Shropshire Chess
The Official Website of the Shropshire Chess Association


NIGEL SHORT & CJ DE MOOI - SHROPSHIRE 2011

President’s Message from Francis Best
Short simul places - nine more boards available!

Download booking form    |   Programme details    |   Nigel Short simuls Feb 2011    |   Who's taking on Nigel?

Update: Due to the success in filling 30 boards, we have decided to extened it to 40 boards! More places available - first-come-first-served

World championship challenger and one of England's strongest ever chess players, Nigel Short, is coming to Shropshire on 16 October 2011 along with ECF president and presenter of TV's Eggheads, CJ de Mooi.

Shropshire players will have a chance to take on Nigel on a 30-board simul as well as enjoy his characteristic humour and insight as he talks about his chess career.

We have a great line-up of Shropshire players to take on Nigel wiht some of the county's strongest represented as well as lots of league players including some juniors. Let's see if Shropshire can be the first to take a win off the super grandmaster who got an amazing 100 per cent record in the first leg of his simul tour earlier this year.

There are plenty of spaces available for spectators on the day to help cheer on (silently) Shropshire's finest.

You can be involved from as little as £5 and plans are in place to make this the premier event of Shropshire chess this year. Don’t miss out!

NIGEL SHORT is one of England’s top chess Grandmasters, earning that title in 1984. In 1993, he earned the right to challenge Gary Kasparov for the world championship, having defeated Anatoly Karpov, Jan Timman and Boris Gelfand en route.

Describing himself as the oldest player in the world’s top 100 players, Nigel continues to entertain with his chess and commentaries, whilst still turning out first class tournament performances.

Earlier this year Nigel played a number of simuls around the country and was undefeated after 169 games and conceded only 9 draws!

Have a look at some games from his earlier tour.

And see Nigel in action at a recent Canadian simul ...

CJ DE MOOI is well known for his appearances on numerous quiz programmes, most notably Eggheads (check out YouTube!) However, he is also a pretty mean chess player, having been Mensa chess champion.

He was elected President of the English Chess Federation in October 2009 and is noted for his forthright views – particularly where fairness or justice isn’t seen to prevail. CJ is a keen runner – marathons, half marathons and 10-mile runs “for fun”.

Here's a clip from Eggheads to enjoy!



A SUPERB VENUE is the setting for the event thanks to the generosity of Wrekin Housing Trust who have agreed to the use of their excellent training suite and catering facilities for the day.

Jacob Perry, the resident chef will be offering a variety of chess-themed dishes to tempt the palate.

As this is one of the factors that has enabled us to keep the prices down, only refreshments purchased at the venue may be consumed on site and we ask all participants to support this policy.



ENJOY A SUNDAY ROAST before the simul. The main event will start at 2pm but, if there is enough interest there will be an opportunity to buy Sunday Roast beforehand during which there will be a showing of extracts from Nigel Short’s “Greatest Hits” DVDs on the restaurant’s plasma screen.

If this would be of interest to you, please indicate this on the form to allow us to plan for catering numbers. Pricing will be competitive (£5-£10) and details on this will be provided once we have had responses. A selection of hot and cold drinks and snacks will be available during the rest of the event.