Paul Motwani is a third grade teacher at St. John’s International School and a chess Grandmaster, no less.

St. John’s International School third grade teacher is chess great

Paul Motwani, also known as “Mr. Mo”, is a third grade teacher at St. John’s International School. He is also a chess Grandmaster, the highest title a chess player can attain.  Of Scottish/Indian descent, Motwani was Scotland’s first chess Grandmaster. Growing up in Dundee, he became World Cadet (Under 17) Champion in 1978, and won the first of his seven Scottish Championship titles that year.


Both his parents and three siblings are doctors, but Paul did not follow that route. He became a high school mathematics teacher in Dundee, after studying mathematics and physics at the University of Dundee. After taking a break from teaching, he started teaching at St. John’s International School in 2005.


Motwani has been a regular member of the Scottish Olympiad team for the last 21 years. Motwani is a regular contributor to Scottish Chess (the magazine of Chess Scotland), The Scotsman (for whom he writes a bi-weekly column) and has written for many other chess publications. His writings are known for his use of acronyms to remember key concepts and some of the non-chess 'general puzzle' content.


It was actually his younger brother Joe who taught him how to play chess at the age of eleven. Joe remembers: “One day at school, I saw these two boys who were completely absorbed by this board game, which turned out to be chess. I taught myself the moves, but naturally could not play on my own, so I recruited Paul to play with me. Our Sunday games became a tradition.”   

For chess, practice really makes perfect.

According to Paul, “Joe is actually the clever one in the family, but I guess I was keener and worked harder to become a good chess player.” 

Paul joined the chess club at school. The teacher who ran the chess club, Paul Fitzpatrick, vividly remembers Paul. “He joined the chess club a week late, so I let him play a game to see how he would do. Within ten minutes, he came to me and said “Please sir, I won.” I let him play more and more difficult opponents but he just kept on winning. With the school chess club he was our secret weapon and played boys much older than himself.”


When asked what he likes about the games of chess, Paul responds: ”There are so many possibilities in the game. The different combinations to power the pieces can be compared to commanding an army.

Paul Motwani, aka