British Grandmaster Michael Adams: A First-Rate Chess Player

Born in the city of Truro in England, Michael Adams is a pride of the United Kingdom in the world of chess. He has represented his country wonderfully in various international chess competitions. This British chess grandmaster has an impressive 2726 Elo rating which is good for top 16 worldwide. Besides his reputation as the top player of his country, he is also a reputable chess author.

This British grandmaster got a taste of his first huge chess competition after joining the 1989 installment of the British Championship of which he won. After eight long years, he once again topped that major event. He also won multiple titles at the British Rapidplay Championship. He wrote the books "The Development of a Grandmaster" and "Chess in the Fast Lane" while at the peak of his chess career in 1991 and 1996, respectively.

Throughout the years, Adams was involved in several notable international chess tournaments. He joined the Groningen Interzonal tournament of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) in the Netherlands in 1993. After topping this prestigious chess tournament, he was able to advance to the Professional Chess Association  world chess championship in 1995. He was able to reach the semifinals before losing to Indian chess grandmaster Viswanathan Anand.

After an impressive year, Adams joined the 1996 installment of the FIDE world chess championship. Despite losing to Israeli chess grandmaster Boris Gelfand in the early rounds, he was able to make a serious statement that he belongs among the top players of the game. He used this year as a stepping stone for a much bigger international tournament in the following year.

The 1997 FIDE World chess championship proved to be bigger and much exciting than the previous year. With better preparations, the British chess sensation moved his way past the earlier and less significant parts of the tournament. Nigel Short of England, Loek van Wely and Sergei Tiviakov of the Netherlands were among the great chess grandmasters that he defeated. After reaching the final round, Adams' title run once again fell short against Anand in a sudden death match.

The impressive professional chess record of Adams did not end here. In 1999, he reached the semifinals of the FIDE World Championship prior to his defeat to Armenian chess grandmaster Vladimir Akopian. In 2000, he once again found himself at the semifinal round of the FIDE World Championship before getting defeated by Anand in another classic chess match. In 2002, Russian chess grandmaster Peter Svidler defeated him in the round of 16. He also played big parts in the 2004, 2005, and 2007 installments of the FIDE World Chess Championship.