Michael Adams

by Bill Wall

Michael Adams was born on Nov 17, 1971 in Truro, Cornwall, England. He learned
chess from his father at the age of 6.

In November 1979, he played in his first chess tournament, the Cornwall Under-10
Championship, and won it.
In 1980, Adams was provided a chess coach, European Junior Champion Shaun
Taulbot.
In 1981, he entered the Cornwall County Under-10 Championship and won it, along
with the Under-13, Under-15, and under-18 Championships. He played in two
different events on the same day, playing simultaneously and walking between the
different rooms.

In 1986, he was the highest 13-year old ever, rated 2405.

In 1987, he was awarded the FIDE master title.

In 1987, he took the silver medal at the World Under-16 Championship, held in
Innsbruck. The event was won by Hannes Stefansson.
In 1987, at the age of 15, he played in the British Championship, won by Nigel Short,
where he gained his final International Master (IM) norm. He became the youngest
International Master (IM) in the world at the time. Adams took the best junior prize.

In 1988 he was the only winner in a 10-board satellite simultaneous exhibition with
Kasparov.
He won the 76th British Championship in 1989 at age 17, the youngest ever. The
event was played in Plymouth.
In 1989, he became at Grandmaster at 17.
In 1990, he represented England at the Novi Sad Olympiad, and score +2=4-2.

In 1991, he co-wrote with his father, Bill Adams, Development of a Grandmaster.

In 1993, he tied for 1st place with Vishy Anand in the Groningen Interzonal to
determine the challengers for the 1995 PCA World Chess Championship.
In 1994-95, he beat Sergei Tiviakov in the quarter finals, but lost to Anand in the
semi-finals.

In 1995, he won the British Rapidplay Championship.

In 1996, he lost to Boris Gelfand in the first round of the Candidates matches for the
1996 FIDE World Chess Championship.
In 1996, he won the British Rapidplay Championship.
In 1996, he wrote Chess in the Fast Lane.

In 1997, he tied for 1st in the British Championship with Matthew Sadler. The event
was played in Hove, England.
In 1997 he lost to Anand in the semi-finals of the 1997-1998 FIDE World Chess
Championship.
In 1998 he had an Elo rating of 2715 and was the 5th strongest player in the world.
In 1999, he won the British Rapidplay Championship.

In 1999, he reached the semi-finals in the 1999 FIDE World Chess Championshiop
before losing to Vladimir Akopian.
In 2000, he reached the semi-finals in the 2000 FIDE World Chess Championship before
losing to Anand.
In the 2002 FIDE World Championship, he won his first three rounds before losing to
Peter Svidler.

In 2002 he was rated 2757 and was the 4th strongest player in the world (behind
Kasparov, Kramnik, and Anand). Three times he has reached the semi-finals of the
FIDE World Chess Championship (1997, 1999, 2000).
In 2004, he reached the finals in the World Chess Championship, losing to Rustam
Kasimdzhanov in the tie-break games.

In the 2005 FIDE World Chess Championship, he finished 6th-7th.

In June, 2005, while ranked 7 in the world, he lost a chess match with the HYDRA
chess program, losing 5 games and drawing one game.
In May-June 2007, Adams lost to Alexey Shirov in the Candidates Tournament to
qualify for the 2007 FIDE World Chess Championship.
On the July 2007 FIDE rating list, he is #15 in the world with an Elo rating of 2724.

In July 2007, he married the actress Tara MacGowran.

In August 2007, he won the 5th Howard Staunton Memorial Tournament, held in
London.

In 2008, he won the 2nd Ruy Lopez Masters tournament in Merida, Spain.
In 2008, he won the 6th Howard Staunton Memorial Tournament. His highest rating is
2755 (July 2000).
In 2010, he won a strong open tournament in Gibralter.
In 2010, he won the British Championship, held in Canterbury with an undefeated
score of 9.5 out of 11.

In 2011, he won the British Championship, held in Sheffield.

In July 2011, he tied for 1st place with Gata Kamsky at the 39th World Open in
Philadelphia, but lost in a final Armageddon game.

In September 2011, he got knocked out of the World Cup by Peter Heine Nielsen.
In July-August 2013, at the Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting, he had a
performance rating of 2925, winning the event with 5 wins and 4 draws.

His peak Elo rating was 2761 in September 2013. He is rated 2738 as of January 2015.

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