View source for Nigel Short

{{Short description|English chess grandmaster (born 1965)}}
{{about|the chess player|the singer and choir director|Nigel Short (singer)}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Infobox chess player
|name = Nigel Short<br /><small>{{nobold|{{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MBE}}}}</small>
|image =Nigel Short (2018).jpg
|caption = Short in 2018
|birthname = Nigel David Short
|country = England
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1965|6|1}}
|birth_place = [[Leigh, Greater Manchester|Leigh]], Lancashire, England
|title = [[Grandmaster (chess)|Grandmaster]] (1984)
|peakrating = 2712 (April 2004)
|peakranking = No. 3 (July 1988)
|FideID = 400025
}}
'''Nigel David Short''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|MBE}} (born 1 June 1965) is an English [[Grandmaster (chess)|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 [[FIDE world rankings|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 [[World Chess Championship 1993|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.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=55513 |date=12 June 1999 |pages=25  |supp=y }}</ref>

== Early life, family, and education ==
Short was born 1 June 1965 in [[Leigh, Greater Manchester|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.<ref>Forbes, 1993, p. 3</ref> He grew up in [[Atherton, Greater Manchester|Atherton]], going to St Philip's Primary School on Bolton Old Road. He studied at the independent [[Bolton School]] and [[Wigan and Leigh College|Leigh College]].<ref name=":0" />

Short began playing chess at the age of five after watching his father teach his older brother Martin.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |url=https://vault.si.com/vault/1988/07/11/short-isnt-a-long-shot-nigel-short-is-nearing-the-top-of-the-chess-world |title=SHORT ISN'T A LONG SHOT |last=Lidz |first=Franz |date=11 July 1988 |website=Sports Illustrated Vault |access-date=22 October 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022101818/https://vault.si.com/vault/1988/07/11/short-isnt-a-long-shot-nigel-short-is-nearing-the-top-of-the-chess-world |archive-date=22 October 2021}}</ref> He was a member both of Atherton Chess Club, which was founded by his father, and later of Bolton Chess Club,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.boltonymca.co.uk/8.html |title=Bolton Chess Club |publisher=Bolton YMCA |access-date=27 December 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724103728/http://www.boltonymca.co.uk/8.html |archive-date=24 July 2008 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> which had initially rejected him (aged seven) for being too young. His parents divorced when he was 13 years old.<ref>Forbes, 1993, pp.10-11</ref> Short left school at age 17, having completed four [[O-levels]], to focus on chess full-time.<ref>Forbes, 1993, p.14</ref>

== Prodigy to Grandmaster ==
[[File:Nigel Short (1976).jpg|thumb|Nigel Short (1976)]]
Short learned chess at age five from his father.<ref>Forbes, 1993, p.3-4</ref> A [[chess prodigy]], Short first attracted significant media attention as a 10-year-old by defeating [[Viktor Korchnoi]], then ranked No. 2 in the world, in a [[simultaneous exhibition]] in London over 31 boards, where Short was the only victor. He was virtually self-taught. In 1977, he became the youngest-ever participant in the [[British Chess Championship]] by qualifying through the North West Zonal three days before his 12th birthday. In the event itself, he defeated ten-time British champion [[Jonathan Penrose]], and finished with 5/11, an excellent showing for a debutant.<ref>Forbes, 1993, p.8 and pp.31-32</ref> 

Short dominated British youth chess during this period, and earned a Master rating with his showing in the 1977 British finals. In 1978 he won his first adult national title when he won the British Lightning Championship aged 13 years 5 months 11 days, a title which he won again in 1980.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.saund.org.uk/britbase/pgn/shortn-viewer.html |first=John |last=Saunders |title=Nigel Short's Collected Games |work=BritBase.info}}</ref> 

In 1979, in the British Championship at [[Chester]], Short tied for first place with [[John Nunn]] and [[Robert Bellin]], earning his first [[International Master]] norm; Bellin won the title on tiebreak. Later in 1979, Short tied for first place in the World Championship for players under age 16, the World Cadet Championship, at [[Belfort]], France, but lost to Argentinian Marcello Tempone on tiebreak.<ref>Forbes, 1993, p.11</ref> He became (at the time) the youngest [[International Master]] in chess history by scoring 8/15 in the [[Hastings International Chess Congress|Hastings Premier]] in 1979/80, breaking Bobby Fischer's record from 1958.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter65.html#6429._International_Master_title_C.N.s |first=Edward |last=Winter |title=6429. International Master title |work=Chess Notes}}</ref> 

Participating in four [[World Junior Chess Championship|World Junior Championships]] (1980–83), Short achieved his best result during his first attempt, when he placed second to [[Garry Kasparov]] in 1980 at [[Dortmund]]. Short represented England in international team play for the first time at the 1983 European Team finals in [[Plovdiv]]. He was awarded the [[Grandmaster (chess)|grandmaster]] title in 1984, aged 19—becoming the youngest grandmaster in the world at the time,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.chessbase.com/post/nigel-short-turns-forty |title=Nigel Short turns forty |last=Friedel |first=Frederic |date=1 June 2005 |website=ChessBase |access-date=8 November 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108162930/https://en.chessbase.com/post/nigel-short-turns-forty |archive-date=8 November 2014}}</ref> being [[List of chess grandmasters|later supplanted]] by [[Simen Agdestein]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}

== World Championship candidate ==

Short's arrival on the [[World Chess Championship]] title began in earnest in 1985 when he narrowly qualified from the [[Biel]] [[Interzonal]] to become Britain's first-ever [[Candidates Tournament|candidate]]. He needed a playoff to advance past [[John van der Wiel]] and [[Eugenio Torre]] for the last berth, after the three had tied in regulation play. But the [[Montpellier]] Candidates Tournament brought Short little success, as he scored 7/15 to finish in 10th place. In the next cycle, he again qualified by winning the 1987 [[Subotica]] Interzonal with [[Jon Speelman]]. The Candidates stage had by this time reverted to its traditional match format: Short defeated [[Gyula Sax]] (+2=3) in [[Saint John, New Brunswick|Saint John]], Canada, in 1988,<ref>{{cite news |last=Goodman |first=David |date=25 January 1988 |title=Short Wins Again To Seize 2-0 Lead; Seirawan Loses To Speelman |url=https://apnews.com/article/c6ff0908e69130871a23c9d003d0693e |work=[[Associated Press]] |access-date=5 March 2015}}</ref> but then unexpectedly lost (−2=3) to Speelman in London.<ref name="time">{{cite magazine |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,979248,00.html |title=Playing With His Fingertips |last=Hillenbrand |first=Barry |date=20 September 1993 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |access-date=5 March 2015}}</ref>

Short's next attempt proved his most successful. He defeated [[Mikhail Gurevich (chess player)|Mikhail Gurevich]] in the last round of the [[Manila]] Interzonal and finished equal third with [[Viswanathan Anand]], behind [[Vassily Ivanchuk]] and [[Boris Gelfand]], qualifying him as a Candidate for the third successive time. Meeting Speelman again in the 8/Final, in London, he tied a close match (+2-2=4) before edging his older opponent 1.5-0.5 in the tie-break. The 1/4 final, against Gelfand, in Brussels, was a bloodthirsty affair in which Short eventually prevailed (+4-2=2). In the semifinal, in 1992, the Englishman overcame former World Champion [[Anatoly Karpov]] (+4−2=4) in a match that was described as "the end of an era". In the final, in [[San Lorenzo de El Escorial]], Short defeated Dutchman [[Jan Timman]] (+5−3=5) to earn the right to meet defending World Champion Garry Kasparov.<ref name="time" /> The [[King walk]], perhaps the most famous in recent history, where Nigel Short defeated Jan Timman in Tilburg in 1991, was voted as one of the hundred greatest chess games in a list compiled by FM Graham Burgess, and GMs John Nunn and John Emms.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DnXeaag4YPY | title=A Short King Walk - Nigel Short vs Jan Timman 1991 | website=[[YouTube]] | date=28 March 2017 }}</ref>

== World title match, London 1993 ==
According to Short and Kasparov, the head of the chess world's governing body FIDE, [[Florencio Campomanes]], in breach of FIDE rules, decided the location of the match (Manchester) and the prize fund without consulting them. In her book ''Nigel Short: Quest for the Crown'' (Cadogan 1993), the British WIM and author [[Cathy Warwick|Cathy Forbes]] wrote that at no time in the 1993 bidding process did FIDE actually receive a conforming world championship match bid. In response, Short and Kasparov promptly formed a rival organisation, the [[Professional Chess Association]]. The resulting [[World Chess Championship 1993|match]]—sponsored by ''[[The Times]]'' newspaper—was held under the new body's auspices in London from September to October 1993.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ichess.net/blog/classic-footage-nigel-short-vs-garry-kasparov/ | title=Classic Footage of Nigel Short vs Garry Kasparov &#124; iChess.NET }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1993/09/04/slick-moves-for-chess/458d13bb-2973-4c24-9b64-f7c5404ec139/ |title=SLICK MOVES FOR CHESS |date=1993-09-04 |author1=Joseph McLellan |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |place=Washington, D.C. |issn=0190-8286 |oclc=1330888409}}</ref> Kasparov won convincingly (+6−1=13) – the largest margin of victory in a world title contest since [[Mikhail Botvinnik|Botvinnik]] defeated [[Mikhail Tal|Tal]] in 1961.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}

=== Controversy ===
{{More information|World Chess Championship 1993}}
The unprecedented rebellion organized by Kasparov and Short resulted in a parallel World Championship cycle organized by FIDE, featuring [[Anatoly Karpov]] and [[Jan Timman]] playing a title match later in 1993, which was won by Karpov.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1993 Karpov - Timman : 1991-93 cycle : FIDE World Chess Championship |url=https://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/9193fwix.htm |access-date=2024-08-03 |website=www.mark-weeks.com}}</ref> Short and Kasparov were both sanctioned by FIDE, and the situation led to enormous controversy and upheaval in the chess world for the next several years.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}

== Major tournament results ==
[[Image:Nigel Short (2005).jpg|left|thumb|Short at the 2005 [[Corus chess tournament]]]]
Short won the [[British Chess Championship]] in 1984, 1987 and 1998, and the [[English Chess Championship|English Championship]] in 1991.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2006/jul/06/chess.features11|title=The king and I|date=6 July 2006|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=8 August 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.englishchess.org.uk/100-year-history-of-the-british-chess-federation/4/ | title=100 Year History of the British Chess Federation }}</ref> He was the [[Commonwealth Chess Championship|Commonwealth Champion]] in 2004 ([[Mumbai]]), 2006 ([[Mumbai]]) and 2008 ([[Nagpur]]). He won the 2006 [[EU Individual Open Chess Championship]] in Liverpool and took a share of second place in 2008 when it was held there again. He has finished outright first, or tied for first, in dozens of other international tournaments, including [[Geneva]] (1979), [[Belfort]], World Under 16 (1979), the [[BBC Master Game]] (1981), [[Amsterdam]] OHRA (1982), [[Baku]] (1983), [[Esbjerg]] (1984), British Rapidplay Chess Championship (1986), [[Corus chess tournament|Wijk aan Zee]] (1986, 1987), [[Reykjavík]] (1987), Amsterdam VSB (1988, 1991, 1992, 1993), [[Hastings International Chess Congress|Hastings]] (1987/88, 1988/89), [[Pärnu]] (1996), [[Groningen]] (1996), [[Tallinn]]/Pärnu (1998), [[Isle of Man]] Monarch Assurance 1998, [[Dhaka]] United Insurance (1999), [[Shymkent]] (1999), [[Pamplona]] (1999/2000), [[Linares, Chile|Linares]] Open (2000), Tan Chin Nam Cup, Beijing (2000), Feria del Orinoco (2001) [[Ciudad Bolivar]], Sigeman and Co. [[Malmö]] (2002, 2009, 2013 joint first shared with [[Richárd Rapport]] and [[Nils Grandelius]]), [[Gibraltar Chess Festival|Gibraltar]] (2003, 2004, 2012), [[Budapest]] Hunguest Hotels (2003), Samba Cup, [[Skanderborg]] (2003), [[Taiyuan]] (2004), the Politiken Cup (2006), [[Bazna]] (2008), the [[Howard Staunton Memorial Tournament|Staunton Memorial]] (2009), [[Bangkok]] Chess Club Open (2011, 2012, 2015, 2017), [[Luanda]] (2011), 7th [[Edmonton]] International (2012), [[Bunratty]] (2012, 2016, 2017, 2020), RA Club [[Ottawa]] (2012), [[Pühajärve]] Rapid Chess Tournament (2012), Spicenet [[Tanzania]] Open (2013), [[PokerStars]] [[Isle of Man]] (2014), Zaw Win Lay Memorial [[Yangon]] (2014), the [[South African Open (chess)|South African Open]] (2015) the 1st Stars Cup in [[Bandar-e Anzali|Anzali]] (2016), the British Knockout Championship (2016), the [[Bacolod]] Negros Open (2017), the Pre-League Blitz Open in [[Kampala]] (2018), the GM Nigel Short Blitz in [[Lagos]] (2018), the Moja GM Tournament, in [[Kimberley, Northern Cape|Kimberley]], (2022), and the Turkmenistan Federation Cup Open Blitz, in [[Ashgabat, Turkmenistan]], (2024).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-10-11 |title=Legendary English grandmaster Nigel Short wins the chess tournament in Ashgabat |url=https://orient.tm/en/post/76268/legendary-english-grandmaster-nigel-short-wins-chess-tournament-ashgabat |access-date=2025-05-24 |website=Orient |language=en}}</ref>

Short won the 50th edition of the [[Canadian Open Chess Championship]] in Ottawa in 2013, edging Canadian Grandmaster [[Eric Hansen (chess player)|Eric Hansen]] on tiebreak after both finished with unbeaten 7½/9 scores.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.chessbase.com/post/short-wins-2013-canadian-open-championship-250713 |title=Short wins 2013 Canadian Open Championship |first=John |last=Upper |work=Chess News |publisher=ChessBase GmbH |date=24 July 2013 |access-date=2015-03-05}}</ref>

Arguably Short's finest tournament performance came at the [[Max Euwe Memorial Tournament|Amsterdam VSB]] tournament in 1991, where he tied for first place with [[Valery Salov]] ahead of both Kasparov and Karpov.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.chess.com/blog/KingsBishop/happy-birthday-nigel-short | title=Happy Birthday Nigel Short | date=June 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/04/nyregion/chess-673191.html | title=Chess | newspaper=The New York Times | date=4 June 1991 | last1=Byrne | first1=Robert }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=90251&pid=12181 | title=Amsterdam VSB (1991) (Games of Nigel Short) }}</ref>

== Match results ==
In addition to World Championship cycle results already mentioned above, Short has enjoyed other success as a match player, beating US Champion [[Lev Alburt]] in [[Foxborough, Massachusetts]] in 1985 by the score of 7–1 (+6=2). He has also defeated [[Utut Adianto]] (+3=3) in [[Jakarta]] 1995, [[Étienne Bacrot]] in Albert 2000 (+3−1=2), [[Hannes Stefánsson]] in Reykjavík 2002 (+4−1=1), [[Ehsan Ghaem Maghami]] in [[Tehran]] 2003 (+2=4) [[Zahar Efimenko]] in Mukachevo 2009 (+2−1=3) and [[Hou Yifan]] in Hoogeveen 2016 (+2-1=3). Short lost to [[Joel Benjamin]] by 2½–1½ at London 1983, drew with Eugenio Torre (+1−1=4) in Manila 1988, drew with Timman (3–3) in an exhibition match at [[Hilversum]] in 1989, defeated [[Boris Gulko]] in extra games in the PCA Candidates' quarterfinals at New York 1994, lost to [[Gata Kamsky]] by (5½–1½) in the PCA semi-finals at Linares 1995, and drew with [[Anish Giri]] in Amsterdam 2010 (+1-1=2).{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}}

In a return to Tehran in March 2013, Short played a second match against the Iranian player [[Ehsan Ghaem Maghami]]. Billed as ''Talking Chess'', the contest comprised four games with a classic [[time control]], four games of [[rapid chess]] and eight games of [[Blitz chess|blitz]]. As the classic games progressed, the players gave an intermittent live commentary, aimed at increasing the understanding of the live and television audiences, who could contrast and compare the player's own thoughts and assessments. Short won the classic games (+2=2), the rapid games (+3−1) and the blitz games (+3−2=3).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/twic958.html#4 |title=The Week In Chess 958 |first=Mark |last=Crowther |work=TheWeekInChess |access-date=2015-03-05}}</ref>

== International team record ==
Short made his international team debut in the [[European Team Chess Championship]] at age 17 at [[Plovdiv]] 1983. He represented England in 17 consecutive Olympiads between 1984 and 2016. Short's main highlights are: team silver medals in the chess Olympiads of [[26th Chess Olympiad|Thessaloniki 1984]], [[27th Chess Olympiad|Dubai 1986]] (where he also took gold medal for the best individual performance on board three) and Thessaloniki 1988. He took a team bronze in the [[29th Chess Olympiad|Novi Sad Olympiad of 1990]], and led England to fourth-place finishes in both [[31st Chess Olympiad|1994]] and [[32nd Chess Olympiad|1996]]. He led the English team to victory in the 1997 Euroteams at [[Pula]], and was a member of the bronze winning team in 1992, and of fourth place teams in 1983 and 2001. He was a member of three English teams in the [[World Team Chess Championship]]s of 1985 (team bronze), 1989 (team bronze), and 1997 (team fourth). His complete log when representing England in major international team events follows.{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}}

Olympiad:
* [[26th Chess Olympiad|Thessaloniki 1984]] 2nd reserve, 3/6 (+1−1=4) team silver
* [[27th Chess Olympiad|Dubai 1986]] board 3, 10/13 (+8−1=4), individual gold medal, team silver
* [[28th Chess Olympiad|Thessaloniki 1988]] board 1, 7/12 (+3−1=8), team silver
* [[29th Chess Olympiad|Novi Sad 1990]] board 1, 6/12 (+2−2=8) team bronze
* [[30th Chess Olympiad|Manila 1992]], board 1, 6/11 (+3−2=6)
* [[31st Chess Olympiad|Moscow 1994]], board 1, 8½/13 (+6−2=5)
* [[32nd Chess Olympiad|Yerevan 1996]], board 1, 7/12 (+3−1=8)
* [[33rd Chess Olympiad|Elista 1998]], board 2, 6½/11 (+2−0=9)
* [[34th Chess Olympiad|Istanbul 2000]], board 2, 7/12 (+3−1=8)
* [[35th Chess Olympiad|Bled 2002]], board 2, 8½/13 (+5−1=7)
* [[36th Chess Olympiad|Calvià 2004]], board 2, 1½/4 (+1−2=1)
* [[37th Chess Olympiad|Turin 2006]], board 2, 8/11 (+5−0=6)
* [[38th Chess Olympiad|Dresden 2008]], board 2, 7/10 (+6−2=2)
* [[39th Chess Olympiad|Khanty-Mansiysk 2010]], board 2, 4/8 (+2−2=4)
* [[40th Chess Olympiad|Istanbul 2012]], board 3, 7½/10 (+6−1=3)
* [[41st Chess Olympiad|Tromsø 2014]], board 3, 1½/5 (+1-3=1)
* [[42nd Chess Olympiad|Baku 2016]], reserve, 6½/9 (+5-1=3)
European Team Championship:
* [[Plovdiv]] 1983 board 7, 4½/7 (+3−1=3)
* [[Debrecen]] 1992 board 1, 5½/8 (+4−1=3), individual bronze medal, team bronze
* [[Pula]] 1997 board 1, 4/7 (+2−1=4) team gold
* [[Batumi]] 1999 board 1, 5/8 (+3−1=4)
* [[León, Spain|León]] 2001 board 2, 6/9 (+3−0=6)
* [[Porto Carras]] 2011 board 2, 3/7 (+2-3=2)
* [[Warsaw]] 2013 board 3, 4½/7 (+2-0=5)
* [[Reykjavík]] 2015 board 4, 3/5 (+2-1=2)
* [[Hersonissos]] 2017 board 2, 3½/7 (+2-2=3)
World Team Championship:
* [[Lucerne]] 1985 board 4, 4/8 (+1−1=6) team bronze
* Lucerne 1989, board 1, 4½/8 (+3−2=3), individual silver medal, team bronze
* Lucerne 1997, board 1, 4/8 (+0−0=8)
World Senior Team Championship:
* [[Dresden]] 2015 board 1, 7/8 (+6-0=2) individual gold medal, team bronze
* [[Hersonissos]] 2017 board 1, 8/9 (+7-0=2) individual gold medal, team bronze

== Other activities ==
Short was appointed to serve as one of several Vice Presidents of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) in October 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://en.chessbase.com/post/fide-election-2018-dvorkovich-wins|title = The election of Arkady Dvorkovich|date = 5 October 2018}}</ref> He has written chess columns and book reviews for the British newspapers ''[[The Sunday Times (UK)|The Sunday Times]]'', ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', the ''[[Daily Mail]]'' and ''[[The Spectator]]''. He wrote for ''[[The Sunday Telegraph]]'' for a decade and for ''[[The Guardian]]'' between 2005 and 19 October 2006. He reported on the [[FIDE World Chess Championship 2005]] in [[San Luis, Argentina]], for the ChessBase website. He wrote a column, "Short Stories", for ''[[New in Chess]]'' magazine from January 2011 until December 2018. During the [[World Chess Championship 2013]] he wrote a series of articles for ''[[The Indian Express]]''. In 2014 he began writing a column for the ''[[Financial Times]]'', interviewing [[Sol Campbell]] in the first article.<ref>{{cite news |first=Nigel |last=Short |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/0961fd7a-330e-11e4-93c6-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3CSPiZPNh |title=Chess grandmaster class: Nigel Short v Sol Campbell |work=FT.com |date=5 September 2014 |publisher=The Financial Times LTD |access-date=2015-03-05}}</ref>

He has individually coached young prodigies [[Pentala Harikrishna]], [[Sergey Karjakin]], [[David Howell (chess player)|David Howell]] and [[Parimarjan Negi]]. He worked as national coach of the [[Islamic Republic of Iran]] from 2006 to 2007. His first assignment led to their unexpectedly capturing a team bronze medal at the [[Chess at the Asian Games|Asian Games]] in [[Doha]], [[Qatar]], in 2006. In the nine chess events at the Asian Indoor Games in [[Macau]] 2007, Iran took a silver and two bronze medals.{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}}

Short was made an honorary Fellow of the then Bolton Institute of Higher Education in 1993, and was admitted to the honorary degree of Doctor of Science by the [[University of Bolton]] in 2010. In 1999 he was appointed [[Order of the British Empire|MBE]],<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/55513/supplement/25| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191123082738/https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/55513/supplement/25| archive-date = 2019-11-23| title = Page 25 {{!}} Supplement 55513, 12 June 1999 {{!}} London Gazette {{!}} The Gazette}}</ref> in recognition of his chess accomplishments. In August 2005, he was unanimously elected secretary general of the [[Commonwealth Chess Association]]. He became its president in June 2006, stepping down in January 2008. He was the [[FIDE]] delegate for the [[English Chess Federation|ECF]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.englishchess.org.uk/about-2/ecf-officials/ |title=Board and Officers |work=Englishchess.org.uk |publisher=The English Chess Federation |access-date=2015-03-05}}</ref> between 2009 and 2014.{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}}

During important chess events in recent years, Short is often engaged for commentary as part of live broadcasts on the Internet. Chess historian Edward Winter has named him one of the top five Internet broadcasters.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/internetbroadcasts.html |title=Chess Broadcasts on the Internet |first=Edward |last=Winter |work=ChessHistory.com |publisher=Edward Winter |access-date=2015-03-05}}</ref>

In the Introduction chapter of his book ''Winning'', published in 2021, Short said "This is my first book, and it has taken a global pandemic for me to write it" and "I must confess that all books with my name on the cover – and with profound apologies to those who bought them – were all ghost-written".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Winning-excerpt.pdf|title=Winning|last=Short|first=Nigel|work=Quality Chess|access-date=3 November 2022}}</ref>

An October 2021 blog post on Chess.com made the case that the anonymous grandmaster player "honestgirl" was, in fact, Nigel Short, based on their similar preferences for variations of the game, and based on the fact that "honestgirl" is an anagram of "Nigel Short".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chess.com/blog/thechesscorner64/who-is-honestgirl|title = Who is Honestgirl??|date = 17 October 2021}}</ref>

== Incidents ==
{{See also|Ivan Cheparinov#Handshake controversy}}
[[File:Nigel Short 2013.jpg|thumb|Short in 2013]]
In 2001, Short told ''[[The Sunday Telegraph]]'' chess column that he believed he had been secretly playing the reclusive former chess champion [[Bobby Fischer]] on the online chess platform [[Internet Chess Club]] in speed chess matches.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1533946.stm |title=Chess legend 'plays the web' |publisher=BBC News |date=9 September 2001 |access-date=2015-03-05}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/4265656/Fischer-caught-out.html|title='Fischer' caught out|website=Telegraph.co.uk|date=16 September 2001 |access-date=2016-04-08}}</ref> Fischer denied ownership of the account.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://chess960frc.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/fischer-and-wild-variant-22.html|title=Chess960 (FRC): Fischer and 'Wild Variant 22'|website=chess960frc.blogspot.co.uk|date=21 December 2013|access-date=2016-04-08}}</ref>

In January 2007, Short gave an interview to the Indian newspaper ''DNA'', in which he called for an inquiry to examine allegations that [[Veselin Topalov]] cheated during the World Championship in San Luis.<ref>{{cite news |first=Vijay |last=Tagore |url=http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1077079&pageid=2 |title=Short take: Veselin Topalov could have been cheating |work=DNA |date=30 January 2007 |publisher=Diligent Media Corporation Ltd. |access-date=2015-03-05}}</ref>

In the same ''DNA'' interview, Short was critical of the role of members of the Appeals Committee at the [[FIDE World Chess Championship 2005|2005]] and [[FIDE World Chess Championship 2006|2006]] World Championships, in particular FIDE Vice President [[Zurab Azmaiparashvili]], whom he described as "singularly inappropriate for such work having, by his own admission, cheated in winning the 2003 European Championship." Azmaiparashvili filed a formal complaint to the FIDE Ethics Commission, which convened in July 2007. While dismissing the main complaints against Short, the commission sanctioned him for a minor violation of the FIDE Code of Ethics for his use of the word "dunderhead".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fide.com/news/download/Judgement02-07.pdf |title=Case N. 2/07 JUDGEMENT rendered by the FIDE ETHICS COMMISSION |date=29 July 2007|access-date=6 February 2008 |publisher=[[FIDE]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4083 |title=FIDE Ethics Commission rules on Short and Topalov/Danailov |work=Chess News |date=31 August 2007 |publisher=ChessBase GmbH |access-date=2015-03-05}}</ref>

In 2015, Short claimed that men are biologically better suited to chess than women, and that women have other skills, citing his wife's superior emotional intelligence as an example. In response to widespread criticism for these comments, Short reaffirmed his position, claiming in an interview that "it's quite easy to demonstrate there is a fairly substantial gap between men and women" and dismissing his repeated defeat by [[Judit Polgar]] as "irrelevant".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/nigel-short-slammed-by-leading-female-chess-players-for-saying-women-are-not-as-good-as-men-at-the-game-10188487.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220620/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/nigel-short-slammed-by-leading-female-chess-players-for-saying-women-are-not-as-good-as-men-at-the-game-10188487.html |archive-date=20 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Nigel Short slammed by leading female chess players for saying women are not as good as men at the game |work=The Independent |date=20 April 2015 |access-date=2015-04-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/20/nigel-short-uk-grandmaster-men-hardwired-better-chess-players-women|work=The Guardian|location=London|title=Nigel Short says men "hardwired" to be better chess players than women|date=20 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Watson |first1=Leon |title=Nigel Short: 'Girls just don't have the brains to play chess' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/chess/11548840/Nigel-Short-Girls-just-dont-have-the-brains-to-play-chess.html |access-date=17 July 2023 |work=www.telegraph.co.uk |date=20 April 2015}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Short resides in Greece and married [[Drama therapy|drama therapist]] Rhea Argyro Karageorgiou in 1987.<ref>Forbes, 1993, p.18</ref> The couple have two children.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=12181&kpage=77 |title=The chess games of Nigel Short |work=Chessgames.com |publisher=Chessgames Services LLC |access-date=2015-03-05}}</ref> He is an atheist.<ref>""I am still slightly baffled as to how I, an oenophile, atheist Englishman, became Iran's national chess coach", writes Nigel in this eminently readable Times article." [http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4312 Chess in Iran – Nigel Short's illuminating report], ''ChessBase.com'', 9 December 2007.</ref>

== Chess style ==

Most-played [[list of chess openings|openings]] with the White pieces:<ref>{{cite web |title=The chess games of Nigel Short |url=https://www.chessgames.com/player/nigel_short.html}}</ref>
 [[Sicilian Defence|Sicilian]] (561) 
  B90 B23 B40 B33 B32
 [[Ruy Lopez]] (218) 
  C84 C92 C78 C86 C77
 [[French Defense]] (155) 
  C11 C18 C10 C19 C01
 [[Caro–Kann Defence|Caro-Kann]] (113) 
  B12 B10 B17 B11 B18
 Ruy Lopez, Closed (109) 
  C84 C92 C86 C90 C95
 [[Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation|Sicilian Najdorf]] (106) 
  B90 B92 B93 B91 [[Poisoned Pawn Variation|B97]]

With the Black pieces:
 [[French Defense]] (233) 
  C11 C05 C18 C03 C02
 [[Ruy Lopez]] (153) 
  C92 C72 C69 C95 C84
 [[Queen's Pawn Game]] (124) 
  E00 D02 A40 A46 A45
 [[Queen's Gambit Declined]] (113) 
  D37 D35 D30 D36 D31
 [[Nimzo-Indian Defence|Nimzo Indian]] (104) 
  E34 E21 E42 E32 E41
 French Tarrasch (91) 
  C05 C03 C07 C09 C04

== Works ==
*{{cite book|last=Short|first=Nigel|title=Nigel Short's Chess Skills|publisher=[[Hamlyn (publishers)|Hamlyn]]|year=1989|isbn=978-0-600-55743-2}}
*{{cite book|last=Short|first=Nigel|title=Chess Basics|publisher=[[Sterling Publishing]]|year=1993|isbn=0-8069-0798-3}}
*{{cite book|last=Short|first=Nigel|title=Winning|publisher=[[Quality Chess]]|year=2021|isbn=978-1-78483-159-2}}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Chess}} 
* [[List of chess grandmasters]] 
{{Clear}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
*{{citation |author=Chess News |url=http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2426 |title=Nigel Short turns forty |work=Chess News |date=1 June 2005 |publisher=ChessBase GmbH |access-date=2015-03-05}}
*{{cite book |last=Forbes |first=Cathy |title=Nigel Short: Quest for the Crown |publisher=[[Cadogan Chess|Cadogan]] |year=1993 |isbn=1-85744-048-X |author-link=Cathy Warwick}}
*{{cite book |last=Lawson |first=Dominic |title=The Inner Game |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]] |year=1993 |isbn=0-333-60949-2 |author-link=Dominic Lawson}}
*{{cite book |last=Short |first=David |title=Nigel Short, Chess Prodigy: His Career and Best Games |publisher=[[Faber & Faber]] |year=1982 |isbn=0-571-11786-4}}
*{{cite book |last=Keene |first=Raymond |title=Nigel Short: World Chess Challenger |publisher=Batsford |year=1992}}
*''Short'', by R. O'Brien, Andrew Martin, and Jonathan Tisdall; Tournament Chess, London, 1993.

==External links==
{{sisterlinks|wikt=no|n=no|s=no|b=no|v=no|commons=Category:Nigel Short}}
* {{FIDE}}
* {{Chessgames.com player|12181}}
* {{Chess.com player|nigel-short|member=NigelShort}}
* [https://www.saund.org.uk/britbase/pgn/shortn-viewer.html "Nigel Short's Collected Games" BritBase.info]
* [http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/short.html "Nigel Short" by Edward Winter]

{{English GMs}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Short, Nigel}}
[[Category:1965 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:English chess players]]
[[Category:Chess Grandmasters]]
[[Category:Chess Olympiad competitors]]
[[Category:English atheists]]
[[Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:People educated at Bolton School]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Leigh, Greater Manchester]]
[[Category:English chess writers]]
[[Category:English male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Chess coaches]]