Simon Williams (chess player)

Simon Kim Williams (born 30 November 1979) is an English chess grandmaster and author who is best known under the pseudonym and Chess Server Nickname "GingerGM".

Simon Williams
Williams at the London Chess Classic 2016.
Full nameSimon Kim Williams
CountryEngland
Born (1979-11-30) 30 November 1979
Surrey, England
TitleGrandmaster (2008)
FIDE rating2467 (October 2023)
Peak rating2550 (November 2009)

Early career

In 1993, he received his first international FIDE rating of 2255. During the same year he finished seventh in the European Under-14 Championship.[1] Williams regularly participated in youth tournaments throughout the 1990s, finishing seventh in the 1997 European Under-20 Championship[2] and finishing second in the Smith and Williamson Young Masters in 1998.[3]

Williams vs. Simons, Scarborough 1999
abcdefgh
8
e8 black king
e7 black knight
e6 white knight
a5 white rook
f5 black pawn
a4 white pawn
f4 white pawn
a3 black rook
g3 white pawn
h3 white king
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
abcdefgh
Final position, with Black to move

Williams competed in the 1999 British Chess Championship, held in Scarborough and won by Julian Hodgson. By the time of the tournament's later rounds, Williams had been eliminated from contention for the championship. He, therefore, chose to play the Hammerschlag (1.f3 e5 2.Kf2) in a game against Martin Simons, a very unusual and "inferior" opening which needlessly exposes White's king to immediate attack. Williams won the game, and it has since been noted as successful use of a disadvantageous opening.[4] Playing an intentionally disadvantageous opening could be considered showboating and fall under rules of poor sportsmanship, especially in a round-robin tournament.

Following White's initial self-imposed handicap, Black established a straightforward pawn centre. White then equalized the position over the next several moves. On the fourteenth move, White activated his bishop pair; however, the players traded all of their bishops on the sixteenth and seventeenth moves. On the thirtieth move, the players traded queens. In the final position, White was up two pawns, with multiple immediate checking threats.

Hammerschlag (ECO A00)
1.f3 e5 2.Kf2 d5 3.e3 Nf6 4.d4 Nc6 5.Bb5 Bd6 6.Ne2 0-0 7.Re1 e4 8.Ng3 h5 9.f4 Bg4 10.Be2 g6 11.Kg1 Qe7 12.a3 b5 13.b3 Qe6 14.Bd2 Ne7 15.Bb4 a5 16.Bxd6 Qxd6 17.Bxg4 Nxg4 18.c4 bxc4 19.bxc4 c5 20.Nc3 h4 21.Qxg4 hxg3 22.cxd5 gxh2+ 23.Kxh2 f5 24.dxc5 Qxc5 25.Qg5 Kf7 26.Rac1 Rh8+ 27.Kg1 Rh5 28.Nxe4 Qb6 29.Rc6 Qxc6 30.dxc6 Rxg5 31.Nxg5+ Ke8 32.e4 Rc8 33.exf5 gxf5 34.Re5 Rxc6 35.Rxa5 Rc4 36.g3 Rc3 37.Kg2 Rc2+ 38.Kh3 Rc3 39.a4 Ra3 40.Ne6 1–0 (Resignation)[4][5]

Grandmaster

He became a Grandmaster in 2008, achieving the final norm at the Hastings International Chess Congress 2005/2006 and the 2500+ rating at Hastings 2007/2008.[6] His peak rating so far is 2550, achieved in November 2009. In 2009, he organised the Big Slick International in Purley, London, which comprised an invitational GM tournament and FIDE Rated Open.

National performance

In 2003, he finished seventh at the British Chess Championship.[7] Williams later improved his performance in the tournament, finishing equal second in 2009.[8]

International performance

In 2009, Williams finished equal first at the Southend Chess Congress all-play-all tournament.[9]

He was joint winner with Gawain Jones of the London Chess Classic FIDE Rated Open in December 2010, with a rating performance of 2690.

Blitz and rapidplay

In 2005, he won the British Blitz Championship.

Chess commentary

Williams works as a chess commentator at tournaments and through online streaming. Most notably, he has provided official commentary at the Gibraltar Chess Festival alongside Irina Krush, Elisabeth Pähtz in 2016 and Jovanka Houska in 2017 and 2018. He has covered a number of other tournaments for ChessBase and Chess.com. Williams also maintains a YouTube channel where he uploads blitz chess games with commentary as well as analysis of his previous games. He has also given commentary on the Chess.com Isle of Man tournament.

Chess publication company

In 2008, he founded a chess media publishing company called "GingerGM" with International Master Simon Ansell. The company produces print books, ebooks and DVDs.

Works

Books
  • Williams, Simon (2003). Play The Classical Dutch. Gambit Publications. ISBN 978-1-901983-88-3.
  • Williams, Simon (2004). Improve Your Attacking Chess. Gambit Publications. ISBN 978-1-904600-09-1.
  • Williams, Simon (2008). How To Crush Your Chess Opponents. Gambit Publications. ISBN 978-1-904600-99-2.
  • Williams, Simon (2009). The New Sicilian Dragon. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-615-9.
  • Williams, Simon (2010). How To Win At Chess - Quickly!. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-631-9.
  • Palliser, Richard; Williams, Simon; Vigus, James (2010). Dangerous Weapons: The Dutch. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-624-1.
  • Williams, Simon (2011). Attacking Chess: The French: A Dynamic Repertoire for Black. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1857446463.
  • Williams, Simon (2011). SOS – Secrets of Opening Surprises 13 – Chapter 3 – The Williams Anti-Grunfeld Variation. New in Chess. ISBN 978-90-5691-341-0.
  • Williams, Simon (2011). SOS – Secrets of Opening Surprises 14 – Chapter 4 – Kings Gambit: Tartakower Variation. New In Chess. ISBN 978-90-5691-366-3.
  • Williams, Simon (2013). Killer Dutch - The Book. GingerGM and EPlus Books. ISBN 978-1-927179-15-4.
  • Williams, Simon (2015). The Killer Dutch. Everyman Chess. ISBN 9781781942420.

DVDs

Checkmate Show

In 2017, Williams filmed a show named Checkmate. It followed a tournament with some notable competitors, Namely Richard Rapport, Ju Wenjun, Arkadij Naiditsch, and Nigel Short.

References
  1. "European Under-14 Championship Results". 365chess.com.
  2. "European Under-20 Championship Results". 365chess.com.
  3. "Smith and Williamson Young Masters Results". 365chess.com.
  4. Dunnington, Angus (2000). Winning Unorthodox Openings. Everyman Chess. pp. 136–141. ISBN 9781857442854.
  5. "Simon Kim Williams vs. Martin Simons". chessgames.com.
  6. "Hastings 2007/08 – a Grandmaster is Born". ChessBase. 5 January 2008. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
  7. "2003 British Chess Championship Results". 365chess.com.
  8. Saunders, John. "2009 British Chess Championship Results". British Chess Game Archive.
  9. "Southend Chess Club | Easter Congress | 2009 Jack Speigel Memorial". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
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