Grandmaster (2000) |
| FIDE rating | 2680 (August 2025) |
| Peak rating | 2713 (July 2012) |
| Peak ranking | No. 29 (November 2012) |
Luke James McShane was born on January 7, 1984. He is a talented English chess player. He became a Grandmaster in 2000 when he was just 16 years old. This title is given by FIDE, the world chess organization. Luke McShane is now one of England's top chess players. He is also part of the national chess team. He used to work as a trader in London. Some people have called him the strongest amateur chess player in the world.
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Becoming a Chess Star
Early Achievements in Chess
Luke McShane started playing chess at a very young age. He won the World Under 10 Championship when he was only eight years old. This big win happened in Duisburg, Germany. Soon after, a computer company called Psion became his sponsor.
In 1995, he even played against the famous chess champion Garry Kasparov. Luke became the youngest British player to earn the Grandmaster title. He achieved this at 16 years old. He got the necessary "norms" from tournaments in Germany, Iceland, and Denmark. This record was later broken by David Howell in 2007. By January 2004, Luke was ranked second in the world among junior players.
Life as a Grandmaster
Luke McShane has had many great results in his chess career. In 1998, he tied for first place at the Bunratty Masters in Ireland. He won five out of six games there. He also shared first place at the Iona Technologies International Masters in Kilkenny.
In 2002, Luke led the British Championship in Torquay. He was in a strong position in the final round. However, he made a mistake and lost to the tournament winner. Luke finished tied for fourth place in that event.
Since 2002, Luke has played against some of the world's best players. He represented England at the Chess Olympiad in Bled. He scored 6½ out of 11 points there. He also won a silver medal at the World Junior Championship in Goa.
In 2003, he finished fifth in a tournament in Reykjavík. He even drew games against chess legends Viktor Korchnoi and Alexei Shirov. Soon after, he beat Shirov in a fast-paced blitz tournament in Reykjavík.
Luke also did well in the 2003 Sigeman & Co tournament in Malmö. He finished third and drew his game against the winner, Vasily Ivanchuk. In the same year, he tied for first place at the North Sea Cup in Denmark. He also won the Malmö Masters by a large margin.
In 2009 and 2010, Luke played in the London Chess Classic. He won the "best game" prize in 2009 for his win against Hikaru Nakamura. The 2010 tournament included top players like Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen. Luke finished tied for second place, even beating Carlsen in their game. He was undefeated in that tournament.
In January 2011, Luke tied for first in the 'B group' of the Tata Steel tournament. This win qualified him for the 'A group' in 2012. However, he could not play due to his work commitments.
In June 2012, Luke played in the Tal Memorial in Moscow. He was ranked last but surprised everyone by beating Levon Aronian, who was ranked second in the world. He also won against Alexander Morozevich and Vladimir Kramnik.
Luke was very active in the USA during 2015. He won the DC International in June. In July, he finished close to the top group at the World Open. In October, he tied for first place at the Las Vegas Millionaire Chess event.
He also won the Super Rapidplay Open at the 2015 London Chess Classic. He finished a full point ahead of the second-place player. In 2017, he won a silver medal at the European Blitz Championship in Katowice. He finished ahead of many strong players.
In 2019, Luke was part of the English team at the World Team Chess Championship in Astana. England won the silver medal. Luke also won an individual gold medal for his performance on board two.
Luke's Blitz Chess Skills
Luke McShane is known for being a very strong blitz chess player. Blitz chess is a fast version of the game. In 2003, he won the Kuppenheim tournament. He scored an amazing 50½ out of 53 points. He played his games online from a different location.
In 2003, he also won the British Blitz Championship. He scored 14½ out of 16 points. He also won the Greenland Open rapid tournament with 8½ out of 9 points.
Education and Work
Luke McShane went to Westminster Under School and then City of London School. After that, he studied philosophy and mathematics at University College at Oxford University.
After graduating in 2007, he worked as a trader at Goldman Sachs. He later left his job, which allowed him to play more chess. However, he returned to full-time work and had to decline an invitation to the 2011 British Championship. He still plays chess, but not as often. He is sometimes called the world's strongest amateur chess player.
Chess Columnist
Since October 2019, Luke McShane has been writing a chess column. His column appears in The Spectator magazine.
