Simon Webb (10 June 1949 – 14 March 2005) was a British
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 and writer who held the
chess titles
A chess title is a title regulated by a chess governing body and bestowed upon players based on their performance and rank. Such titles are usually granted for life. The international chess governing body FIDE grants several titles, the most pres ...
Correspondence Chess Grandmaster International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster is a correspondence chess title created by FIDE in 1953, second only to that of world correspondence champion. Currently, this title is awarded by the International Correspondence Chess Federation (IC ...
.
Born in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, he was joint British under-18 champion in 1966, and fourth in the European Junior Championship in 1969. Webb was briefly a professional player in the late 1970s, participated in a number of strong tournaments, and met some strong players, including a 17-year-old
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by ...
at the 1980 European Team Championship (Webb lost). At one event, he was assigned a lady translator. Webb married her and took her to England. He was joint second in the 1975 British Championship behind William Hartston. Perhaps his best tournament result was joint first with Liuben Spassov at Hamburg 1977, ahead of
István Csom
István Csom (2 June 1940 – 28 July 2021) was a Hungarian chess player who held the FIDE titles of Grandmaster and International Arbiter. FIDE awarded him the International Master title in 1967 and the Grandmaster title in 1973. He was Hung ...
and
Milan Matulović
Milan Matulović (10 June 1935 – 9 October 2013) was a chess grandmaster who was the second or third strongest Yugoslav player for much of the 1960s and 1970s behind Svetozar Gligorić and possibly Borislav Ivkov. He was primarily active befor ...
. He was famous for his ability to save or even win from hopelessly lost positions, which earned him the nickname "
Houdini
Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American escape artist, magic man, and stunt performer, noted for his escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to his spiritual master, French magician R ...
International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster is a correspondence chess title created by FIDE in 1953, second only to that of world correspondence champion. Currently, this title is awarded by the International Correspondence Chess Federation (IC ...
title in 1983 and scored a number of impressive results. In the 14th World Correspondence Chess Championship, won by
Tõnu Õim
Tõnu Õim (born 16 June 1941) is an Estonian grandmaster of correspondence chess, most famous for being the first to have won the ICCF World Championship twice, in 1983 and 1999. In 1991 he won the Axelson Memorial.ICCF Elo rating was 2609.
Webb was perhaps best known for his humorous book on practical tournament play, ''Chess for Tigers'' (Oxford University Press, 1978, ). As well as his chess achievements, he also represented England at
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
, partnered by his brother Roger.
In the 1980s, Webb moved to Sweden. Since the late 1990s, he played in the Swedish team championship.
On 14 March 2005, he was fatally stabbed in the family hallway by his 25-year-old son, Dennis. Dennis subsequently drove into a wall at some 130 km/hour but survived with a broken nose.