Format
WW
Watson, William N
GM🇬🇧FIDE 400157· Male· England· Born in 1962
Follow William N WatsonTrack his monthly FIDE ratings, games, tournaments and more.
William N Watson, a 64-year-old English Grandmaster, is rated 2468 and ranked 19th among English players, and in the top 1% worldwide. He plays occasionally (4 games in the last 12 months) and had 2 career breaks: 177 months (2002–2017) and 38 months (2019–2022, COVID-19 included). Recent appearance: 2. Bundesliga Sued 2025-2026 Maerz 2026. Also played 1 blitz event (including 2025 XTX Markets London Chess Classic Blitz 5) recently. His peak of 2527 was reached at age 39 (Jan 2001, World #332 at the time).
Awarded GM in 2001 (age 39).
Current rating
2468
Standard
Rpd2492·Blz2421
All-time high
2527
−59 pts below
Jan 2001 · age 39
Jan 2001 · age 39
Activity
4
games / yr avg.
4 past 12 mo
classical only
Occasional
classical only
Occasional
Signature stat
#19
#19 · English players · of 2,574
Career timeline
15 entries2025
10th 60-65 player worldwide
at age 63 · rated 2474
Jul 2025
2022
Peak English rank: #10
at age 60 · rated 2497
Jun 2022
18th 55-60 player worldwide
at age 60 · rated 2497
Jun 2022
2019
Inactive for 38 months
paused at 2490 → returned at 2497
Mar 2019
2017
38th 50-55 player worldwide
at age 55 · rated 2494
Dec 2017
Re-crossed 2500
at age 55
May 2017
Standard rating history
Peak
FIDE title
Threshold
First rated
Inactive period
COVID-19
Activity & highlights
Evolution
-6
2474 → 2468
Tournaments
3
4 games
Score
1.5/ 437.5%
1W1D2L
Top 2 wins
Top 2 losses
Last 12 months — tournaments
3 events| Event | Date | Score | Rank | Perf | Δ Elo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | Mar 2026 | 0.5/1 | #64 | 2508 | +0.6 |
Team | Feb 2026 | 1/1 | #70 | 3148 | +3.4 |
Team | Dec 2025 | 0/2 | #98 | 1691 | -9.5 |
Rankings
/
England
#19
out of 3,855 players
Europe
#510
in continent
World
#844
out of 400,000+
National ranking
Europe & World
Europe
World
England
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