Nigel Short facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Nigel Short |
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Short in 2018
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| Full name | Nigel David Short |
| Country | England |
| Born | 1 June 1965 Leigh, Lancashire, England |
| Title | Grandmaster (1984) |
| FIDE rating | 2626 (August 2025) |
| Peak rating | 2712 (April 2004) |
| Peak ranking | No. 3 (July 1988) |
Nigel David Short, born on June 1, 1965, is a famous English chess grandmaster. He is also a writer, coach, and commentator. Since September 2022, he has been the Director for Chess Development at FIDE, which is the world's chess organization.
Short became a grandmaster at 19 years old. He was ranked third in the world by FIDE from July 1988 to July 1989. In 1993, he made history as the first English player to compete for the World Chess Championship. He played against Garry Kasparov in London, but Kasparov won the match.
Nigel Short was honored with the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1999 for his great contributions to chess.
Contents
Nigel Short's Early Life
Short was born in Leigh, England, on June 1, 1965. He was the second of three sons. His father was a journalist, and his mother worked as a school secretary. He grew up in Atherton and went to Bolton School and Leigh College.
How Nigel Started Chess
Nigel began playing chess at age five. He watched his father teach his older brother, Martin. He joined the Atherton Chess Club, which his father started. Later, he joined the Bolton Chess Club. They first said he was too young at seven, but he joined later.
His parents divorced when he was 13. Short left school at 17 after finishing his exams. He decided to focus on chess full-time.
From Child Prodigy to Grandmaster
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Nigel learned chess from his father when he was five. He was a true chess prodigy, meaning he was incredibly talented at a young age. When he was 10, he became famous for beating Viktor Korchnoi. Korchnoi was the second-best player in the world at the time! Nigel was the only one to win in a special game where Korchnoi played against 31 people at once.
Youngest British Chess Player
In 1977, at almost 12 years old, Nigel became the youngest person ever to play in the British Chess Championship. He even beat Jonathan Penrose, who had won the British championship ten times. Nigel did very well for his first time.
He was the best youth chess player in Britain during this time. In 1978, he won his first adult national title. He won the British Lightning Championship when he was just 13 years old. He won it again in 1980.
Becoming an International Master
In 1979, Nigel tied for first place in the British Championship. This helped him earn his first step towards becoming an International Master. Later that year, he tied for first in the World Championship for players under 16.
He became the youngest International Master in chess history at the time. He achieved this at the Hastings International Chess Congress in 1979/80. He broke the record set by the legendary Bobby Fischer in 1958.
Reaching Grandmaster Status
Nigel played in four World Junior Championships between 1980 and 1983. His best result was in 1980 when he came in second to Garry Kasparov. In 1983, he played for England for the first time in a team event. He was awarded the grandmaster title in 1984, at 19 years old. At that moment, he was the youngest grandmaster in the world.
Competing for the World Championship
Nigel Short's journey to the World Chess Championship title began in 1985. He became Britain's first-ever candidate by doing well in a big tournament called the Biel Interzonal. He had to win a special playoff to get the last spot. However, he didn't do as well in the next stage, the Montpellier Candidates Tournament.
Nigel's Rise in the Candidates Matches
In the next championship cycle, he qualified again by winning the 1987 Subotica Interzonal. The Candidates stage then changed to a match format. Short beat Gyula Sax in 1988 but then lost to Jon Speelman.
Nigel's next attempt was his most successful. He qualified as a Candidate for the third time. He faced Speelman again in London and won a very close match. Then, in the quarterfinals, he beat Boris Gelfand in an exciting series of games.
In the semifinal in 1992, Nigel beat former World Champion Anatoly Karpov. This win was seen as a big moment in chess history. In the final match, Nigel defeated Jan Timman to earn the right to play against the defending World Champion, Garry Kasparov. One of Nigel's most famous games, where he beat Jan Timman in 1991, is considered one of the greatest chess games ever.
World Title Match in London, 1993
Nigel Short and Garry Kasparov felt that the head of FIDE, the world chess organization, made decisions about their championship match without asking them. They believed this broke FIDE's rules. Because of this, Short and Kasparov decided to create their own chess organization called the Professional Chess Association.
The championship match was then held in London in 1993 under this new organization. Kasparov won the match convincingly.
The Controversy of 1993
The decision by Kasparov and Short to create their own organization caused a lot of debate in the chess world. FIDE then held its own World Championship match between Anatoly Karpov and Jan Timman, which Karpov won. Both Short and Kasparov faced consequences from FIDE. This situation led to many disagreements and changes in the chess world for several years.
Major Tournament Wins
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Nigel Short has won many important chess tournaments. He won the British Chess Championship in 1984, 1987, and 1998. He also won the English Chess Championship in 1991. He was the Commonwealth Champion three times: in 2004, 2006, and 2008.
He won the 2006 EU Individual Open Chess Championship and came in second in 2008. Nigel has won or tied for first place in dozens of other international tournaments. Some of these include Geneva (1979), Belfort (1979), Amsterdam (1982), Baku (1983), Wijk aan Zee (1986, 1987), Reykjavík (1987), Hastings (1987/88, 1988/89), Gibraltar (2003, 2004, 2012), and the Bangkok Chess Club Open (2011, 2012, 2015, 2017).
In 2013, Short won the 50th Canadian Open Chess Championship in Ottawa. He tied with Canadian Grandmaster Eric Hansen but won on a tiebreak.
One of his best tournament performances was at the Amsterdam VSB tournament in 1991. He tied for first place ahead of both Kasparov and Karpov.
Match Play Success
Besides his World Championship matches, Nigel Short has done well in other chess matches. He beat US Champion Lev Alburt in 1985. He also defeated Utut Adianto in 1995 and Étienne Bacrot in 2000.
In 2013, Short played a special match in Tehran called Talking Chess. He played against Iranian player Ehsan Ghaem Maghami. During the games, both players gave live commentary. This helped the audience understand their thoughts and strategies. Short won all parts of this match: the classic games, the rapid games, and the blitz games.
International Team Play
Nigel Short first played for England in an international team event in 1983. He represented England in 17 straight Olympiads from 1984 to 2016.
Olympiad Achievements
Short's main achievements in the Olympiads include:
- Team silver medals in 1984, 1986, and 1988.
- An individual gold medal for his performance on board three in 1986.
- A team bronze medal in 1990.
- Leading England to fourth-place finishes in 1994 and 1996.
He also helped the English team win gold in the 1997 European Team Championship. He was part of the bronze-winning team in 1992. He also played in the World Team Championships, winning team bronze medals in 1985 and 1989.
Other Activities and Roles
In October 2018, Short was chosen to be one of the Vice Presidents of the World Chess Federation (FIDE). He has written chess articles and book reviews for several British newspapers. He also wrote a column called "Short Stories" for New in Chess magazine for many years.
Coaching and Mentoring
Nigel has coached young chess stars like Pentala Harikrishna and Sergey Karjakin. He was also the national coach for the Islamic Republic of Iran from 2006 to 2007. His coaching helped Iran win a team bronze medal at the Asian Games in 2006.
Honors and Recognition
In 1993, he became an honorary Fellow of the Bolton Institute of Higher Education. In 2010, he received an honorary degree from the University of Bolton. He was appointed MBE in 1999 for his achievements in chess.
He was elected secretary general of the Commonwealth Chess Association in 2005 and became its president in 2006. He also served as the FIDE delegate for the English Chess Federation for several years.
Nigel Short is often asked to comment on important chess events. He provides live commentary online, and chess historians have called him one of the top online broadcasters.
Notable Incidents
In 2001, Short mentioned in a newspaper column that he thought he had secretly played against the famous former chess champion Bobby Fischer online. However, Fischer denied it was him.
In 2015, Short made comments about men and women in chess. He claimed that men are naturally better suited for chess than women. He said women have other strengths, like emotional intelligence. These comments caused a lot of discussion and criticism. He later repeated his views in an interview.
Personal Life
Nigel Short lives in Greece. He married Rhea Argyro Karageorgiou, a drama therapist, in 1987. They have two children. He is an atheist.
See also
In Spanish: Nigel Short para niños
