Canadian Chess Biographies

More biographies

Index - S

• Saint-Maurice, Charles-Ephrem
• Samsonkin, Artem
• Sanderson, Edward
• Sarosy, Zoltan
• Sarwer, Jeff
• Sarwer, Julia
• Sawyer, James
• Sawyer, Joseph
• Schaeffer, Jonathan
• Schleifer, Michael
• Schleinich, John
• Schull, Ludolph
• Schulman, Mark
• Selick, Paul
• Seymour, Harold
• Shaw, Joseph
• Short, Robert
• Siemms, Ross
• Siklos, Sandor (Alex)
• Sim, Malcolm
• Simon, Paul
• Smith, Hazel
• Smith, Magnus
• Smith, Stephen
• Smolij, Josef
• Southam, Todd
• Spinath, Paul
• Spraggett, Grant
• Spraggett, Kevin
• Starr, Nava
• Stevens, Christian
• Stoll, Drew
• Stone, Raymond
• Stringer, Lynn
• Stubbs, Charles
• Suttles, Duncan
• Sviridovitch, Alina
• Swales, David

Charles-Ephrem Saint-Maurice

Artem Samsonkin

Photo: copyright 2008 by the photographer David Cohen.

• 2010 Selected Canada's Olympiad National Team
• 2008 Canadian Junior Champion
• 2007 1st place, Canadian Championship
• 2007 International Master
• 2007 Arrived Canada from Belarus
• 2004 Belarus Under 16 Champion
• 2001 1st place, Under 2200 (Section B), Tenkes Kupa, Hungary

Edward Sanderson

• Canadian Champion (1876, 1882)

Zoltan Sarosy

Photo: 1952 Toronto Championship.

• Correspondence International Master 1988
• Canadian Correspondence Champion (1967, 1972, 1981)
• 1st place, Master Candidates Tournament, Diosgyor, Hungary 1943
• Won Chess Club tournaments in different cities in Hungary: Nagykanizsa (Club Ch) 1929; Pecs (Club Ch) 1932; Budapest 1934
• Invented the move order: 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 g6 5. d4
• Reached age 100 in 2006 while still playing chess by e-mail; in 2007, became longest lived Canadian chess player ever
• Canadian Chess Hall of Fame 2006

Game with Zoltan Sarosy's favourite move:

Leon Kempen - Zoltan Sarosy
Pacific Area Team Tournament 4, Australia - Canada, Board 3, Correspondence, ICCF, 1999

Contributors: J. Ken MacDonald; family of Frank Anderson, John Donaldson, Zoltan Sarosy (photo).

Jeff Sarwer

• 3rd place, European Poker Tour, Vilamoura, Portugal 2009; won 156,170 Euros
• World Under-10 Champion 1986
• U.S. National Elementary Champion, Primary Section, Individual 1986

Julia Sarwer

• Top female, World Under-10 Championship 1986

James Sawyer

Joseph Sawyer

• Canadian Champion 1908

Jonathan Schaeffer

Photo: Chess Canada 1974.06.

• Vice-Provost and Associate Vice-President, University of Alberta
• Professor, Computing Science, University of Alberta
• Ph.D., Computer Science, University of Waterloo, 1986
• Programmer of Sun Phoenix (also Prodigy, Phoenix), a computer chess program which competed in the North American Computer Championships (1981, 1984-87) and World Computer Championships (1983, 1986)
• 2nd place North American Computer Championship 1987 for Sun Phoenix
• 1st place World Computer Championship 1986 for Sun Phoenix
• Wrote checkers program CHINOOK, the World Man-Machine Checkers Champion, and the first computer program to win a human world championship in any game

Source: University of Alberta.

Michael Schleifer

Photo: Dutton Chess Club, Toronto. Copyright Mark S. Dutton, 2000.

• 2007 Toronto Open Champion
• 2002 1st, Eastern Ontario Open Championship
• 2001 1st, Eastern Ontario Open Championship
• 2001 2nd, Wilbert Paige Memorial, Philadelphia, PA, USA
• 2000 1st, Ottawa Open Championship
• 2000 1st, Toronto Open Championship
• 1999 Pan-Am Open Champion
• 1999 Awarded International Master title for 2/3 score in 1999 Canadian Championship
• 1999 2nd, Canadian Championship; 6/9 (+5 =2 -2)
• 1999 1st, Toronto Open Championship
• 1997-8 1st, Eastern Ontario Chess Association Grand Prix
• 1998 Ottawa Open Champion
• 1997 Awarded FIDE Master title
• 1997 1st, Eastern Ontario Open Championship
• 1997 1st, Ottawa Open Championship
• 1997 Ontario Open Champion
• 1996 1st, Eastern Ontario Open Championship
• 1994 Canadian Active Champion
• 1994 1st, Ottawa Open [2] Championship
• 1994 1st, Ottawa Open [1] Championship
• 1993 Ottawa Open Champion
• 1993 Eastern Ontario Open Champion
• 1992 1st, Ontario Open Championship
• 1992 1st, Toronto Open Championship
• 1981-2 Ontario Under-16 Champion; 5/5

John Schleinich

• International Arbiter 1977

Ludolph Schull

• 2nd place Canadian Championship 1881

Mark Schulman

• Represented Canada at Olympiad 1968

Paul Selick

Photo: Chess Canada 1972.07-08.

• Mathematics professor, University of Toronto (1984-)
• Instructor, Princeton University, MIT, University of Western Ontario (1977-1984)
• Ph.D. in mathematics, Princeton University 1977
• From Saint John, New Brunswick
• Won Maritime Championships at ages 12,14,15,16
• Played Canadian Championship 1972 (6th)
• Canadian Go Champion (1978, 1981); represented Canada at 1st, 4th World Amateur Go Championships
• Duplicate Bridge Life Master
• Enjoys playing strategy games

Here is Paul Selick's choice for his best published game:

Bruce Amos - Paul Selick
Canadian Championship, Toronto, Ontario, Round 7, 1972

Contributor: Paul Selick (biography, game selection)

Harold Seymour

• Played Canadian Championship 1932

Joseph Shaw

• Canadian Champion 1881
• Organized first Canadian Correspondence Championship 1878-80 (first round-robin)

Robert Short

• Canadian Champion 1890
• Played Canadian Championship 1887, 1894, 1899, 1910 (3rd), 1922

Ross Siemms

Photo: 1952 Toronto Championship.

• Represented Canada at Olympiad 1958
• Represented Canada at World Junior Championship 1953
• First place U.S. Junior Championship 1950
• U.S. Junior Open Champion 1954
• 2nd place Canadian Correspondence Championship 1994

Source (photo): family of Frank Anderson.

Sandor (Alex) Siklos

• Correspondence International Master 1968
• Canadian Correspondence Champion 1971
• 1st place, 8th World Correspondence Championship semi-final
• First Canadian to participate in the finals of the World Correspondence Championship (8th ICCF World Championship 1975-8)

Here is a victory by Alex Siklos in the World Correspondence Championship over the reigning World Champion:

Yakov Estrin - Alex Siklos
8th World Correspondence Championship Finals, Correspondence, 1975-1981

Contributor: J. Ken MacDonald (game selection)

Malcolm Sim

Photo: 1951 Ontario Championship. Thanks to family of Frank Anderson, John Donaldson.

• Chess columnist, chess editor Toronto Telegram 1922-56
• International Arbiter 1951
• Canadian Correspondence Champion 1918
• Toronto Champion (1915, 1924)
• Chess problem composer
• Canadian Chess Hall of Fame 2001

Sources: Toronto Telegram; En Passant 100, 1990.02, p.19.

Paul Simon

Photo: copyright 2005 by Paul Simon.

• Wrote "Let's Play Chess" column, Brantford Expositor (1983-91)
• Author of 7 books and manuals for teaching chess in school
• Commentator, Canadian Closed Championship 1994
• Brantford, Ontario: Champion; Speed Champion 5 consecutive times; highest ranked for over 30 years
• Played 219 games in simultaneous exhibition
• Played 6 games blindfold simultaneously
• Winning streak of 481 games

Contributor (biography, photo): Paul Simon.

Hazel Smith

Photo: copyright 2005 by Duncan Smith.

• 2008 Represented Canada at Women's Olympiad
• 2008 Ontario High School Champion
• 2006 Represented Canada at Women's Olympiad
• 2005 Represented Canada Girls Under-14 World Championship, 9th place
• 2005 Canadian Girls Under-14 Champion
• 2004 Played Canadian Championship
• 2003 Awarded Woman FIDE Master title
• 2003 Represented Canada Girls Under-12 World Championship
• 2003 Canadian Girls Under-12 Champion
• 2001 Played Canadian Women's Championship
• 2001 Represented Canada Girls Under-10 World Championship; 9th place, played on Board 1 three times, including 1 win
• 2001 Canadian Girls Under-10 Champion
• 2000 Represented Canada Girls Under-10 World Championship
• 2000 Canadian Girls Under-10 Champion

Contributor (photo, biography): Duncan Smith.

Magnus Smith

Photo: From a group photo on the occasion of a visit by Geza Maroczy, Winnipeg, 1906. Anna Currie and R.W. Cooper, Bulletin 25, 1977.11-12, Chess Federation of Canada.

• 2000 Canadian Chess Hall of Fame
• Inventor of the Magnus Smith trap in the Sicilian Defence, which once caught World Champion Emanuel Lasker and still catches players, even at the World Youth Championships
• 1907-10 Worked for Lasker’s Chess Magazine and The Chess Weekly
• 1907.06.11 Defeated World Champion Emanuel Lasker in a simultaneous exhibition in Winnipeg
• Three times Canadian Champion (1899, 1904, 1906)
• 1899.01.18 Defeated Harry N. Pillsbury in a simultaneous exhibition in Winnipeg (then scored +1 -2 against Pillsbury on his return in 1900)
• Born Iceland, emigrated 1885, settled in Winnipeg 1898, emigrated to the USA in 1907 and died in Titusville, Pennsylvania

Source: 'In from the Cold: The Life and Chess of Magnus Smith' by Myron Samsin, Skittles Room, ChessCafe.com, 2008.03.12, copyright 2008 by CyberCafes, LLC.

Contributor: Stephen Wright.

Stephen Francis Smith

• Born Ontario 1860 or 1861
• Doctor
• Vancouver CC Champion 1915
• Challenged Sydney Gale to Canadian Championship match 1920 (abandoned by Gale after +1 -1)
• Represented Canada at Olympic Games Tournament, Paris 1924
• On behalf of Canada signed document founding FIDE 1924
• Long-time member City of London Chess Club, England; Club Champion 1895
• Competed minor sections of British Championships, Hastings
• Defeated future World Champion Max Euwe, Hastings Victory Congress 1919

Stephen F. Smith - Vera Menchik
Hastings 1927-8, Hastings, England, 1927

Source: Stephen Wright, BCCF Bulletin 105, 2006.10.05

Josef Smolij

• Played Canadian Championship 1959
• Played speed chess every night, all night, in Toronto at the chess tables on Gould Street, corner Yonge Street, from about 1977 through 1985 for $0.50/game (later $1/game)
• Famous opening: Smash-Crash Gambit (Greco Counter-Gambit/Latvian Gambit); adopted by IM David Levy in his loss against Chess 4.7, match, Toronto, 1978 after Smolij and Levy played blitz chess the night before
• Famous claims: World's fastest chess player; 50,000 chess games played
• Famous quotes: "I'm poor in the pocketbook but rich in the mind."; "Kill as you go!"; "Show no mercy!"
• Character in Canadian edition of 'Kicking Tomorrow' by Daniel Richler based on Smolij as a tribute

Sources: Montreal Gazette, 1978.1.28 Sat.,p.12-13; Toronto Star, 1982.10.10 Sun.,p.A3; 1983.11.14 Mon.,p.B11; 1984.05.12 Sat.,p.A4; 1985.03.13 Wed.,p.A6; 1985.09.14 Sat.,p.A6.
'Chess 4.7 versus David Levy - The Computer Beats a Chess Master', by J.R. Douglas, BYTE, 1978.12, p.84-90.
Frances Sendbuehler, Master's thesis, University of Montreal, 1995

Todd Southam

Photo: copyright 2004 by the photographer Peter Southam.

• FIDE Master 1990
• Canadian Junior Champion 1988
• Canadian Cadet Champion (1983, 1984)
• Canadian Junior Blitz Champion 1989
• Played Canadian Championship 1991
• International Master Norm 1993
• Represented Canada at World Cadet (1983,1984) and World Junior 1988 Championships
• Ontario High School Champion 1985
• Toronto Closed Champion (1985, 1990)

Tyler Johnson - Todd Southam
Canadian Cadet Championship, Calgary, Alberta, 1983.03

Bryon Nickoloff - Todd Southam
Toronto Championship, Toronto, Ontario, 1985

Gary Basanta - Todd Southam
Canadian Junior Championship playoff, Round 2, 1988.01

Todd Southam - Paul Motwani
Luxembourg, Round 3, 1990

Todd Southam - Jacques Cote
International Open, North Bay, Ontario, 1996

Paul Spinath

• Correspondence International Master 1992

Grant Spraggett

• FIDE Master

Kevin Spraggett

Photo: Anthony Boron, photographer. Copyright 2003 Kevin Spraggett.

• Highest rated Canadian ever on FIDE Rating List (2633 in 2007.01, ranked 80th)
• First Canadian to have published FIDE rating of at least 2600 (2610 in 2006.10)
• 2000 Canadian Chess Hall of Fame
• 2000 Silver medal, Board 2, Olympiad
• Represented Canada at World Championship Knockout (1997, 1999)
• 1996 Canadian Closed Blitz Champion
• Represented Canada at World Championship Candidates matches (1988, 1989)
• Represented Canada at Olympiads (1986, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002)
• 1985 Represented Canada at World Championship Candidates tournament
• 1985 Awarded International Grandmaster title
• Represented Canada at World Championship Interzonal (1985, 1990)
• Commonwealth Champion (1984, 1985)
• Seven times Canadian Champion (1984, 1986, 1989, 1994, 1996, 2001, 2002)
• 1984 New York Open Champion
• Record eight times Canadian Open Champion (1983, 1987, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000)
• 1983 World Open Champion
• 1982-3 Winner, 1st Eastern Ontario Chess Association Grand Prix
• Top rated Canadian at Year-end 26 times (1980, 1982-90, 1992-2000, 2002-8)
• Canadian Chess Player of the Year (1979, 2006)
• 1974 Tied first place, Canadian Junior Championship

Here are three of Kevin Spraggett's favourite games:

Akiba Rubinstein - Esteban Canal
Rogatska Slatina, Slovenia, 1929

Mikhail Tal - Efim Geller
URS Ch, Riga, Latvia, 1958

Mikhail Tal - Hans-Joachim Hecht
Olympiad, Varna, Bulgaria 1962

Contributors: Kevin Spraggett (photo, game selection), Anthony Boron (photo).

Nava (Shterenberg) Starr

Photo: Copyright 2001 by the photographer Mark S. Dutton, Dutton Chess.

• Woman International Master 1978
• Represented Canada at Women's Olympiads (1976, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2002, 2004, 2006)
• Represented Canada on Group B 1st place team at Women's Olympiad 1976
• Represented Canada at Women's World Championship 2001
• Represented Canada at Women's Interzonal (1978, 1982, 1985, 1990, 1993)
• Canadian Women's Champion (1978, 1981, 1984, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1995, 2001)
• 2nd place Canadian Women's Championship 1996
• Gold medal, Board 2, Olympiad 1976
• Bronze medal, Board 1, Olympiad 1982
• Top rated female Canadian at Year-end 20 years in a row (1976-95)
• Canadian Chess Hall of Fame 2001

Here is Nava's most memorable game:

Pia Cramling - Nava Shterenberg
Women's Olympiad, Sweden - Canada, Board 1, Lucerne, Switzerland, Round 14, 1982

Contributors: Mark S. Dutton (photo), Nava Starr (biography, game selection), Sasha Starr.

Christian Stevens

Photo: 2009 Toronto Open Championship. Copyright 2009 by the photographer David Cohen.

• FIDE Master 2004
• Canadian Grade 8 Champion 2001

Drew Stoll

• Correspondence International Master 1987

Raymond Stone

• FIDE Master 1986
• Team member, Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Champion 1974
• Represented Canada as Alternate 1 on Group 'B' Gold medal winning team at World Students' Team Championship 1977; Gold medal for Board prize
• Represented Canada at World Youth Team Championship 1978
• Canadian Champion 1985
• Represented Canada at Olympiad 1986
• 2nd place, US Open Championship 1992

Lynn Stringer

Photo: Copyright 2004 Lynn Stringer.

• International Arbiter 2003
• Organized, directed Canadian Championships: Women's (1978) and Cadet (1985, 1991, 1997)
• Directed Canadian Championship 2002
• Played Canadian Women's Championship 1975, 1978, 1981
• Chair, Chess Foundation of Canada
• Canadian Chess Hall of Fame 2004

Here is Lynn Stringer's choice for her most memorable game, the only game her opponent lost while winning the event:

Lynn Stringer - Bob van Zweeden
Comox Valley Open, Courtenay, British Columbia, Round 2, 1982.02.06

Source: B.C. Chess Reports 2/1.

Contributors: Lynn Stringer (photo, game selection), Stephen Wright.

Charles Stubbs

• Cashier, Saint John Globe newspaper
• Problem composer, publisher of three problem collections
• Chess columnist, Saint John Globe; published 2,757 problems from 1883-1907

Duncan Suttles

Photo: 1969 Canadian Championship Playoff Match, Hart House, Toronto. Chess Canada 1970.04.

• President, Chief Technologist of Magnetar Games
• Software developer; architect of Omen II, the world’s first personal computer resident full stock market quotation system
• 2000 Canadian Chess Hall of Fame
• 1982 Awarded Correspondence International Grandmaster title
• 1982 First place, Eino Heilimo Memorial Correspondence Tournament
• 1973 Awarded International Grandmaster title
• 1973 Canadian Open Champion
• 1971 Represented Canada on Bronze medal winning team at World Students' Team Championship
• Top rated Canadian at Year-end 7 times (1969, 1973-7, 1981)
• 1969 Canadian Champion
• Represented Canada at World Championship Interzonal (1967, 1970)
• 1965 First place in Group B at World Junior Championship
• Represented Canada at Olympiads (1964, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1982, 1984)

Here are 12 of Duncan Suttles' most memorable games, selected by him in 1972-73 in Chess Canada:

Gyozo Forintos - Duncan Suttles
Olympiad, Tel Aviv, Israel, Final Round 10, 1964

Luis M.O. Bronstein - Duncan Suttles
World Junior Championship, Barcelona, Spain, Preliminary, 1965

Duncan Suttles - William Addison
U.S. Championship, New York, 1965.12

Lothar Zinn - Duncan Suttles
Olympiad, Havana, Cuba, Preliminary Round 3, 1966

Milan Matulovic - Duncan Suttles
Interzonal, Sousse, Tunisia, Round 4, 1967

Duncan Suttles - Viktor Kortchnoi
Interzonal, Sousse, Tunisia, Round 13, 1967

Duncan Suttles - Aivars Gipslis
Interzonal, Sousse, Tunisia, Round 15, 1967

Bent Larsen - Duncan Suttles
Interzonal, Sousse, Tunisia, Round 20, 1967

Duncan Suttles - Wolfgang Pietzsch
Canada - East Germany, Olympiad, Lugano, Final Round 7, 1968

Duncan Suttles - Bent Larsen
Olympiad, Lugano, Final Round 8, 1968

Duncan Suttles - Lev Polugaevsky
Belgrade, Yugoslavia, Round 5, 1969

Zvonko Vranesic - Duncan Suttles
Canadian Championship playoff, Round 4, 1969

Lawrence Day's memorable games, from his Retrospective, 1999, include several by Suttles:

Bent Larsen - Duncan Suttles, Interzonal, Sousse, Tunisia, Round 20, 1967
Duncan Suttles - Wolfgang Pietzsch, Canada - East Germany, Olympiad, Lugano, Final Round 7, 1968

Pal Benko - Duncan Suttles
US Open, Boston, 1964

Lawrence Day - Duncan Suttles
Canadian Open, Scarborough, 1964, Round 2

Lawrence Day - Duncan Suttles
Canadian Championship, Pointe Claire, Quebec, 1969

Larry Evans - Duncan Suttles
San Antonio, 1972

Bruce Harper's favourite game is one by Suttles:

Istvan Bilek - Duncan Suttles
Venice, Italy, 1974

Here is a game from the tournament that earned Duncan Suttles his Correspondence Grandmaster title:

Duncan Suttles - Matyas Berta
Heilimo Memorial, Correspondence, 1982

Sources: Articles by Duncan Suttles, Chess Canada, November, December 1972; January, February, March, May 1973 (game selection); Retrospective by Lawrence Day, 1999 (game selection); CHECK! edited by J. Ken MacDonald (game selection).

Contributors: Bruce Harper (game selection), Vladimir Dobrich (photo).

Alina Sviridovitch

Photo: 2002 Malcolm Sim Memorial, Dutton Chess Club, Toronto. Copyright 2002 by the photographer Mark S. Dutton.

• Canadian Under-10 Girls Champion 2002
• Represented Canada at World Under-10 Girls Championship 2002 (5th place)

David Swales

Photo: 1935 Canadian Championship, Canadian Chess Championship Tournament 1935, 1935.

• Strong Toronto club player
• Defeated Sydney Gale, Isaac Kashdan, Boris Kostic, Frank Marshall in exhibitions
• Played Canadian Championship 1934, 1935

Contributor: Catherine Swales Ali