IM (1997); GM (2007).

Early years

Simon learned to play chess at the age of 6 and received his first FIDE rating at the age of 12, when he weighed in at 2255. He played in numerous British, European and World Youth and Junior events between 1993 when he placed 16th in the European U14 Championship and 1998 and 1999 when he competed in the World Junior Championships as an International Master.

Championships

Simon has been a regular participant in many British events in the last two decades since 1993. He first played in the British Championship in 1993 when he was 13 years old and has competed in every British Championship since then (apart from 1996 and 2006). His best results have been =2nd behind Jonathan Rowson in the British Championship (2004) =3rd in British Championship (2008) behind Keith Arkell and Stuart C Conquest, and =2nd in British Championship (2009), half point behind David Howell alongside Mark Hebden. He also played in the immensely powerful European Individual Championships in 2005, 2006 and 2007, his best result being in 2006 when he placed =10th.

Standard Tournaments

Simon won the following tournaments outright:

• the category 3 round robin Richmond Chess in Second in 1995, a full point ahead of Aaron Summerscale

• Surrey Open 2006;

• Caterham Open 2008;

• Amersham International 2009 (England) ahead of Arkell and Hebden;

• Swiss Championship 2009;

• 2011 Surrey Open; and

• e2e4 Sunningdale Open 2011;

He was =1st at the following events:

• First Saturday IM in April 1995;

• the category 3 Newport invitational in 1998 alongside Richard A Bates

• with Karl C C Mah at the category 3 Smith and Williamson Young Masters held in 1999;

• =1st with Brian Kelly at the Hampstead IM in 1999;

• =1st Swarzach Open 2004 in Austria;

• =1st Sunningdale Open 2010;

• =1st alongside Gawain Jones at 2010 London Classic Open 2010; and

• =1st at the e2e4 Sunningdale Easter International 2014 Premier.

Other good results include:

• =2nd at the Southend Open 2000 in London behind Mark Ferguson

• 2nd at the category 7 First Saturday GM in September 2002;

• =5th at the 2003-04 Hastings Challengers;

• =5th with 7/10 at Hastings Masters 2005-06;

• =2nd Swiss Championship Open 2008 behind Mikhail Vitalyevich Ulibin

• =4th Hastings Masters 2008-09;

• =2nd London Classic Open with 7/9, a point behind Jon Ludvig Hammer

Team Events

One of Simon’s earliest major team events was playing top board for England in the 1995 Children’s Olympiad, helping his team to place 4th. In 1996, he became a regular fixture in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL - involving clubs competing from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland), and has competed in this annual event every year since then, up to and including the 4NCL (2012/13). He had his first taste of the European big league in 2006 when he played board 3 for the Hilsmark Kingfisher in the European Club Cup (2006). He also played top board for the Jutes of Kent team at the European Club Cup (2012). He represented England in the Four Nations Chess Challenge of 2008, winning team silver in the competition that included Latvia, Norway and Sweden, and in the 17th European Team Championship (2009) when he played board 4.

Invitations to play in European national leagues flowed after he had won his Grandmaster title in 2007, and he has played in the Swiss Team Championship (2010), the Bundesliga South (2010-2012), the French Nationale since 2005, the French Top 12 in 2011 and 2013, and in the Icelandic Team Championship since 2011.

Simon also played board 3 for London City in the World Cities Team Championship (2012), winning through to the Round of 16 after winning through the first round against Al Ain, Lund City and Dhaka. In the Round of 16, London City bowed out to Athens.

Chessgames Challenge

English Grandmaster Simon Williams accepted an invitation to play against a World Team comprising members of chessgames.com: Chessgames Challenge: S Williams vs The World, 2013. The game began on 16 September 2013 and finished on 19 January 2014, when Williams resigned.

Other

Simon is the author of numerous chess books including Play The Classical Dutch; Improve Your Attacking Chess;. How To Crush Your Chess Opponents; The New Sicilian Dragon; How To Win At Chess – Quickly!; Dangerous Weapons: The Dutch; Attacking Chess: The French: A Dynamic Repertoire for Black; SOS – Secrets of Opening Surprises 13 – Chapter 3 – The Williams Anti-Grünfeld Variation; and Secrets of Opening Surprises 14 – Chapter 4 – Kings Gambit: Tartakower Variation.

He also produced a range of instructional DVDs for a wide range of players that want to improve their chess. These DVDs include titles such as The Killer Dutch; The Killer French Part 1 (2010); The Killer French Part 2 (2010); Play Like Tal (2011); The Killer Dragon Part 1 (2011); and The Killer Dragon Part 2 (2011).

Simon studied philosophy and cognitive studies at Sussex University and taught chess in Surrey schools, including Cranleigh Prep, Cranleigh Main, St. Peters Farnham, St. Polycarps Farnham, William Cobbett Farnham and St. Thomas Guildford.

He is also a chess coach.

Website

http://www.gingergm.com/

Wikipedia article: Simon Williams (chess player)