Neil McDonald (chess player)

Neil McDonald^[1] (born 21 January 1967) is an English chess grandmaster and chess writer.

Neil McDonald
Country	England
Born	(1967-01-21) 21 January 1967 (age 58) Gravesend, Kent, England
Title	Grandmaster (1996)
Peak rating	2500 (July 1996)

Chess career

As an English Chess Federation coach^[2] he has trained many of the country's strongest junior players and was Head Coach of the English Chess Federation team at the Greece World Schools Championship in 2013.^[3] He regularly escorts blind and partially sighted chess players to international World Championship events.

McDonald authored the French Defence monthly updates on chesspublishing.com from October 1999 until March 2009,^[4] 1 e4 ... updates from November 2009 until January 2010,^[5] 1 e4 ... from June 2014 until February 2015^[6] and returned to 1 e4 ... in March 2017 until January 2018.^[7]

He became an International Master in 1986 and was awarded the Grandmaster title in 1996.

McDonald obtained his FIDE Trainer qualification in 2016.^[8]

Bibliography

The Chess Press	Year	ISBN
Opening Guides: Dutch Leningrad	1997	ISBN 978-1-901259-03-2

Batsford Books	Year	ISBN
Planning (Think Like a Chess Master)	1995	ISBN 978-0-7134-7573-9
Winning With the Kalashnikov	1995	ISBN 978-0-7134-7576-0
Mastering the French (with Andrew Harley)	1997	ISBN 978-0-7134-5716-2
The King's Gambit: A Modern View	1998	ISBN 978-0-7134-8451-9
Mastering Chess Tactics	2002	ISBN 978-0-7134-8772-5
The Sveshnikov Sicilian	2003	ISBN 978-0-7134-8581-3
Mastering Checkmates	2003	ISBN 978-0-7134-8774-9
The Benko Gambit Revealed	2004	ISBN 978-0-7134-8868-5
Chess: The Art of Logical Thinking	2004	ISBN 978-0-7134-8894-4
The Sicilian Bb5 Revealed	2005	ISBN 978-0-7134-8980-4
The Art of Planning in Chess: Move By Move	2006	ISBN 978-0-7134-9025-1
Chess Success: Planning After the Opening	2007	ISBN 978-0-7134-9071-8

Everyman Chess[9]	Year	ISBN
Positional Sacrifices	1995	ISBN 978-1-85744-110-9
Modern Chess Miniatures	1995	ISBN 978-1-85744-166-6
Practical Endgame Play	1996	ISBN 978-1-85744-176-5
French Winawer	2000	ISBN 978-1-85744-276-2
Modern Defence (with Jon Speelman)	2000	ISBN 978-1-85744-281-6
Main Line Caro-Kann	2001	ISBN 978-1-85744-227-4
Concise Chess Openings	2001	ISBN 978-1-85744-297-7
Concise Chess Endings	2002	ISBN 978-1-85744-313-4
Starting Out: The English	2003	ISBN 978-1-85744-322-6
Concise Chess Middlegames	2004	ISBN 978-1-85744-356-1
Starting Out: The Dutch Defence	2005	ISBN 978-1-85744-377-6
The Masters: Rudolf Spielmann Master of Invention	2006	ISBN 978-1-85744-406-3
Starting Out: 1 e4: A reliable repertoire for the improving player	2006	ISBN 978-1-85744-416-2
Starting Out: Queen's Gambit Declined	2006	ISBN 978-1-85744-426-1
Chess Secrets: The Giants of Strategy: Learn from Kramnik, Karpov, Petrosian, Capablanca and Nimzowitsch	2007	ISBN 978-1-85744-541-1
How to Play against 1 e4	2009	ISBN 978-1-85744-586-2
Chess Secrets: The Giants of Power Play: Learn from Topalov, Geller, Bronstein, Alekhine and Morphy	2009	ISBN 978-1-85744-597-8
Starting Out: The Réti	2010	ISBN 978-1-85744-622-7
Play the Dutch: An Opening Repertoire for Black based on the Leningrad Variation	2010	ISBN 978-1-85744-641-8
The Ruy Lopez: Move by Move	2011	ISBN 978-1-85744-669-2
Break the Rules! A Modern Look at Chess Strategy	2012	ISBN 978-1-85744-673-9
King's Indian Attack: Move by Move	2014	ISBN 978-1-85744-988-4
The Catalan: Move by Move	2017	ISBN 978-1-78194-263-5
Coach Yourself	2019	ISBN 978-1-78194-512-4
Your Chess Battle Plan	2020	ISBN 978-1-78194-528-5