Murray Graham Chandler (born 4 April 1960,

Wellington, New Zealand Wellington is Capital of New Zealand, the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the List of cities in New Zealand, third-largest city ...

) is a New Zealand

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

grandmaster. In the 1980s, he gained British citizenship and represented England at six

Chess Olympiad The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in FIDE Onli ...

s. He has since returned to New Zealand. Chandler is also known as a chess writer, chess publishing executive and occasional organiser of chess tournaments.

Career

Chandler won the

New Zealand chess championship The New Zealand Chess Championship is an annual open tournament played to determine the country's chess champion. It is organised by the New Zealand Chess Federation. The first installment of the championship was held in Christchurch in 1879, and ...

in 1975–76, and qualified as an

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 1977 by winning the first

Asian Junior Chess Championship The Asian Junior Chess Championship is an annual chess tournament open to players in Asia and Oceania (FIDE Zones 3.1 to 3.7) who are under 20 years of age. The tournament has been held annually since 1977 with occasional interruptions. Since 1985 ...

Baguio Baguio ( , , ), officially the City of Baguio (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...

. His first international chess appearance was in 1974 when he turned out for the New Zealand team in the first

Asian Team Chess Championship The Asian Team Chess Championship (recently also called the Asian Nations Chess Cup) is an international team chess tournament open to national federations affiliated to FIDE in Asia and Oceania. It is organized by the Asian Chess Federation, and th ...

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. Later, he represented New Zealand at the

s of 1976, 1978 and 1980 but then switched allegiance to England. He played for England at the

s of 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990 and 1992, as part of a highly successful team that defeated the Soviets in some crucial encounters. He qualified for the grandmaster title in 1983, and maintained an

Elo rating The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in zero-sum games such as chess or esports. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-American chess master and physics professor. The Elo system wa ...

around the 2600 level between 1987 and 1992. Amongst Chandler's best results have been Commonwealth Champion (twice – jointly in 1984 and outright in 1987), first place at Brighton 1981, first place in the Blackpool Zonal of 1990, tie for first place, Lloyds Bank Masters 1979, tie for first place, Hastings Premier 1986/7, and tied for second place (behind

Anatoly Karpov Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov (, ; born May 23, 1951) is a Russian and former Soviet Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, ⁣and politician. He was the 12th World Chess Champion from 1975 ...

), London 1984. He also played for the Rest of World team versus the Soviet Union in 1984 and tied first at the

British Chess Championship The British Chess Championships are organised by the English Chess Federation. The main tournament incorporates the British Championship, the English Chess Championships and the British Women's Chess Championship so it is possible, although it ha ...

of 1986, but lost the play-off match for the title. One curiosity is his lifetime score of two wins, no draws, no losses against

Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born Garik Kimovich Weinstein on 13 April 1963) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess Elo rating system, ra ...

. One win was in the World Under-16 Championship in 1976, and the other in a

simultaneous display A simultaneous exhibition or simultaneous display is a board game exhibition (commonly chess or Go) in which one player (typically of high rank, such as a grandmaster or dan-level player) plays multiple games at a time with a number of other pl ...

in 1985. Chandler was editor of ''

British Chess Magazine ''British Chess Magazine'' is the world's oldest chess journal in continuous publication. First published in January 1881, it has appeared at monthly intervals ever since. It is frequently known in the chess world as ''BCM''. The founder and ...

'' from 1991 to 1999. In the late 1990s, he also set up ''

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 ...

'', a publisher of high quality chess books that has received good reviews from all quarters. Fellow Gambit directors were England teammate

John Nunn John Denis Martin Nunn (born 25 April 1955) is an English chess grandmaster, a three-time world champion in chess problem solving, a chess writer and publisher, and a mathematician. He is one of England's strongest chess players and was form ...

and

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...

Master-cum-author,

Graham Burgess Graham K. Burgess (born 24 February 1968 in Liverpool, England) is an English FIDE Master of chess and a noted writer and trainer. He became a FIDE Master at the age of twenty. He attended Birkdale High School in Southport, Merseyside. In 1 ...

. The company now has a large back-catalogue containing contributions from all three directors and from a host of other respected chess writers. Books like ''Modern Chess Strategy'' by John L. Watson have been highly acclaimed and Chandler's own ''How To Beat Your Dad At Chess'' is a very large seller. He also produced VHS and DVD material for ''Bad Bishop Ltd.'', a company related to ''Gambit'', including a repertoire against the Nc6 Sicilian, based on the early Bb5 lines. He returned to New Zealand in 2006, winning his second

New Zealand Chess Championship The New Zealand Chess Championship is an annual open tournament played to determine the country's chess champion. It is organised by the New Zealand Chess Federation. The first installment of the championship was held in Christchurch in 1879, and ...

that year and a third champion's title in 2008. He has now reverted his player registration to the New Zealand Federation, making him eligible once more to play for his country of birth. In 2013, he purchased the old Saint Paul's church in Auckland, converting it into a chess coaching centre. Murray Chandler MNZM investiture

In the

2017 New Year Honours The 2017 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours were awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

, Chandler was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ...

for services to chess.

Notable games

Chandler's 23.e6 is difficult to find, as it appears that the square is defended four ways. None of the available captures are satisfactory, however, making it equally difficult to meet. At the age of 16 Chandler defeats 13 years old future

world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

Selected bibliography

* ''The Complete c3 Sicilian'', 1997, American Batsford, . * ''How To Beat Your Dad At Chess'', 1998,

, . * ''Chess Tactics For Kids'', 2003, Gambit Publications, . * ''Chess For Children'' (with Helen Milligan), 2004, Gambit Publications, .

Notes

References

* Whyld, Kenneth, ''Guinness Chess The Records'', Guinness Books, 1986.
Auckland Chess website

External links

comprehensive games and results collection at britbase.info * *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chandler, Murray Chess Grandmasters Chess Olympiad competitors English chess players New Zealand chess players 1960 births Living people British writers Chess writers Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit Sportspeople from Wellington City