Michael John Basman (16 March 1946 – 26 October 2022) was an English chess player and author. He was awarded the title of International Master in 1980.

Once described by Murray Chandler as "the most bizarre player in the universe", Basman was well known for employing unorthodox openings. Among these were the following:

Basman used the Grob to defeat John Nunn in 1978 and the Borg Defence to defeat Jon Speelman in 1980.

Possibly his greatest tournament success was when he tied for first place in the British Chess Championship of 1973, although he lost the play-off match with William Hartston.

During the 1974–75 Hastings tournament, Basman (playing Black) defeated the Swedish grandmaster Ulf Andersson in a match that became known as the "Immortal Waiting Game". After the twelfth move, Basman shuffled his bishop, king, and queen back and forth for twelve moves, not changing his position at all. Andersson overextended himself, and Basman won.

In 1975, England contested a match over ten boards against France in Luton. Basman played board one, ahead of John Nunn and Jon Speelman.

In 1996, Basman created the UK Chess Challenge, a tournament for juniors of all standards and ages progressing over four stages, now advertised as the biggest chess tournament in the world. Raymond Keene once wrote, referring to Basman's promotion of youth chess, "Michael Basman is in many ways the most important person in British chess."

Basman was born in St Pancras, London, on 16 March 1946, the third of four children of John Onik Basman, an Armenian immigrant, and his English wife, Bridgette Bettina Basman, née Marks. John Basman had shortened the family name from Basmadjian after arriving in England. The family knew the singer Cleo Laine, who worked as a babysitter for the young Michael.