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Jon Speelman
Full name	Jonathan Simon Speelman
Country	England
Born	(1956-10-02)2 October 1956 (age 68) Marylebone, London, England
Title	Grandmaster (1980)
FIDE rating	2494 (March 2025)
Peak rating	2645 (July 1988)
Peak ranking	No. 5 (July 1988)

Jonathan Simon Speelman (born 2 October 1956 in Marylebone, London)^[1] is a British chess player and author. He was awarded the title ofGrandmaster in 1980.

Speelman was educated atSt Paul's School, London andWorcester College, Oxford, where he read mathematics.^[2]

A winner of theBritish Chess Championship in 1978, 1985 and 1986, Speelman has been a regular member of the English team for theChess Olympiad, an international biennialchess tournament organised byFIDE, theWorld Chess Federation.

He qualified for twoCandidates Tournaments:

• In the 1989–1990 cycle, Speelman qualified by placing third in the 1987interzonal tournament held inSubotica,Yugoslavia. After beatingYasser Seirawan in his first round 4–1, andNigel Short in the second round 3½–1½, he lost toJan Timman at the semi-final stage 4½–3½.
• In the following 1990–93 championship cycle, he lost 5½–4½ in the first round to Short, the eventual challenger forGarry Kasparov's crown.

In 1989, Speelman beat Kasparov in a televised speed tournament and then went on to win the event.

On 7 December 1990, Speelman was featured in an experimental interactiveBBC2 broadcast calledYour Move, which was hosted byRob Curling and commentated by chess writerWilliam Hartston. In the groundbreaking one-off episode, Speelman was pitted against the audience, who would use a special telephone line to submit their moves, with the move played by the viewers being decided by a democratic vote.^[3] Speelman won the match. The broadcast went for approximately three hours, about double the time that it had been scheduled for.^[4]

He has written a number of books on chess, including several on theendgame, among themAnalysing the Endgame (1981),Endgame Preparation (1981) andBatsford Chess Endings (co-author, 1993).

Among his other books areBest Games 1970–1980 (1982), an analysis of nearly fifty of the best games by top players from that decade, andJon Speelman's Best Games (1997). Today he is primarily a chess journalist and commentator, being the chess correspondent forThe Observer andThe Independent and sometimes providing commentary for games on theInternet Chess Club.^{[citation needed]}

(partial)

• Speelman, Jonathan (1981).Analysing the Endgame. Batsford (London, England). 142 pages.ISBN 978-0-7134-1909-2.
• Speelman, Jonathan (1981).Endgame Preparation. B.T. Batsford (London, England). 177 pages.ISBN 978-0-7134-4000-3.
• Speelman, Jon (1982).Best Chess Games, 1970-80. Allen & Unwin (London, England; Boston, Massachusetts). 328 pages.ISBN 978-0-04-794015-6.
• Speelman, Jonathan;Tisdall, Jon;Wade, Bob. (1993).Batsford Chess Endings. B.T. Batsford (London, England). 448 pages.ISBN 978-0-7134-4420-9.
• Speelman, Jon (1997).Jon Speelman's Best Games. B.T. Batsford (London, England). 240 pages.ISBN 978-0-7134-6477-1.

• List of Jewish chess players

• Jonathan S. Speelman rating card atFIDE (World Chess Federation)
• Jonathan Speelman player profile and games atChessgames.com

• 1956 births
• Living people
• English chess players
• Jewish chess players
• Chess Grandmasters
• Chess Olympiad competitors
• Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford
• English chess writers
• English male non-fiction writers
• English Jews
• Mathematicians from London
• People from Cromer

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