David Howell (chess player)
British chess player
David Wei Liang Howell (born 14 November 1990) is an English chess grandmaster and commentator. A three-time British champion (2009, 2013 and 2014), he is also the second-youngest British person to achieve the title of Grandmaster, earned at the age of 16.
Personal life
Howell was born in Eastbourne to Angeline Liang and Martin Howell. He has a younger sister. He lives in Oslo, Norway.
Career
1998–2007: Chess prodigy to Grandmaster
Howell has been playing chess since the age of five years and eight months, following his father's purchase of a second-hand chess set at a jumble sale. He quickly learned to defeat his father and soon came to the attention of the Sussex Junior Chess Association, where he received tuition from a number of established county players. He progressed rapidly and became the British champion in the age categories Under 8, Under 9 and Under 10.
In August 1999, Howell became famous internationally when he broke the world record for the youngest player to have defeated a Grandmaster in an official game. Aged eight, he defeated John Nunn in a blitz game at the Mind Sports Olympiad.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1119406. VIAF identifies the subject as 6424170529776520220007. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1990, 2009, 2013 and 2014.
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This entry incorporates text from “David Howell (chess player)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.