Michael Adams
by Bill Wall
Michael Adams was born on
November 17, 1971 in
In 1977, at the age of 6, his
father, Bill, introduced him the game of chess.
On November 17, 1979, he won
his first tournament, the Primary Schools Congress in
In 1982, he took chess lesson
from Shaun Taulbut, an International Master.
In 1982, he won the National
Primary School Championship.
In 1982, he won the British Under Eleven Championship.
In 1984, he drew a game with
Garry Kasparov in a satellite exhibition.
In July 1985, his first FIDE
rating was 2360.
In 1986, he earned his first
International Master norm at the age of 14.
In 1986, he was the British Under 21 champion.
In 1987 he played in the
World Under 16 Championship.
In 1987, he was awarded the
International Master title at 15 years, 10 months.. He was the youngest Im
in the world.
In 1988, he beat Kasparov in
a simultaneous exhibition.
In 1988, he earned his first
Grandmaster norm at the age of 16.
In October 1988, he played in
the World Junior Championship in
In 1989, he was awarded the
Grandmaster title at 17 years, 8 months.
In August 1989, he won the
British Chess Championship at the age of 17 years, 8 months. At the time, he was the youngest British champion
ever.
In 1991, he co-wrote Development of a Grandmaster with his
father, Bill Adams.
In 1991 he took 1st at Terassa.
In 1993, he finished equal
first with Viswanathan Anand
in the Groningen Interzonal.
He played in the Candidates
Tournament, where he beat Sergei Tiviakov in the
quarter finals, but lost to Anand in the semi-finals.
In 1995, he won the British Rapidplay Championship.
In 1995, he took joint 1st at
In 1996, he won the British Rapidplay Championship.
In 1996, he co-wrote Chess in the Fast Lane with his father.
In 1997, he tied for 1st in
the British Championship with Matthew Sadler.
In 1997, he reached the
semi-finals world chess championship.
In 1997, he defeated Tamaz Giorgadze, Sergei Tiviakov, Peter Svidler, Loek van Wely, and Nigel Short
before losing to Anand in the final round. Anand won in a
sudden-death game.
In 1998 he tied for 1st at
In 1999, he took 1st at
In 1999, he won the British Rapidplay Championship.
In 1999, he reached the
semi-finals world chess championship, before losing to Vladimir Akopian.
In 2000, he reached the
semi-finals world chess championship, before losing to Anand.
In July 2000, he was rated
2755.
In October, 2000, he was
ranked #4 in the world.
In 2002 he won his first
three rounds before being knocked out by Peter Svidler.
In 2004, he reached the
finals in the FIDE championship, losing to Rustam Kasimdzhanov in the tie-break games (3.5-4.5 in rapidplay after a 3-3 match). He won matches against Hussein Asabri, Karen Asnian, Jichem Hamdouchi, Hikaru Nakamura, Vladimir Akopian,
and Teimour Radjabov.
In June 2005, he lost a match
with Hydra, 5.5-0.5. The match was held
in
In 2005, he finished equal
6th-7th place, with a score of 5.5 out of 14 in the FIDE World Championship.
In May-June 2007, he
participated in the Candidates Tournament to qualify for the 2007 FIDE World
Championship. In the first round he drew
3-3 with Alexey Shirov, then lost 2.5-0.5 in the rapidplay
playoff.
On August 4, 2007, he married
Tara MacGowran, an actress.
In August 2007, he won the
Howard Staunton Memorial in
In September 2007, he took
part in a match between the
Adams won the 2nd Ruy Lopez Masters tournament held in
In August 2008, he won the
Staunton Memorial.
In September 2008, he tied
for 2nd at the 4th EU Individual Open Chess Championship, held in
On the October 2008 FIDE
rating list, he is ranked #24 in the world and #1 in the