Jonathan Rowson
{{short description|Scottish chess grandmaster (born 1977)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2012}}
{{Infobox chess player
|name = Jonathan Rowson
|image = Rowson jonathan 20081120 olympiade dresden.jpg
|caption = Rowson at the 38th Chess Olympiad
|country = Scotland
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1977|4|18|df=y}}
|birth_place = Aberdeen, Scotland
|death_date =
|death_place =
|title = Grandmaster (1999)
|peakrating = 2599 (July 2005)
|FideID = 2400561
}}
Jonathan Rowson (born 18 April 1977) is a Scottish chess grandmaster.{{Cite web|url=https://www.systems-souls-society.com/people|title=PEOPLE {{!}} PERSPECTIVA {{!}} Systems, Souls & Society|website=perspectiva|language=en|access-date=2019-07-22}}{{cite web |author= Rifkind, Hugo |title= Grandmaster giving chess a reality check |work=The Sunday Times |url= http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article546793.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1 |date= 24 July 2005 |accessdate= 19 May 2009 |location= London |authorlink= Hugo Rifkind |url-access= subscription}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} He is a three-time British chess champion and was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1999 {{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}. He was awarded an Open Society Fellowship in 2018 by the Open Society Foundations {{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}. He now works as an intellectual entrepreneur and civil society leader as co-founder and Chief Executive of Perspectiva.
Career
Rowson came second in the European Under 20 Championship in 1997 and achieved his third and final norm required for the title of Grandmaster in the 1999 Scottish Chess Championship. He went on to win the event again in 2001 and 2004, and went on to become the 2004 British Champion. He successfully defended his British title in 2005{{cite web|author=Speelman, Jonathan|title=Speelman on Chess|work=The Observer|url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/sport/story/0,6903,1553564,00.html|date=21 August 2005|accessdate=19 May 2009|authorlink=Jonathan Speelman}} and again in 2006.[https://saund.org.uk/britbase/pgn/200608britchamp-viewer.html 2006 British Chess Championship], saund.org.uk He also won the 2000 Canadian Open Chess Championship and tied for first with Vasilios Kotronias in the Hastings International Chess Congress in 2003/04.{{cite web|url=http://www.hastingschess.org.uk/2004/prem_res.htm|title=2003-04 Results - Hastings Intl Chess Congress|publisher=HastingsChess.org.uk|accessdate=6 January 2010}}
Rowson was Director of the Social Brain Centre at the RSA and writes for The Guardian's Behavioural Insights Blog, was formerly a columnist for the Herald newspaper, and has authored three books.{{Cite web|url=http://www.thersa.org/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/1550171/Spiritualise-report.pdf|title=The RSA - RSA}} In 2016, he founded the research institute Perspectiva in London together with Tomas Björkman.
Chess strength
Rowson's peak rating of 2599 was achieved in July 2005, when he was ranked number 139 in the world.{{cite web|title=Ratings Progress Chart|website=ratings.fide.com|publisher=FIDE|url=http://ratings.fide.com/id.phtml?event=2400561|accessdate=19 May 2009}} In addition to winning the British Championship in three consecutive years, Rowson's best results include sharing first at the World Open in Philadelphia in 2002,{{cite web|url=http://www.chessscotland.com/archives/worldopen2002.htm|title=First Pula... now the World|website=Chess Scotland|accessdate=30 June 2009|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727183011/http://www.chessscotland.com/archives/worldopen2002.htm|archivedate=27 July 2011}} at the Hastings Premier in 2003/4, and outright first at the Capo D'Orso open in Sardinia in 2008.
Books
Rowson has written numerous magazine articles and four books on the game:
- Understanding the Grunfeld (1998). Gambit Publications. {{ISBN|1-901983-09-9}};
- The Seven Deadly Chess Sins (2000). Gambit Publications. {{ISBN|1-901983-36-6}};
- Chess for Zebras (2005). Gambit Publications. {{ISBN|1-901983-85-4}};
- The Moves That Matter: A Chess Grandmaster on the Game of Life (2019). Bloomsbury Publishing {{ISBN|1-635573-32-7}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.365chess.com/players/Jonathan_Rowson Jonathan Rowson] games at 365Chess.com
- {{chessgames player|id=10949}}
- [http://chessmetrics.com/cm/CM2/PlayerProfile.asp?Params=199510SSSSS3S111820000000111000000000026110100 Jonathan Rowson] at Chessmetrics
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110726222815/http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/lang_nlschaakverbetering-volgens-gm-jonathan-rowsonlang_nllang_enchess-improvement-according-to-gm-jonathan-rowsonlang_en/ Interview with GM Jonathan Rowson]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowson, Jonathan}}
Category:Harvard University alumni
Category:Chess Olympiad competitors
Category:Scottish chess players
Category:British chess writers
Category:Alumni of Keble College, Oxford
Category:Scottish non-fiction writers