David Craig Smerdon (born 17 September 1984) is an Australian chess player, economist, and author. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2009, becoming the five Australia’s chess player at that level and 35th in the history of Australian Chess to be awarded an international chess title. David is also part of the Australian team that competes in the Chess Olympiad, and it was during this competition he played a critical role in helping Australia to a bronze medal in 2014.
In 2007, he enrolled in a doctorate program in the Netherlands, where he continued his career in chess playing professionally while studying. His research work focuses on development economics and experimental economics.
In 2019, Smerdon left his position as a chess professional and moved to Oxford in the United Kingdom to work as an economist at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford.
Smerdon has several publications to his credit including The Complete Chess Swindler in 2020.