26 Facts About Tony Miles

Anthony John Miles was an English chess player and the first Englishman to earn the Grandmaster title.

Tony Miles was born on 23 April 1955 in Edgbaston, a suburb of Birmingham, and attended King Edward's School, Birmingham.

Tony Miles was married and divorced twice, and had no children.

Tony Miles learned the game of chess early in life and made good progress nationally, taking the titles of British under-14 Champion and under-21 Champion in 1968 and 1971, respectively.

In 1973, Tony Miles won the silver medal at the World Junior Chess Championship at Teesside, his first important event against international competition.

Tony Miles went on to win this prestigious title the following year in Manila, while a mathematics undergraduate of the University of Sheffield.

In 1976, Tony Miles became the first UK-born, chess grandmaster, narrowly beating Raymond Keene to the accolade.

Tony Miles had a string of good results in the late 1970s and 1980s.

Tony Miles matured into a world-class player and won games against high-calibre opponents such as former World Chess Champions Vasily Smyslov, Mikhail Tal and Boris Spassky.

Tony Miles beat Karpov again three years later in Bath in a game that was part of the BBC's Master Game series, but it was shown only by the German television network due to a BBC technicians' strike at the time of broadcast.

Tony Miles won the British Championship just once, in 1982 when the event was held in Torquay.

On 20 May 1984 in Roetgen, Tony Miles set a European record in blind simultaneous chess with 22 games ; this record was not broken until 2009.

The result was controversial, as many of Tony Miles's opponents felt they were distracted by the unusual circumstances.

Never able to qualify out of the Interzonal stages into the Candidates' series, Tony Miles eventually lost the race to become the first British Candidate when Short did so in 1985.

Tony Miles finished last in the 1988 US Championship, but continued to play there and had some good results, such as a victory in the 1990 US Masters Chess Championship.

Tony Miles was equal first at the very strong Cappelle-la-Grande Open in 1994,1995, and 1997, and caused a shock at the PCA Intel Rapid Chess Grand Prix in London in 1995, when he knocked out Vladimir Kramnik in the first round and Loek van Wely in the second.

Tony Miles entered and played at the 2001 British Championship in Scarborough, but withdrew before the final round, apparently because of ill health.

Tony Miles played in an extraordinary number of chess events during his career, including many arduous weekend tournaments.

Tony Miles's body was found at his home in Harborne, Birmingham, after a friend called on him to take him to a bridge club.

Tony Miles had suffered from diabetes and a post mortem found that this contributed to his death.

Once, in the last round of a tournament, with Tony Miles needing a draw for first place, and his opponent, Stewart Reuben, wanting a draw for a high placing, he agreed a draw without playing any moves.

Tony Miles clashed with chess authorities and with his fellow English players, particularly Keene and Short.

Tony Miles made accusations regarding payments that Keene had received from the British Chess Federation for acting as his assistant in the 1985 Interzonal tournament in Tunis.

Tony Miles became obsessed with the affair, eventually suffering a mental breakdown over it.

Tony Miles was arrested in September 1987 in Downing Street, apparently under the belief that he had to speak to then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher about the matter; he was hospitalised for two months.

Tony Miles was noted for his acerbic wit; according to Genna Sosonko, he was "a master of the laconic barb, the sarcastic remark, and he was never at a loss for words".