John Nunn

John Nunn (b. 1955) has had a distinguished chess career. He won the European Junior Championship in 1975, gained the Grandmaster title in 1978 and was British champion in 1980. In 1989 he finished sixth in the inaugural World Cup and at that time was ranked in the world top 10. He has achieved many tournament successes, gaining four individual gold medals in Chess Olympiads and winning the prestigious Wijk aan Zee tournament in 1982, 1990 and 1991. Today he is still active in Senior Chess, playing top board for the England 65+ team in their 2022 and 2024 World Championship victories. He also won the 2022 British 65+ Championship (with a 100% score), the European 65+ Championship in 2023 and the World 65+ Championship in 2022 and 2023. He has also been successful in chess problem-solving competitions, which gave him his second grandmaster title in 2004. He won the World Championship in problem-solving in 2004, 2007 and 2010, and has the won the British problem-solving championship 10 times. In 2024 he helped the British team win the world problem-solving championship and came second in the world individual championship. As well as being a strong player and solver, Nunn is regarded as one of the best contemporary authors of chess books, winning the English Chess Federation (formerly British Chess Federation) Book of the Year award three times. He currently lives in Cornwall and enjoys the outdoor life there.