Stean Michael Francis (04.09.1953)

English Grandmaster (1977). Author and journalist.

His first success was his participation in the London Junior (Boys) Championship at the age of 14. Later in 1969, he won the British Junior Championship. In 1974, he tied for the British Championship with another seven players but finished in fourth place after a play-off.

Best results: won or shared a victory in Capetown 1976, Vrsac 1979, Smederevska Palanka 1980 and Beer Sheva 1982. Showed also good results at Montilla 1976 and 1977 where he tied for the second place and performed the third accordingly, at Bor 1977 where he was equal second, Beer Sheba 1978 with the third position, Las Palmas 1978 equal fourth, at Oslo in 1985 where he tied for the fourth place.

As a member of the national team, he played in five Olympiads between 1974 and 1983; the most successive participation was in 1976 when he won a gold medal for the best result at board 4; in the Olympiad of 1982, he was awarded the Brilliancy Prize for his game against Walter Browne. Strong in the opening theory, Stean was twice the second of Viktor Korchnoi, providing him help with his extensive knowledge in his sphere.

The author of Sicilian Najdorf (1976), and Simple Chess (1978). While he began to play chess less and devoted himself to his financial career, he still follows all the chess events and is the editor of the chess column of the Observer.