Below is just a few of the players England has produced. It's not a statistical resume, if you're not a chess fan it will mean little to you, if you are then you know about these guys already. They can be found at Chessgames, an anchor study site for players and well informed commenters. Even Grandmasters Englishman Nigel Short and Hungarian Susan Polgar have commented there.
John Nunn ~ A three-time chess problem solving world champion and author of best selling books on openings and endgames.
Thomas Wilson Barnes ~The Barnes Opening was named after him as was the Barnes Defence. He has the best ever record against American genius Paul Morphy (winning 8 and losing 19) in his visit to England in 1858.
Howard Staunton (find him on 'Did You Know ?'..it will make you explore my site a while ;)
Amos Burn ~Yorkshireman from Hull, a very strong player, won notable events, and Invented the 'Burn variation' of the French Defence.
Joseph Henry Blackburne ~Nicknamed 'The Black Death' because of his success with the black pieces, he was a winner of many notable tournaments.
John Owen ~A Vicar! Owen's Defence is named after him. Another strong player. He won a game against the great Paul Murphy when he came here in 1858 when he toured Europe. In 1862 he came 3rd in a prestigious tournament in London, the world's first round-robin (players all played each other) match, ahead of future world champion Austrian born Jew, Wilhelm Steinitz, who came 6th. Notably Thomas Wilson Barnes came 7th, Jospeph Henry Blackburne 9th out of 14 players.
Henry Bird ~ Known for the famous Bird's Opening, still played today, he was 'recoginzed as an amateur of master strength'. He beat nearly all the best players of his era and wrote many notable chess books.
Anthony Miles - England's first Grandmaster, a true great. He inspired a generation of English talent to defeat Russian opponents and challenge the Soviet Union for world supremacy. In a team event Miles beat the world champion Russian Anatoly Karpov, thus giving England a credible draw:
"The game, along with England's 4-4 draw in the match, created a sensation and was a defining moment in England's acceptance as a top chess country."
Michael Adams, nicknamed "The Spider" due to his playing style. He won the British Championship in 1989 at the age of 17, and has since won a host of major events in his career. He has also won the Howard Staunton Memorial event, in honour of the English Great Howard Staunton. His most Important games was having a shot at the FIDE World Championship. His result placings were:
Nigel Short ~The worlds youngest International master at 14 and worlds youngest grandmaster at 19 years of age, has won many events, which eventually led him to a world championship match with arguably the greatest chess player ever in Garry Kasparov. a match he lost 12½ to 7½. The score reflecting 1 win for Short, 13 draws and 6 wins for Kasparov. All 20 games here. Short has written chess columns and book reviews for a lot of the major tabloids. He was also awarded the MBE.
England vs America
From 1896 to 1911 the Anglo-American Cable Match was a highlight on the chess calendars of Great Britain and the United States, attracting some of the best players from both nations. Thirteen matches in all were played, and to say the results were even is an understatement: each side won 6 matches (with one match drawn) and each side scored exactly 64 points in the 13 matches. This was a competitive and hard-fought series all the way, with very few short draws or quick victories. When Great Britain accomplished this feat in 1909-1911, the series ended.
[I call it England vs America as all are born in England, with the exception of Harry H. Holmes who was born in New Hampshire, America, but to English Immigrants, and George Alan Thomas who was born in Turkey. His mother was Edith Thomas was also a chess player, and who won the Ladies Hastings International Chess Tournament in 1895 in conjunction to the men's event that year. The first Hastings world chess tournament held there. She was the daughter of Morgan Hugh Foster. She was also Lady Thomas of the Manor of Marston in Bedfordshire in England. George was also Sir George, the 6th Baronet of Yapton, Sussex in England.]