David Howell of England belongs to that rare breed of chess players.
His peak rating of 2712 FIDE and peak ranking of number 35 in the world made him one of the best players to grace the game. En route to these career-highs, Howell set astounding records, many of which remain unbroken.
A second-hand chess set bought by his father was all Howell needed to latch onto the 64 squares. And after only four years of playing the game, he gained fame by beating John Nunn in a blitz game at the Mind Sports Olympiad. The feat made him the youngest player to have defeated a Grandmaster in an official game.
A year later, Howell took part in the 2000 British Chess Championship,and set the record for the youngest player to have qualified to compete in a national championship. He also scored two wins against much older and experienced players in the event.
Impressive, but the records only kept coming!
In the 2001 Hastings Challengers Tournament, Howell became the youngest ever British player to beat a grandmaster at classical time controls... when he ground down Colin McNab in a queen-and-knight endgame.
Just a year later, in March 2002, 11-year old Howell drew then-reigning champ Vladimir Kramnik in a four-game blitz match staged by Einstein Group, plc. The feat made the Howell the youngest player in the world to score against a world chess champion in an organized match.
"It was definitely not a walk-over, I had to concentrate!" quipped Kramnik, who predicted a bright future for the young English player.
And Howell did not disappoint.
Since the encounter, he won many top-tier tournaments including the 2008 Andorra Open... 2010 Hastings International Chess Congress... 2012 Leiden Open... and the British Championship no less than three times!
But while his career as a player is stellar, it's Howell's commentary and teaching skills which endeared him to everyone.
It's for good reason that he heads the beginner-friendly stream for events organized by chess24 and the Champions Chess Tour. Fans just love his ability to zero-in on what matters in the position and, more importantly, explain it to every people in ways they can appreciate.
But don't take our word for it. Experience Howell's eye-opening instruction yourself when you sign up for one of his courses below.
