Former World Championship semi-finalist

Jon Speelman is a Chess Grandmaster with an enviable record of success. Three times British champion, Jon was Britain's first ever World Championship semi-finalist. His enviable record of success remains as strong as ever; currently, he is rated #81 in the world and has a rating of 2604... and rising, due not least to his medal win in the Mind Sports Olympiad Masters at Olympia last year.

His list of tournament wins and other achievements is as long as your arm, and here are some excerpts:

• 1978, British Champion
• Team member of World Under 26 Youth team championship winners, ahead of USSR
• 1980, 4th place in cat. 13 London tournament, GM Norm
• 2nd, Maribor, GM Norm
• 1980 Grandmaster title
• 1st equal with Ftáchnik and Kuzmin Dortmund 1981
• 2nd equal Hastings 1981-82 with Smyslov after Kupreichik
• 4th place, London 1982, cat. 14
• 1st 1983 Banya-Luka
• 1st 1984 Brighton
• 1st 1983/84 Hastings
• 1st 1985 London
• 1st 1985 British Championship
• 1st 1986/87 Hastings
• 1st 1986 British Championship
• 1st 1987 Bath
• 1st 1987 Beersheva
• 1st 1987 Subotica
• 1st 1993 London
• 1st 1998 Andorra
• 1st 1998 Roskilde
• Has written several books including Best Chess Games 1970-80 (1982)

When not over the board, he's widely reckoned to be one of the most pleasant Grandmasters of them all and has a wide range of interests, most notably being able to match up to the most difficult crosswords and with a wide interest in literature and the unexplained. Whether we end up talking about chess, the universe or anything else, we're proud and pleased to present an interview with Jon!

Jon will be chatting live at http://www.msoworld.com/chat.html on Sunday 27th February between 9pm and 11pm GMT (US times: 1pm - 3pm Pacific, 4pm - 6pm Eastern). If you can't attend, we invite you to send your questions to us at chat@msoworld.com and look here after the event for a full log of the chat session.