Canadian Chess Biographies

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Index - P

• Palamarek, Dianna
• Panjwani, Raja
• Paré, Claude
• Pelts, Roman
• Peng, Jackie
• Penrose, Jonathan
• Penrose, Lionel
• Peredun, Andrew
• Perry, William
• Phaneuf, Emil
• Phillipps, Thomas
• Phillips, Charles
• Piasetski, Leon
• Pik, David
• Pineault, Denis
• Piper, Thomas
• Plotkin, Victor
• Podlone, Charles
• Pollock, William H.K.
• Pope, Edwin
• Porper, Edward
• Prentice, John
• Preotu, Razvan
• Pugi, Kalev
• Puhm, Alar
• Puller, Arthur
• Puri, Vinny
• Pushkedra, Frank

Dianna Palamarek

• Represented Canada at Women's Olympiad 1990

Raja Panjwani

• International Master 2009
• IM Norm, 37th World Open, Philadelphia, PA, USA 2009
• Canadian Junior Champion 2009
• 5th place, Top Canadian, 3rd Edmonton International 2008; IM Norm
• 4th place, 9th North American Invitational 2008, Chicago, USA
• FIDE Master 2007
• Represented Canada at World Under-16 Championship 2006 (5th place, IM Norm)
• Canadian Under-16 Champion 2006
• Blitz Champion at the Canadian Championship 2006
• Canadian Grade 9 Champion 2005
• Canadian Under-14 Champion 2004
• Canadian Under-12 Champion 2002
• Canadian Grade 5 Champion 2001

Claude Paré

• Correspondence Senior International Master 1999

Roman Pelts

Photo: Copyright 2004 Roman Pelts.

• 2005 Awarded FIDE Trainer title
• 2001 Canadian Chess Hall of Fame
• 1988 Represented Canada at Olympiad
• 1988 Toronto Closed Champion
• 1986 Author of Comprehensive Chess Course, Volumes 1&2
• 1984 Represented Canada at Olympiad; 2nd highest official performance rating on Board 4 (8/11, undefeated)
• 1982 Represented Canada at Olympiad
• 1982 Toronto Open Champion
• 1981 Awarded FIDE Master title
• 1979 Founder of first Canadian chess school, Montreal
• 1978 2nd place, Canadian Open Championship
• 1978 Arrived Canada
• 1971 Honoured Chess Coach, Ukraine
• 1971 Official trainer for the USSR student team, on which future World Champion Anatoly Karpov and future World Championship Candidate Alexander Beliavsky played
• 1964 1st place, World Student Team Championship (Board 1 for USSR)
• 1963 2nd place, USSR Young Masters Championship

Roman Pelts is a chess teacher. Seven of his students became grandmasters: Lev Alburt, Sam Palatnik, Vladimir Tukmakov, Valery Beim, Konstantin Lerner, Leonid Yurtaev and Boris Kantsler. Pelts is the founder of Chess Academy of Canada.

Here is Roman Pelts' most important game:

Roman Pelts - William Lombardy
World Student Team Championship, USSR - USA, Board 1, Krakow, Poland, 1964

Source: PolBase by Adam Umiastowski.

Contributors: Roman Pelts (photo, game selection), Adam Umiastowski (game).

Research note: Many of Pelts' older games are in databases which have incorrect translations of his last name (wrong accent): 'Pelc' and 'Pelch'.

Jackie Peng

• 2015 Tied 1st place, 12th Kasparov Chess Foundation All-Girls US National Under-18 Championship, Chicago, USA
• 2015 Awarded Life Membership in Chess Federation of Canada
• 2014 Represented Canada on team at World Youth Under-16 Olympiad, Gyor, Hungary
• 2014 Awarded Woman International Master title
• 2014 tied 1st place among females, North American Junior (Under-20) Championship; qualified Woman International Master title
• 2014 Received Kalev Pugi Fund award to represent Canada at North American Junior (Under-20) Championship
• 2014 2nd place, Kasparov Chess Foundation All-Girls US National Under-16 Championship, Northbrook, USA
• 2013 4th place, Susan Polgar Foundation 10th National Invitational for Girls, St. Louis, USA; won scholarship to Webster University, St. Louis, USA, for US$13,000/year x 4 years = US$52,000
• 2013 Awarded Canadian National Master title; first female and, at age 15, youngest female to have title officially awarded by CFC
• 2012 Awarded Woman FIDE Master title
• 2012 Qualified Woman FIDE Master title at Women's Olympiad
• 2012 Represented Canada on Women's team at 40th Olympiad, Istanbul, Turkey; second youngest ever to represent Canada
• 2012 Received Kalev Pugi Fund award to represent Canada at Women's Olympiad
• 2011 Canadian Amateur Champion
• 2011 Represented Canada at Pan-American Girls Under-14 Championship, Cali, Columbia, =5th
• 2011 Canadian Junior Girl Champion
• 2010 12th place, World Girls Under-12 Championship, Porto Carras, Greece
• 2010 Awarded FIDE Woman Candidate Master title
• 2010 3rd place, Pan-American Girls Under-12 Championship, Bento Gonçalves, Brazil; first (and only, through 2014) medal for Canada at Pan-American Youth Championships
• 2010 Received Kalev Pugi Fund award to represent Canada at Pan-American Girls Under-12 Championship; at age 12, youngest recipient for years when records are available (2003-12)
• 2010 Canadian Girls Under-12 Champion
• 2010 Ontario Grade 6 Champion
• 2009 Ontario Girls Grade 5 Champion
• 2008 Represented Canada at World Girls Under-10 Championship, Vung Tau, Vietnam, =19th
• 2008 Canadian Girls Under-10 Champion
• 2008 First place, Ontario Girls Grade 4 Championship
• 2008 Ontario Girls Under-10 Champion

Contributor (photo): Jackie Peng.

Jonathan Penrose

• Born in and represents England, where learned to play chess at age 4
• Lived in London, Ontario during World War II, where father Lionel worked
• International Master 1961
• 10 times British Champion (1958-63, 1966-69)
• Lecturer in psychology

Here is Jonathan Penrose's win against the reigning World Champion:

Jonathan Penrose - Mikhail Tal
Olympiad, Leipzig, 1960

Lionel Penrose

• Geneticist, recreational mathematician, endgame composer
• Wife of doctor Margaret; father of mathematicians Oliver (still a competitive chess player in 2004) and Roger; and grandmaster Jonathan
• Director of Psychiatric Research, Ontario Hospital, London, Ontario, during World War II

Andrew Peredun

Photo: 2003 Chess'n Math Association Futurity IV, Toronto, copyright 2003 by the photographer Erik Malmsten.

• 2011 Canadian Amateur Champion
• 2003 FIDE Master

William Perry

• Chess problem composer from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia; 33 problems published in Canadian Chess Problems by Charles F. Stubbs, 1890
• 1888-9 =1st prize, Brownson's Chess Journal, competition for chess problem composition

Source: Chess Personalia by Jeremy Gaige.

Emil Phaneuf

• Played Canadian Championship 1937

Thomas Phillipps

• Played Canadian Championship 1874, 1879, 1881

Charles Phillips

• Born Canada, lived USA
• Chess problem composer from Toronto; 2 problems published in Canadian Chess Problems by Charles F. Stubbs, 1890
• 1st place, Continental Correspondence Tournament 1894

Leon Piasetski

Photo: copyright 2009 Leon Piasetski.

• International Master 1975
• Canadian Junior Champion 1970
• Represented Canada at Olympiads (1974, 1976, 1978, 1988, 1992)
• Represented Canada at World Championship Interzonal 1990
• One of only 4 players to compete in Canadian Championships in each of 4 consecutive decades of 1960s-90s

Contributor (photo): Leon Piasetski.

David Pik

Denis Pineault

• 1999 Correspondence Senior International Master
• 1992-99 Board 5, Canada, Bronze medal team, 11th International Correspondence Chess Federation Olympiad
• 1992 North American Correspondence Champion
• 1990 Canadian Correspondence Champion
• 1988 Canadian Correspondence Champion

Thomas Piper

• Ship carpenter
• Chess columnist
• Strongest player on the Pacific coast (Canada and USA) for many years

Contributor: Stephen Wright

Victor Plotkin

• 2014 Awarded FIDE Trainer title
• 2014 Captain, Canada's Olympiad National Team
• 2012 Captain, Canada's Olympiad National Team
• 2011 Awarded FIDE Master title

Charles Podlone

Source: Chess Personalia by Jeremy Gaige.

William H.K. Pollock

Photo: British Chess Magazine, 1896, p. 441; Toronto Reference Library.

• 2000 Canadian Chess Hall of Fame
• Credited with inventing the opening moves 1. e4 e6 2. Qe2
• Co-author of booklet on St. Petersburg 1895-6 tournament
• 1895 Represented Canada at prestigious Hastings International Congress
• 1894 Arrived Canada to report on World Championship Match in Montreal; stayed until trip to England in 1895, but returned briefly in 1896
• 1892 2nd place, U.S. Championship
• 1892 Brooklyn, New York Champion
• 1891 Tied first place, U.S. Championship (lost play-off match to Showalter)
• 1890 2nd place, U.S. Championship
• 1889 Travelled to America to play in the New York tournament which was to select a challenger to World Champion Wilhelm Steinitz; won Brilliancy Prize
• 1889 Second place, Irish Chess Association’s 3rd Masters Tournament, scoring 6.5/8 ahead of Mason
• 1886 First place, Irish Chess Association’s 2nd Principal Tournament, scoring 8/8 ahead of Blackburne and Burn
• 1885 First place, Irish Chess Association’s 1st Principal Tournament at Dublin, Ireland, scoring 9/10
• Medical student at Trinity College, Dublin
• Born in England of Irish descent

Here are three of William Pollock's games, against former World Champion Steinitz, and two World Championship challengers:

Wilhelm Steinitz - William H. K. Pollock
Hastings, Round 6, 1895.08.12

William H.K. Pollock - Siegbert Tarrasch
Hastings, Round 13, 1895.08.21

Isidor Gunsberg - William H.K. Pollock
Hastings, Round 14, 1895.08.23

Source: Pollock Memories by Mrs. Frideswide F. Rowland, 1899.

Edwin Pope

• Canadian Champion 1879
• Tied for first in Canadian Championship 1888

Edward Porper

Photo: 32nd Guernsey Chess Festival, 2006. Copyright 2006 by Edward Porper.

• Born Ukraine, arrived Canada 2008 from Israel
• Translator (English, Hebrew and German) and travel writer
• Chess coach
• 2012 Represented Canada at Olympiad
• 2011- Editor, Canadian Chess News
• 2011 1st place, 1st Holiday Open, San Bernardino, Switzerland
• 2009 1st place, Canadian Open Championship
• 2006 1st place, Mannheim, Germany
• 2006 1st place, 32nd Guernsey Chess Festival
• 2004 1st place, Liechtenstein Open; Grandmaster Norm
• 2002 1st place, Rajka Open, Austria
• 1991 Awarded International Master title
• 1991 1st place, Olot, Spain; 3rd and final IM Norm

Porper won a beauty prize for the following game:

Edward Porper - Gavin Lock
32nd Guernsey Chess Festival, Grand Harve Bay GCI, 2006.10.21, Round 7

Sources: Edward Porper (bio); website of the 2007 Arctic Chess tournament, Tromse, Norway (photo).

John Prentice

Photo: 1971 Canadian Open Championship, Vancouver. Chess Canada 1971.09.

• 2000 Canadian Chess Hall of Fame
• 1987 Successful business person; named member of one of Canada's 50 wealthiest families
• 1977 Received Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal for contributions in the field of chess
• 1976 Officer of the Order of Canada; cited as "international chess expert"
• 1966 Presided over 37th FIDE Congress, Havana, Cuba
• 1966 Represented FIDE at World Championship closing ceremony, crowning Tigran Petrosian as World Champion
• Chairman, Canada Council for 5 years
• Director, Bank of Montreal
• FIDE Vice-President
• 1957-87 FIDE Representative
• 1955-71 President, Chess Federation of Canada
• 1938 Founded Pacific Veneer, which was later merged into Canadian Forest Products and then renamed Canfor; long-time company president, Chairman of the Board
• 1938 Arrived Canada (born Vienna, Austria)

John G. Prentice - Elod Macskasy
City Chess Club Open, Vancouver, British Columbia, 1961

Sources: Canadian Chess Chat 1966.07 Vol.20, No.7, p.148-9; FIDE Representative's Report by John Prentice, Canadian Chess Chat 1966.09 Vol.20, No.9, p.216-7; Profile of a Prodigy, 2nd ed., by Frank Brady, 1972; Governor General of Canada.

Contributor: Vladimir Dobrich (photo).

Razvan Preotu

• 2018 Represented Canada at Olympiad
• 2016 Awarded International Grandmaster title
• 2016 3rd and final GM Norm, 44th World Open, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
• 2014 2nd GM Norm, Spice Cup Open, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
• 2014 Awarded International Master title
• 2014 3rd and final IM Norm, US Masters, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
• 2014 2nd IM Norm & 1st GM Norm, 42nd World Open, Arlington, Virginia, USA
• 2013 1st IM Norm, 23rd North American Open, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
• 2013 Awarded FIDE Master title

Kalev Pugi

Photo: Chess Federation of Canada Photo Archives.

• Born Estonia, arrived Canada 1947
• Graduated from UBC 1952, Queen's (Master's) 1955
• Chemical engineer
• Queen's University Champion 1953
• Organized Canadian Championship 1961
• Wrote chess column for Brockville newspaper
• Chairman, Organizing Committee, Canadian Open Championship 1966
• Chess teacher
• CFC President 1973-76 (during the years of the CFC's first business office, first business manager, and launch of its own magazine)
• Received Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal for contributions in the field of chess 1977
• Established Kalev Pugi Memorial Fund (part of the Chess Foundation of Canada) to support talented junior players travelling to international competitions

Players who have received an award from the Kalev Pugi Fund in recent years:

2012

• Eric Hansen
• Jackie Peng
• Liza Orlova
• Alexandra Botez

2010

• Yuanling Yuan
• Liza Orlova
• Dalia Kagramanov
• Nikolay Noritsyn
• Jackie Peng

2009

• Eric Hansen
• Alexander Martchenko
• Shiyam Thavandiran

2008

• Alexandra Botez
• Bindi Cheng
• Nikolay Noritsyn
• Yuanling Yuan
• Hazel Smith

2005

• Thomas Roussel-Roozmon

2004

• Mark Bluvshtein

2003

• Eric Lawson
• Thomas Roussel-Roozmon
• Sebastian Predescu

Alar Puhm

• Born Canada
• Represented France at Olympiad 1974, 1976

Arthur Puller

Source: Chess Personalia by Jeremy Gaige.

Vinod (Vinny) Puri

Photo: 2004 Todd Southam Memorial, Bayview Games Club, Toronto. Copyright 2004 by the photographer David Cohen.

• Medical Doctor, gastroenterologist
• FIDE Master 1986
• Canadian Junior Champion (1985, 1986, 1987)
• 6th place, World Junior Championship 1987 (most wins in tournament; highest Canadian placing)

Here is Vinny Puri's choice for one of his best games:

Vinny Puri - Dale Haessel
1985-6 Canadian Junior Championship, Toronto, Ontario, Round 10, 1986.01

Frank Pushkedra

• FIDE Master 1983