Nigel Short is the first player who sent the signed confirmation for participation in King Salman World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships, which will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between the 26th and 30th December 2017.
Nigel Short (born 1 June 1965) is an English Grandmaster, chess columnist, chess coach and chess commentator. Short earned the Grandmaster title at the age of 19, and was ranked third in the world by FIDE from January 1988 to July 1989.
In 1993 he became the first English player to play a World Chess Championship match, when he qualified to play Garry Kasparov in the World Chess Championship 1993 in London (Kasparov won, 12.5 to 7.5). As of March 2017, he is the oldest player ranked among FIDE’s top 100 players and is ranked 55.
The events offer a record breaking prize fund of US$2,000,000.
