Guy West (born 7 September 1958) is an Australian

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

player who holds the

FIDE title FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

of International Master (IM). He is a former Australian Chess Champion. West was born in

Babinda, Queensland Babinda is a rural town and locality in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Babinda had a population of 1,253 people. Geography Babinda is located south of Cairns. The town is noted for its proximity to Queensl ...

, and moved to Melbourne at the age of 12. He became interested in chess during the '

Fischer Fischer is a German occupational surname, meaning fisherman. The name Fischer is the fourth most common German surname. The English version is Fisher. People with the surname A * Abraham Fischer (1850–1913) South African public official * A ...

boom' of the early 1970s and joined Heidelberg Chess Club, where Ian Rogers (who later became Australia's highest ranked player) was a noteworthy junior. West was first selected to represent Australia in 1978 at the World Student Chess Olympiad in Mexico City, followed by the 1978 World Junior Chess Championship in Graz, Austria. Early in his career he represented Australia in two international telechess matches, the first one being in 1977 against Russia (on the junior board) where he lost to future World Champion Garry Kasparov in 12 moves. In 1981 West spent several months based in England and won the City of London Open. In 1982 he won the Dunhill Congress in Sydney and also the Australian Lightning Championship, where players get five minutes for the whole game . West unexpectedly won the 1984/85 Australian Open Chess Championship in Ballarat, where American Grandmaster Pal Benko (of Benko Gambit fame) was top seed. He won consecutive Victorian Chess Championships in 1987, 1988 and 1989 and has held the Victorian State chess title four times in total. In 1990 West won the Parkway International tournament in Singapore and was subsequently awarded the title of International Master by the World Chess Federation ( FIDE). He also holds the title of International Master in correspondence chess, where several days are allowed for each move. He won the only

Australian Correspondence Chess Championship The Australian Correspondence Chess Championship is organised by the Correspondence Chess League of Australia (CCLA). The event was held three times before 1937, with O Ludlow winning once and F M Hallman winning twice. Regular championships have be ...

that he contested, in 1987. Perhaps his most heralded career victory was winning the 1995/96

Australian Chess Championship The Australian Chess Championship is a tournament organised by the Australian Chess Federation and held every two years. The tournament is largely restricted to Australian chess players, although it is common to allow a small number of strong overse ...

, in Sydney. He is also a three-time winner of the

Australian Masters The Australian Masters was an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia held in Victoria, Australia from 1979 to 2015. History In 1989 the International Management Group took control of the management of the tournament. Though the ...

tournament. During his career West has represented Australia at nine World

Chess Olympiad The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in 2020 an ...

s, consisting of Valletta 1980, Lucerne 1982, Dubai 1986, Thessaloniki 1988, Novi Sad 1990, Manila 1992, Moscow 1994, Elista 1998 and Istanbul 2000. His best rating performance to date was a score of 8.5/9 to win the 2010 George Trundle Masters tournament in Auckland, achieving a FIDE performance rating for the tournament of 2794. West is not a professional chess player and is currently managing director of internet company OZmium Pty Ltd.

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* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:West, Guy 1958 births Living people Australian chess players Chess International Masters