Nigel Short

Nigel David Short (born 1 June 1965) is an English chess grandmaster, columnist, coach and commentator who has been the FIDE Director for Chess Development since September 2022. Short earned the title of grandmaster at the age of 19 and was ranked third in the world by FIDE from July 1988 to July 1989. In 1993, he became the first English player to play a World Chess Championship match, when he qualified to play Garry Kasparov in the PCA world championship in London, where Kasparov won 12½ to 7½. He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1999 Birthday Honours for services to chess. Early life, family, and education Short was born 1 June 1965 in Leigh, Lancashire. He is the second of three children (all boys) of David and Jean Short. His father was a journalist and his mother was a school secretary. He grew up in Atherton, going to St Philip's Primary School on Bolton Old Road. He studied at the independent Bolton School and Leigh College. Short began playing chess at the age of five after watching his father teach his older brother Martin. He was a member both of Atherton Chess Club, which was founded by his father, and later of Bolton Chess Club, which had initially rejected him (aged seven) for being too young. His parents divorced when he was 13 years old. Short left school at age 17, having completed four O-levels, to focus on chess full-time. Prodigy to Grandmaster