Happy Birthday GM Christopher Geoffrey Ward (26-iii-1968)

Here is his Wikipedia entry

From Chessgames.com :

“Grandmaster and British Chess Champion in 1996. He is the author of several chess books, among them Winning With the Sicilian Dragon 2 (2001), Winning with the Dragon (2003) and The Controversial Samisch King’s Indian (2004).”

Chris plays Jiang Chuan Ye at the 1997 England - China match — Chris plays Jiang Chuan Ye at the 1997 England – China match

Here are his games

Chris Ward commentating during the Hastings Congress

Chris earned his IM title in 1990 and his GM title in 1996. According to Chessbase and Felice his peak rating was 2531 in July 2003 when he was 35.

Chris is President of the English Primary Schools Chess Association (EPSCA), Chris is the Chief Coach of the Kent Junior Chess Association (KJCA). Chris plays for KJCA Kings in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL).

Chris with the British Championship Trophy from 1996 (Nottingham)

[Event "BCF-ch 83rd"] [Site "Nottingham"] [Date "1996.??.??"] [Round "6"] [White "Ward, Christopher"] [Black "Summerscale, Aaron"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D10"] [WhiteElo "2460"] [BlackElo "2500"] [Annotator "British Chess News"] [PlyCount "35"] [EventDate "1996.08.??"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [SourceTitle "CBM 054 Extra"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "1996.11.01"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "1996.11.01"] [SourceQuality "1"] {[%evp 0,35,19,31,19,-16,26,44,57,1,11,9,1,0,15,-55,-61,-68,-64,-68,-50,-160, 18,45,12,-52,40,-117,-37,-55,-41,-41,98,-126,483,234,29997,29998]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 dxc4 4. e4 b5 5. a4 b4 6. Nb1 Ba6 7. Nf3 (7. Qc2 $142 Nf6 8. Nd2 Qxd4 9. Ngf3 b3 10. Nxd4 bxc2 11. f3 c3 12. bxc3 Bxf1 13. Kxf1 $14) 7... Nf6 8. e5 Nd5 9. Ng5 (9. e6 f6 10. Be2) 9... h6 $146 10. Qh5 {[#]} hxg5 $2 (10... g6 $142 11. Qh3 e6 12. Ne4 $17) 11. Qxh8 Nf4 12. Be3 (12. Bxf4 gxf4 13. Nd2 Qxd4 14. O-O-O Nd7 $13) 12... Qd5 $17 13. f3 Ne6 14. Nd2 Nxd4 15. O-O-O c3 16. Nc4 Bxc4 $2 17. Rxd4 (17. Bxc4 $142 Qxe5 18. Bxd4 $18) 17... Qxe5 $4 18. Qxf8+ {[#] } 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

“Not sure about best, but 18.Qxf8+ against Summerscale en route to winning the 1996 British Championship will be forever ingrained in my mind. Sorry, Aaron!”
– GM Chris Ward (when asked for his best move)

Source: Chess Monthly 2017 December

The Queen's Gambit Accepted — The Queen’s Gambit Accepted

It's Your Move: Improvers — It’s Your Move: Improvers

Unusual Queen's Gambit Declined — Unusual Queen’s Gambit Declined

It's Your Move: Tough Puzzles — It’s Your Move: Tough Puzzles

The Controversial Samisch King's Indian — The Controversial Samisch King’s Indian

Play the Queen's Gambit — Play the Queen’s Gambit

Starting Out: Chess Tactics and Checkmates

We focus on the British Chess Scene Past & Present !