Jones began playing chess at the age of four, competing in his first tournaments at six. In early 1997 he hit the headlines and was featured on the front page of
The Guardian newspaper when he became the youngest player in the world ever to beat an
International Master in an official tournament game. He has represented England in the
World Junior and
World Youth Championships on many occasions and since 2008 has been one of England's highest rated players. He was awarded the GM title in 2007. An active player on the tournament circuit, he secured his Grandmaster title with successful results at the 2nd
EU Individual Open Championship in
Liverpool in 2006, 2006
European Club Cup in
Fügen and
4NCL 2006/7 season. Elsewhere in Europe, he took first place at
Porto San Giorgio and
La Laguna (both 2007). During his stay in
Australasia, there were many more tournament successes, including a share of first place at the
Sydney International 2008 and creditable second places at the
Doeberl Cup 2008 and Queenstown Classic 2009. Jones shared first place with
Simon Williams at the
London Chess Classic FIDE Open 2010. In 2011, he won the
Bunratty Masters, ahead of
Nigel Short, whom he defeated in their individual encounter, and the
Commonwealth Chess Championship in
Ekurhuleni. He won the British Chess Championship in 2012. He later won the 2012/13
Hastings International Chess Congress as clear first. In December 2014, he won the Challenge Match against
Romain Édouard by 4–2; it was a six-game match held concurrently with the London Chess Classic. In 2016, Jones won the New Zealand Open in January, and the
Dubai Open in April edging out
Vladimir Akopian on tiebreak. The next year he won at Dubai for the second time, becoming the first player to do so. Jones edged out this time
Mustafa Yilmaz,
Vidit Gujrathi,
Eduardo Iturrizaga,
Ahmed Adly,
Sergei Zhigalko and
Aleksandr Rakhmanov on tiebreak score. He won the British Chess Championship a second time in 2017. In team competitions, Jones has played for England in the
Chess Olympiad, the
World Team Chess Championship, the
European Team Chess Championship and the World Youth Under 16 Chess Olympiad. At the 2019 World Team Championship in
Astana, England took the silver medal and Jones also won an individual silver playing on board four. In 2024, he won the British Chess Championship for a third time, defeating
David Howell in a playoff. Later in the year, he won the
London Chess Classic with an undefeated 5/7 score. ==Personal life==