1. Luke James McShane was born on 7 January 1984 and is an English chess player.
19 Facts About Luke McShane
1. 2.
Luke McShane worked as a trader in London's financial sector, and has previously been described as the world's strongest amateur chess player.
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Luke McShane won the World Under 10 Championship in Duisburg at the age of eight.
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Luke McShane held the record until David Howell broke it in January 2007.
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In January 2004 Luke McShane was ranked second in the world among junior players behind Teimour Radjabov.
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Luke McShane led the 2002 British Championship in Torquay, and was in a good position in the final round before blundering and losing to the tournament's winner, Ramachandran Ramesh.
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From around 2002, Luke McShane has been facing stiffer opposition, including players from the world's top ten.
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In 2009 and 2010 Luke McShane participated in the London Chess Classic.
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Luke McShane finished mid-table at the tournament's inaugural showing and took the best game prize for his win against Hikaru Nakamura.
10.
Under a scoring system of 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss, Luke McShane finished joint second with Anand, behind Carlsen, whom Luke McShane had beaten in their individual encounter, and ahead of Kramnik.
11.
In January 2011 Luke McShane came joint first with David Navara in the 'B group' of the Tata Steel tournament, winning on tie break and qualifying, with Navara, for the 2012 'A group' but did not play, owing to work commitments.
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Luke McShane participated in the Tal Memorial in Moscow in June 2012.
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Luke McShane then followed up with wins against Alexander Morozevich and Vladimir Kramnik, his combative performances rewarding voters of the online poll responsible for securing his wildcard place, ahead of Alexei Shirov and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.
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Luke McShane was booked to give a simultaneous display at the 2015 London Chess Classic, but entered two of the Festival events.
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Luke McShane's finish placed him ahead of the highly rated Jan-Krzysztof Duda and David Navara, with the total number of participants being in excess of one thousand.
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Luke McShane participated in the 2019 World Team Championship, held in Astana, as a member of the English team.
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Luke McShane attended Westminster Under School and then City of London School, before entering Oxford University in 2003, where he read philosophy and mathematics at University College.
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Luke McShane continues to play in a reduced capacity and has been referred to as the world's strongest amateur.
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Luke McShane has been the chess columnist of The Spectator since October 2019.