David Wei Liang Howell (born November 14, 1990) is an
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
chessChess is a board game played between two players. The current form of the game emerged in Southern Europe during the second half of the 15th century after evolving from a similar, much older game of Indian origin...
player. He is the youngest chess Grandmaster in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
, a title he earned when he came second during the 35th Rilton Cup in
Stockholm' is the capital and largest city of Sweden. It is the site of the national Swedish government, the Riksdag , and the official residence of the Swedish Monarch as well as the prime minister. The Monarch resides at Drottningholm Palace outside of Stockholm since 1980 and uses the Royal Palace of...
on 5 January 2007 when he was 16. The previous record holder,
Luke McShaneLuke James McShane is an English chess player. His peak Elo rating was 2656 in April 2004, at which time he was ranked 42nd in the world. As of October 2007 his rating is 2592 and he is ranked fourth in England.- Early career :...
, was six months older when he became a grandmaster.
Howell was born in
EastbourneEastbourne is a large town and borough of East Sussex, on the south coast of England, with an estimated population of 106,652 as of 2009. The area has seen human activity since the stone age and it remained one of small settlements until the 19th century when its four hamlets gradually merged to...
to Angeline (originally from Singapore) and Martin Howell.
David Wei Liang Howell (born November 14, 1990) is an
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
chessChess is a board game played between two players. The current form of the game emerged in Southern Europe during the second half of the 15th century after evolving from a similar, much older game of Indian origin...
player. He is the youngest chess Grandmaster in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
, a title he earned when he came second during the 35th Rilton Cup in
Stockholm' is the capital and largest city of Sweden. It is the site of the national Swedish government, the Riksdag , and the official residence of the Swedish Monarch as well as the prime minister. The Monarch resides at Drottningholm Palace outside of Stockholm since 1980 and uses the Royal Palace of...
on 5 January 2007 when he was 16. The previous record holder,
Luke McShaneLuke James McShane is an English chess player. His peak Elo rating was 2656 in April 2004, at which time he was ranked 42nd in the world. As of October 2007 his rating is 2592 and he is ranked fourth in England.- Early career :...
, was six months older when he became a grandmaster.
Family beginnings
Howell was born in
EastbourneEastbourne is a large town and borough of East Sussex, on the south coast of England, with an estimated population of 106,652 as of 2009. The area has seen human activity since the stone age and it remained one of small settlements until the 19th century when its four hamlets gradually merged to...
to Angeline (originally from Singapore) and Martin Howell. He has a younger sister, Julia, and lives with his family in
Seaford, East SussexSeaford is a coastal town in the county of East Sussex, England, on the south coast, east of Newhaven and Brighton and west of Eastbourne. It has a population of about 23,000....
. He has been playing chess since the age of five years and eight months, following his father's purchase of a second-hand set at a jumble sale.
Chess prodigy
Howell quickly learned to defeat his father and soon came to the attention of the
SussexSussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is a historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
Junior Chess Association, where he received tuition from a number of established county players. He progressed rapidly and became the British Under-8, Under-9 and Under-10 chess champion.
In August 1999, Howell became famous internationally when he broke the world record for the youngest player to have defeated a
GrandmasterThe title Grandmaster is awarded to strong chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from "World Champion", Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain....
in an official game. He defeated GM
John NunnJohn Denis Martin Nunn is one of England's strongest chess players, and once belonged to the world's top ten. He was twice world champion in chess problem solving...
in a
blitzFast chess, also known as blitz chess, lightning chess, sudden death, speed chess, bullet chess and rapid chess, is a type of chess game in which each side is given less time to make their moves than under the normal tournament time controls of 60–180 minutes per player.-Overview:The different...
game at the Mind Sports Olympiad. David still holds this record. He is also the youngest player in the world to have qualified to compete in a national chess championship, taking part in the
British Chess ChampionshipThe British Chess Championship is organised by the English Chess Federation. There are separate championships for men and women. Since 1923 there have been sections for juniors, and since 1982 there has been an over-sixty championship. The championship venue usually changes every year and has been...
in August 2000. He came fourth in the Player of the Year ballot held by the British Chess Federation during 2000.
In 2001, Howell came joint first in the
European Under-12 Chess ChampionshipSince 1991, the European chess union organises the European Youth Chess Championship in the groups under 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 year. Until 2002, there was also a tournament for the under 20, see European Junior Chess Championship.-Boys winners:...
and joint second in the
World Under-12 ChampionshipThe World Youth Chess Championship is a chess competition for girls and boys under the age of 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18.The first predecessor of the youth championship was the Cadet Championship. It started off unofficially in 1974 in France for players under 18. The 1975 and 1976 editions were also...
. In the
HastingsHastings is a town and Borough on the coast of East Sussex in England. It includes originally separate settlements, as well as the inevitable growth of the town through the building of new estates....
Challengers tournament in January 2001, Howell became the youngest ever British player to defeat a grandmaster at classical time controls when he beat GM
Colin McNabColin A. McNab was Scotland's second chess Grandmaster, fulfilling the requirements for the title in 1992 just after Paul Motwani. After achieving his three norms, he strained to get his rating up to the required 2500 level, and is possibly unique among Grandmasters in only achieving a published...
.
In March 2002, Howell drew the last of four games with the Einstein Group World Champion,
Vladimir KramnikVladimir Borisovich Kramnik is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and undisputed World Chess Champion from 2006 to 2007....
, becoming the youngest player in the world to score against a reigning world chess champion in an organised chess match. The resulting publicity led to articles in all the main British national newspapers and appearances on
CBBCCBBC is the brand name used for the BBC's children's television programmes, and currently specifically refers to those programmes aimed at children between the ages of 6 and 12...
,
Channel 4 NewsChannel 4 News is the news division of British TV broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since the broadcaster's launch in 1982.-News programmes:As of 2008, Channel 4 News has three programmes:...
, and
Richard & JudyRichard & Judy is a British magazine/chat show which was presented by married couple Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan. It originally aired on Channel 4 from 2001 to 2008 but later moved to digital channel Watch in October 2008. It featured the world's most famous stars, along with their Book Club...
.
The extensive coverage he received as the UK's most gifted young chess player also spread to appearances on
Breakfast TV,
Blue PeterBlue Peter is a long-running BBC television programme for children. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC Channel.It is named after the blue-and-white flag hoisted by a ship in port when it is ready to sail...
,
NickelodeonNickelodeon is an American cable television channel owned by Viacom. Since the mid-1990s and early 2000s Nickelodoen as a brand has expanded into other territories including Europe, the Middle-East, Russia and Asia.It is often referred to by its shortened name, Nick, a practice that dates back to...
,
Good Morning AmericaGood Morning America is an American news Morning show and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network, debuting on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour, available exclusively on ABC News Now, was introduced in 2007...
, and several local news programmes. At a televised awards show for Britain's most talented youngsters, he was presented an award by
Patrick MooreSir Alfred Patrick Caldwell-Moore, CBE, HonFRS, FRAS known as Patrick Moore, is an English amateur astronomer who has attained prominent status in astronomy as a writer, researcher, radio commentator and television presenter of the subject, and who is credited as having done more than any other to...
.
Sustained improvement
Progress was perhaps more measured during his early to mid teens, but Howell continued to meet all the milestone challenges, first gaining the International Master title, and culminating in becoming a grandmaster at the age of sixteen, the youngest ever in the UK. Along the way, he performed well at the
HastingsThe Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual chess congress which takes place in Hastings, England, around the turn of the year. The main event is the Hastings Premier tournament, which was traditionally a 10 to 16 player round-robin tournament. In 2004/05 the tournament was played in the...
knockout-style tournament (2004-5 edition), where he was eliminated at the quarter-final (round 5) stage by the strong Polish GM
Bartosz SockoBartosz Soćko is a Polish chess Grandmaster. In 2008 Soćko became Polish champion. He played for Poland at four Chess Olympiads and at four European Team Chess Championships .His wife is GM Monika Soćko....
.
Despite his sustained efforts at the chequered board, he continued to study for his
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
,
GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
and
MathsMathematics is the science and study of quantity, structure, space, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns, formulate new conjectures, and establish truth by rigorous deduction from appropriately chosen axioms and definitions....
A-levels, at
Eastbourne CollegeEastbourne College is a British co-educational independent day/boarding school for children aged 13-18, situated on the south coast of England. The College's current headmaster is Simon Davies. The College was founded by the Duke of Devonshire and other prominent Eastbourne citizens in 1867 and has...
.
His chess coaching with grandmaster
Glenn FlearGlenn Curtis Flear is a British chess grandmaster now living in Montpellier, France. He is the author of several books, some on chess openings and some on the endgame....
was sponsored by JEB (Hove) Ltd, the software developer responsible for the BITEM event management website. There were also training sessions with
Nigel ShortNigel David Short MBE is often regarded as the strongest British chess player of the 20th century. He became a Grandmaster at age 19, and challenged for the World Chess Championship against Garry Kasparov at London 1993. Still active, Short continues to enjoy international success...
who has worked with other successful juniors such as Pentala Harikrishna,
Sergey KarjakinSergey Karjakin is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was a chess prodigy and holds the record for the youngest grandmaster in history, achieving the title at the age of twelve years and seven months...
and
Parimarjan NegiParimarjan Negi is a 16-year-old chess prodigy from India. In July 2005, he earned his third and final International Master norm at the Sort International open chess tournament in Sort, Spain...
.
He obtained the three necessary GM norms between 2004 and 2007; these comprised the
4NCL4NCL is an acronym, standing for Four Nations Chess League; the four nations being England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The league is however truly international, with players from as many as 27 different countries taking part....
team tournament (season 2004/5), the CCA-ICC International at
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
2005 and
Stockholm' is the capital and largest city of Sweden. It is the site of the national Swedish government, the Riksdag , and the official residence of the Swedish Monarch as well as the prime minister. The Monarch resides at Drottningholm Palace outside of Stockholm since 1980 and uses the Royal Palace of...
's Rilton Cup 2006/7. His results included wins against GMs Tomi Nyback, Slavko Cicak,
Vladimir EpishinVladimir Epishin is a Russian chess grandmaster with an Elo-rating of 2592. He finished third in the 58th USSR Chess Championship. He was one of the assistants to Anatoly Karpov during the late stages of Karpov's career...
,
Daniel FridmanDaniel Fridman is a German chess master who originates from Latvia. He was Latvian champion in 1996 and German champion in 2008.-Early chess career:...
and
Nick de FirmianNicholas Ernest de Firmian , is a chess grandmaster and three-time U.S. chess champion, winning in 1987 , 1995, and 1998. He also tied for first in 2002, but Larry Christiansen won the playoff...
.
Since becoming a grandmaster in 2007, Howell has participated in a variety of competitions; he took a share of fourth place in the
British Chess ChampionshipThe British Chess Championship is organised by the English Chess Federation. There are separate championships for men and women. Since 1923 there have been sections for juniors, and since 1982 there has been an over-sixty championship. The championship venue usually changes every year and has been...
that year and went on to scoop the
English Chess FederationThe English Chess Federation is the governing chess organisation in England and is affiliated to FIDE. The ECF was founded in 1904 as the British Chess Federation and, although Scotland, Wales, Ireland and the Channel Islands had their own federations for many years, it was not until 2005 that the...
's
Player Of The Year Award.
A significant rise in his Elo rating followed his achievements of 2008, beginning with victory at the
AndorraAndorra , officially the Principality of Andorra , also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra, is a small landlocked country in southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe having an area of ...
Open, where he scored an 8/9, ahead of experienced grandmasters Julio Granda Zuniga and
Mihail MarinMihail Marin is a Romanian chess Grandmaster. As of September 2009, his FIDE rating is 2616. Marin's first major success in international chess was in qualifying for the Interzonal in 1987. He has won three Romanian Championships and has played in the Chess Olympiads ten times, winning a bronze...
. He followed this with a share of third place at the
World Junior Chess ChampionshipThe World Junior Chess Championship is an under-20 chess tournament organized by the World Chess Federation ....
in
GaziantepGaziantep ,, is the capital city of Gaziantep Province in Turkey. It is amongst the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world...
, where he was always challenging for the lead. At the very strong
EU Individual Open Chess ChampionshipThe EU Individual Open Championship was first contested in Cork, Ireland in 2005, under the auspices of organising body, the European Chess Union . The event is open to members of chess federations within the European Union...
in
LiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
he finished with a share of fifth place despite a surprising loss on time and then went on to win the annual
WinterthurWinterthur is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. It has the country's sixth largest population with an estimate of more than 100,000 people. In the local dialect and by its inhabitants, it is usually abbreviated to Winti...
Masters event, ahead of other grandmasters that included former Paraguayan Champion Axel Bachmann and former Swiss champions
Joseph GallagherJoseph Gerald Gallagher is a British Chess International Grandmaster and former British Champion, as well as a chess author....
and
Florian JenniFlorian Jenni is a Swiss chess player and International Grandmaster of chess.When he was five years old, he was taught to play chess by his mother and later on by his father. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster in 2003...
. At the
DresdenDresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
OlympiadThe Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete against each other. The event is organised by FIDE, which selects the host nation.-Birth of the Olympiad:The first Olympiad was unofficial...
of 2008, he joined the England team on board 3 and contributed 7½/11 for a tournament performance rating (TPR) of 2675.
External links