John Leonard Watson (born 1951) is an American chess player and author who was awarded the title of

International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

in 1979. In 2022, he was inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame along with GM James Tarjan and the late Daniel Willard Fiske. He is also a recipient of the US Chess Federation's Frank J. Marshall Award, and a 2015 inductee into the Colorado Chess Hall of Fame.

Life

Watson was born in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

and grew up in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

. He was educated at Brownell-Talbot,

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

, and the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

, where he took his degree in engineering. He has won many chess tournaments including the first US National High School Chess Championship and the American Open. Watson is a renowned chess theorist and author, having published more than thirty books on many aspects of chess. His 1999 book ''Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy'' won the British Chess Federation's Book of the Year award as well as the

United States Chess Federation The United States Chess Federation (also known as US Chess or USCF) is the governing body for chess competition in the United States and represents the U.S. in FIDE, The World Chess Federation (FIDE). USCF administers the official national Chess ...

Book of the Year. The successor volume ''Chess Strategy in Action'' was the Chesscafe Book of the Year. These two books explore and theorize how radically chess has changed since the early 20th century, and how old and supposedly 'time-tested' rules for the conduct of play have been replaced by broader and revolutionary practice . These books have been translated into several languages. In a lighter vein, Watson wrote the ''Chessman''

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

series, illustrated by Chris Hendrickson and Svein Myreng. ''Chessman'' comics are now out-of-print collectors' items. Watson has a regular book review columns at ''

The Week in Chess ''The Week in Chess'' (TWIC) is a chess news web site. It was founded in 1994 and is based in the United Kingdom. ''TWIC'' has been edited by Mark Crowther since its inception in 1994. It began as a weekly Usenet Usenet (), a portmante ...

'', the publication of the London Chess Centre (available online), and in ''

Chess Life The monthly ''Chess Life'' and bi-monthly ''Chess Life Kids'' (formerly ''School Mates'' and ''Chess Life for Kids'') are the official magazines published by the United States Chess Federation (US Chess). ''Chess Life'' is advertised as the "m ...

''. His weekly Internet radio show 'Chess Talk with John Watson' was hosted by on Chess.FM, the radio arm of the

Internet Chess Club The Internet Chess Club (ICC) is a commercial Internet chess server devoted to the play and discussion of chess and chess variants. ICC had over 30,000 subscribing members in 2005. It was the first Internet chess server and was the largest p ...

(ICC). Watson is much in demand as a chess

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

; his students have included Tal Shaked, the 1997 World Junior Champion, Senior Master Patrick Hummel,

Abby Marshall Abby Marshall (born June 11, 1991) is a chess player from Columbus, Ohio, United States, who has resided in Virginia, United States since late 2005. She is a Woman FIDE Master and in 2009 won the Denker Tournament of High School Champions, mak ...

, and other US scholastic champions. Watson is married to drama schola
Maura Giles-Watson
who teaches at the University of San Diego; they live in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

Selected books

*''Play the French'', third edition, ( Cadogan Chess Books) *''The Unconventional King's Indian'' *''The Gambit Guide to the Modern Benoni'' *''Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy: Advances since Nimzowitsch'',

Gambit Publications Gambit Publications is a major publisher of chess books. The company's headquarters is in London. It has published more than 200 chess books. The company was founded by three chess players. Grandmaster (GM) John Nunn is the chess director, G ...

, 1999, *''Chess Strategy in Action'', Gambit, 2003, *''English 1...P-K4'' *''Dangerous Weapons: The French'', Everyman Chess (2007): *''Mastering the Chess Openings'', Gambit Publications (in four volumes) **Volume 1 (1. e4): (2006) **Volume 2 (1. d4): (2007) **Volume 3 (1. c4): (2009) **Volume 4: (2010)

References

External links

*
Book Reviews by IM John Watson

Photograph on Colorado Chess Informant
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, John L. 1951 births Living people Harvard University alumni University of California, San Diego alumni American chess players American non-fiction writers American chess writers American male non-fiction writers Chess International Masters Chess coaches Sportspeople from Milwaukee Writers from Milwaukee Chess players from San Diego