Nigel Short: Chess Prodigy

Though still a schoolboy, Nigel Short is already a chess celebrity. He qualified for the national men's final at eleven years old, was joint first in the British championship at fourteen and became the world's youngest international master at fifteen. His latest achievement is to win the BBC £2,500 Master Game Tournament in the face of competition from some of the world's leading players. Nigel's life both as chess star and as a growing boy are fully described here by his father, David Short, who taught him the moves and accompanied him to all his early tournaments. Some fifty of Nigel's best games, specially chosen by Nigel himself for this volume, are analysed in detail by George Botterill, former British champion and a leading writer. Leonard Barden, manager of the England junior squad, who picked out nine-year-old Nigel as a future master, explains what makes a prodigy and assesses Nigel's future.

This is a book which will fascinate the thousands of chess players who view Nigel Short as a likely challenger to the present Russian domination of world chess. It will also be of great interest to those who help gifted children to realize their full potential.