GM Jonathan Rowson Gets London Chess Classic Wild Card Call-Up

Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013

Hello everyone,

The three-time British Champion, GM Jonathan Rowson, steps up to play in the biggest tournament of his career after being given the wild card spot into ‘The Super Sixteen’ Grandmaster Rapid at the London Chess Classic, that runs 7-15 December at the Kensington Olympia. Two spots remain to be filled for the Super Sixteen, and two players will win their way there from the FIDE Open at the Classic. It was hoped that the new World Champion, Magnus Carlsen would play in the London Chess Classic, which was the primary reason the wild card spot was devised this year for the tournament.

However, due to a heavy workload, and the need for rest after his recent title match in Chennai with Vishy Anand, Carlsen, regretfully, had to decline the spot. But an elated Rowson immediately accepted his invitation, tweeting: “Hugely grateful, very excited and suitably nervous to be 'the wild card' at the London Chess Classic. Inspired by Magnus, I'm going to prepare some endgames.”

Rowson, 36, who originally comes from Aberdeen, is the Scottish number one and was his country’s third grandmaster. In 2004-06, he won the British title – the first Scot in 58 years to do so - in three  consecutive years. He also won the 2000 Canadian Open Championship and tied for first place in the Hastings International Chess Congress in 2003/04.

Outside of chess, Jonathan has degrees spanning a range of social science disciplines from Oxford and Harvard, that led to his Doctoral research. He is also Director of The Social Brain Project at the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce), and member of DCLG (Department for Communities and Local Government) Behavioural Science Network.

He also writes a weekly chess column for the Herald newspaper in Scotland, and has authored three critically acclaimed books on chess for Gambit Publications: Understanding the Grunfeld (1998), The Seven Deadly Chess Sins (2000), and Chess for Zebras.

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British Chess Champion Jonathan Rowson's meditation technique the key to his success

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011


Hi everyone, 


Here is a very interesting article sent to us by Dr Craig M Berg. All chess players have some technique to help calm their nerves before an upcoming match. We had no clue that British Chess Champion Jonathan Rowson uses Transcendental Meditation. Quite Interesting. Read on. And, he has been doing it for 14 years. Wow.

British chess champion Jonathan Rowson credits his 14-year practice of theTranscendental Meditation technique with preparing him for life at the top of his game. The three-time UK chess champion told The Deccan Herald during a visit to Delhi that he regularly practices the Transcendental Meditation program as part of his daily routine. Born in Aberdeen, Scotland, Rowson, 33, learned the Transcendental Meditation technique in 1998 while attending Oxford University, and now says he owes his first-class degree to it. “It was by far the best thing I learned at Oxford,” he told a Scottish newspaper. “I suddenly had more energy, concentrated better, and felt warmer towards other people.”

The Grandmaster has also a degree from Harvard University and is a widely-read author and columnist.

About the game and his love for it, Mr. Rowson says, “I first learned chess when I was five. The game has a certain magical quality. I had begun to read about chess when I was young, and then by sheer providence won 250 pounds worth of chess books! I studied them voraciously and that’s when I really started to get good.”

Rowson He says he would never dream of playing a serious game of chess without meditating beforehand. “Twenty minutes later I feel calm, centered and ready to compete – but, more importantly, the technique allows me to ‘just play’ and enjoy the game without worrying about the result.”

In 1997, Rowson came in second in the European Under 20 Championship. In 1999, he won his third and final Grandmaster norm (and with it the title) in the Scottish Chess Championship. He went on to win the event again in 2001 and 2004, completing a rare double when he went on to become the 2004 British Champion. He successfully defended his British title in 2005 and again in 2006.

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From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

www.chessblog.com

Also see her personal blog at

www.chessqueen.com