From Bus Driver to International Chess Champion – Jason Drives to Victory!

A popular Bus Driver for Market Harborough bus operator Stagecoach Midlands has hit the big time after winning a major international chess championship.

Jason Madden won the World Amateur Chess Championships for seniors (over 50) in Crete after taking on competitors from all over the world, including from Germany, Canada, USA, Hungary, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the UK. He won his first three games and remained unbeaten throughout nine rounds of the tournament, over a grueling 10 days of competition, to win outright.

Earlier this year, he won the British Championships, after winning five of his six matches, and drawing the other.

At the tournament, he was supported by his wife, Wendy, and says that he has been “overwhelmed” by the messages of support from colleagues at the bus operator.

He has now donated some chess equipment and books to Stagecoach Midlands, and has taught other Bus Drivers to play, saying that there are now several good chess players driving local buses.

Jason said: “I was taught how to play in 1975 by my uncle, Michael, when I was seven.
I played chess at school in the seventies and eighties but never thought I was really any good. In 1996 my wife Wendy encouraged me to join the local chess club where I've played on and off for about 30 years. There are tournaments regularly in the UK and I've previously won at various places such as the Isle of Man, Scarborough, Birmingham and Torquay, but to win both the British and World Amateur Championships in the same year is just beyond what I ever thought would be possible!

“Everyone at Stagecoach has been so supportive, and it has been wonderful to get some many lovely messages from around the team.”