Luke J. McShane is an English chess Grandmaster and three-time British Chess Championship runner-up in 2002, 2005, and 2006. He was born on January 7, 1984, in London, United Kingdom. McShane was acknowledged as a child prodigy in chess. He won the World Under-10 Championship in 1993 and the silver medal in the European Under-12 Championship in 1995.
He continued to show his prowess in the following years, gaining his International Master title in 1998 and becoming the youngest-ever British Grandmaster in 2000. Alongside his chess career, he also achieved strong academic performance, reading mathematics at University College, Oxford.
McShane has consistently participated in strong international tournaments throughout his career. Some of his notable performances include winning the "Young Masters" tournament in Lausanne in 2000, playing top board for England in the 35th Chess Olympiad and the 37th Chess Olympiad, and his victory at the Bunratty Masters in 2007.
From 2007, he put his professional chess career on hold to work as a trader at Goldman Sachs and then for an asset management company. Nevertheless, he continued to play in selected events, where he showed strong performances, such as the London Chess Classic and the Tal Memorial. After leaving finance in 2017, he dedicates his time to chess again.