Canadian Chess Biographies
Researched, compiled, written and copyright 2000-20 by David Cohen. Last updated: 2020.1.15.
Main web site & contact: Canadian Chess.
More biographies
Index
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
Y
Z
Index - B
- Bailey, Doug
- Bain, Osias
- Ball, Stephen
- Baltgailis, Vesma
- Baragar, Fletcher
- Barbeau, Sylvain
- Bareev, Evgeny
- Barron, Irina
- Barron, Michael
- Barry, George
- Basanta, Gary
- Beers, William A.
- Beers, William G.
- Belc, Daniela
- Belson, John Harold (Harry)
- Benggawan, Amanda
- Bernard, Marie
- Berry, Jonathan
- Bérubé, Richard
- Betts, Frederick
- Bevand, Larry
- Biyiasas, Peter
- Blake, Charles
- Blanchard, Leopold
- Blumin, Boris
- Bluvshtein, Mark
- Bogdan, Lia
- Bohatirchuk, Fedor
- Boivin, C.A.
- Bolduc, Steve
- Bond, Hal
- Botez, Alexandra
- Boultbee, William
- Boyd, Stephen
- Braithwaite, Ken
- Brestoiu, Doina
- Brisebois, Ephrem
- Brodeur, Gilles
- Brodie, Hugh
- Broughton, Charles
- Bruce, E.D.
- Bryant, George
- Bryskine, Marina
- Buchholz, Martin
- Bulkeley, Richard
- Bunning, Les
- Burgess, Doug
Photo: At Zoltan Sarosy 100th birthday party, Toronto. Copyright 2006 by the photographer David Cohen.
- FIDE Master 2010
- First place Ontario Open 2004
- Canadian Junior Champion 1983
Doug Bailey - Peter Boross
1982-3 Ontario Junior Championship, Kitchener, Ontario, Round 3, 1982.10.30
Doug Bailey beat the reigning World Cadet (Under 16) Champion:
Doug Bailey - Evgeny Bareev
World Junior Championship, Belfort, France, Round 2, 1983
- 5th place Canadian Championship 1947
- Editor, En Passant chess magazine 1983-9
- Represented Canada on Group 'B' Gold medal winning team at World
Students' Team Championship 1977
- Woman International Master 1985
- Represented Canada at Women's Olympiads (1978, 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990,
1992)
- Played Canadian Women's Championship (1978, 1981, 1989, 1996, 2001)
- 2nd place Canadian Women's Championship 1991
Here is Vesma Baltgailis' choice for her most memorable game:
Vesma Baltgailis - Mary Kuhner
Toronto International Open, Under 2000 Section, Toronto, Ontario, Round 8,
1984
- FIDE Master 1987
- Represented Canada on Group 'B' Gold medal winning team at World
Students' Team Championship 1977
- Represented Canada at World Youth Team Championship 1978
- Represented Canada on Group 'B' 1st place team at World Youth Team
Championship 1980
- Represented Canada at World Championship Interzonal 1987
Fletcher Baragar - Jaan Ehlvest
Interzonal, Zagreb, Round 12, 1987
- FIDE Master 1987
- Canadian Junior Champion 1979
- Canadian High School Champion 1978
- IM Norm Montreal International 2001
- 2019 Top rated Canadian at Year-end
- 2019 Won Canadian Championship
- 2018 Top rated Canadian at Year-end
- 2018 Represented Canada at Olympiad
- 2017 Top rated Canadian at Year-end
- 2016 Top rated Canadian at Year-end
- 2016 Represented Canada at Olympiad
- 2015 Top rated Canadian at Year-end
- 2015 Switched federation to Canada; ranked #74 in world on October FIDE rating list at 2669
- 2006 Represented Russia at Olympiad
- 2003 Ranked #4 in world on October FIDE rating list at 2739
- 1998 Represented Russia at Olympiad; team medal: gold
- 1996 Represented Russia at Olympiad; board medal: silver for 1st reserve; team medal: gold
- 1994 Represented Russia at Olympiad; team medal: gold
- 1990 Represented USSR at Olympiad; team medal: gold
- 1989 Awarded International Grandmaster title
- 1986 Awarded International Master title
- 1982 World Under-16 Champion
- The following games were selected by Chess Informant for their volumes' Best 10 Games:
Bareev 1-0 Sax, Hastings, 1990-1 (Vol.51, #3);
Anand 1-0 Bareev, Dortmund, 1992 (Vol.54, #3);
Topalov 0-1 Bareev, Linares, 1994 (Vol.60, #10);
Bareev 1-0 Dreev, Russia, 1996 (Vol.68, #7);
Bareev 1-0 Rozentalis, Pula, 1997 (Vol.69, #8);
Bareev 1-0 Huzman, Bugojno, 1999 (Vol.77, #8);
Shirov 1-0 Bareev, m (2), New Delhi, 2000 (Vol.80, #7);
Sakaev 0-1 Bareev, m (4), Moscow, 2001 (Vol.83, #6);
Kramnik 1-0 Bareev, Wijk aan Zee, 2003 (Vol.86, #3);
Dreev 1-0 Bareev, Russia Ch, 2005 (Vol.95, #1)
Photo: copyright 2008 by Irina Barron.
- 2008 Represented Canada at Women's Olympiad
- 2008 Toronto Women's Champion
- 2005 1st place, Toronto Women's Championship
- 2001 Qualified Woman FIDE Master title
- 1981 Soviet Army Girls Under-18 Champion
Contributors: Irina Barron (photo), Michael Barron (biography).
Photo: copyright 2008 by Michael Barron.
- 2015 International Master
- 2015 Pan-American Senior Over 50 Champion
- 2015 Canadian Senior Over 50 Champion
- 2007 FIDE Master
Contributor (photo): Michael Barron.
(1883-1942)
Source: Chess Personalia by Jeremy Gaige.
(1841-1900)
- Founder of the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association, 1881, which
affiliated a chess club
- Woman FIDE Master
- Represented Canada at Women's Olympiad 2000
Here is Daniela Belc's selection of her best game from the 2000 Olympiad:
Daniela Belc - Vlasta Macek
Women's Olympiad, Canada - Croatia, Board 1, Istanbul, Turkey, Round 13, 2000.11.10
Source: Report to Chess Federation of Canada by Daniela Belc.
(1906-47)
Photo: 1935 Canadian Championship, Canadian Chess Championship Tournament 1935, 1935.
- Born Finland
- Canadian Champion (1934, 1946)
- Woman FIDE Master
- Represented Canada Women's Olympiad 2002
- 2nd place Canadian Women's Championship 2001
- 6th place World Amateur Championship 2001
- 5th place Pan-American Youth Festival Girls Under-16 Championship 2001
- Represented Canada World Girls Under-14 (1999, 2000), Under-12 (1997,
1998) Championships
Photo: Bulletin, No. 7, 1974.11-12, cover.
- Represented Canada at Women's Olympiad 1974
Photo: 2007 Canadian Open Championship. Copyright 2007 by the photographer David Cohen.
- 2004 Arbiter, Olympiad
- 2004 Tied record for blindfold simultaneous exhibition for player age 50+, 12 boards (+9 -1 =2), USA
- 2001 Canadian Chess Hall of Fame
- 2000 Arbiter, Olympiad
- 1992-99 Board 2, Canada, Bronze medal team, 11th International Correspondence Chess Federation Olympiad
- 1996 Arbiter, Olympiad
- 1987-93 2nd place, Board 2, Canada, Section 3 preliminaries, 11th ICCF Olympiad, undefeated 7/9 (+5 =4)
- 1991 Author, Diamond Dust
- 1989-98 13th place, Final, 13th World Correspondence Championship
- 1984-89 4th place, 3/4 Final, 13th World Correspondence Championship
- 1985 Correspondence International Grandmaster
- 1984 Senior Arbiter, Olympiad
- 1984 Awarded FIDE Master title
- 1983 Awarded Correspondence International Master title
- 1982 1st place, Correspondence North American Invitational III Championship
- 1982 Represented Canada at Olympiad
- 1981-? Journalist, chess columnist, Globe and Mail
- 1981 2nd place, Canadian Open Championship
- 1980 Canadian Correspondence Champion
- 1978 Canadian Correspondence Champion
- 1977 Represented Canada at Pan-American Individual Championship
- 1975-85 Business manager, Chess Federation of Canada
- 1975-83 Editor, Bulletin/Chess Canada Échecs (CFC’s chess magazine)
- 1975 International Arbiter
- 1975 Author, Canadian Junior Chess Championship [19]74: Tournament Book of the Fourth Canadian Junior Chess Championship
- 1974 Mexican Open Champion
Jonathan Berry's choice for his best game:
Stuart J. Hutchings - Jonathan Berry
Correspondence Olympiad 1990
Source: Diamond Dust, 1991 by Jonathan Berry.
Contributor: Jonathan Berry (photo, game selection).
(1853-1930)
Source: Chess Personalia by Jeremy Gaige.
Photo: 2004 Canadian Championship, Toronto. Copyright 2004 by the photographer David Cohen.
- 2001 Canadian Chess Hall of Fame
- 1988 Arbiter, World Chess Festival, Saint John, New Brunswick
- 1985 Founded Chess'n Math Association
- Arbiter, Olympiads (1984, 1986)
- 1982 International Arbiter
- 1981 Organized and directed Canadian Championship
- 1978-2001 Chess columnist for Montreal Gazette
Larry Bevand - Hugh Brodie
Toronto Open, Toronto, 1972
Sources: Montreal Gazette; Chess'n Math Association.
Contributors: Larry Bevand, Hugh Brodie.
Photo: Chess Canada 1970.11.
- Owns firm that develops software for the investment industry
- 2002 Canadian Chess Hall of Fame
- 1980 42nd Hoogovens, Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands =4th 7.5/13
- 1978 Top rated Canadian at Year-end
- 1978 Awarded International Grandmaster title
- 1978 Silver medal, Board 2, Olympiad
- 1978 6th World Open Champion
- 1974 Represented Canada at Pan-American Individual Championship, 3rd place
- Represented Canada at World Championship Interzonal (1973, 1976)
- 1972 Bronze medal, Board 4, Olympiad
- Represented Canada at Olympiads (1972, 1974, 1976, 1978)
- Two times Canadian Champion (1972, 1975)
- 1971 Represented Canada on Bronze medal team at World Students' Team Championship; Bronze medal for 2nd reserve
- 1971 U.S. Junior Open Champion
- 1966 High School Champion, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Peter Biyiasas - Herman Suradiradja
Olympiad, Canada - Indonesia, Skopje, Yugoslavia, Finals Round 6, 1972
Here is Peter Biyiasas' choice for his best game:
Peter Biyiasas - Evgeny Vasiukov
1978-9 International Congress, Hastings, England, Round 4
Contributors: Jonathan Berry (biography); Peter Biyiasas (biography, game selection), Vladimir Dobrich (photo).
- U.S. Open Champion 1911
- First place, Canadian Championship 1913
(1898-1933)
Photo: Chess - Canadian Supplement, 1937.08, p.1.
- Born St. Petersburg, Russia 1907
- Canadian Champion (1936, 1937)
- 3rd place American Chess Federation Championship (later the U.S. Open Championship), Master Section 1938
Photo: copyright 2011 by Mark Bluvshtein.
- 2011 Canadian Chess Player of the Year
- 2011 Represented Canada at World Cup
- 2011 Achieved FIDE rating of 2600 (2611 on 2011.07 FIDE rating list)
- 2011 1st place, Premier Section, 46th Capablanca Memorial, Havana, Cuba
- 2011 1st place, Pan-American Championship (+6 =3); qualified World Cup
- 2011 73rd Tata Steel, Group C, Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands =4th 7.5/13;
"Piet Zwart Prize" for final Rd.13 win over Serbia’s GM Ivan Ivanisevic
- 2010 1st place, Open A, Groningen Chess Festival, Groningen, Netherlands
- 2010 Represented Canada at Olympiad on Board 1; defeated former FIDE World Champion Veselin Topalov
- 2009 2nd place, Canadian Championship
- 2009 Canadian Open Champion
- 2008 Canadian Chess Player of the Year
- 2008 Represented Canada at Olympiad on Board 1
- 2008 1st place, First Saturday GrandMaster June, Budapest, Hungary
- 2006 Represented Canada at Olympiad
- 2006 2nd place, Canadian Championship
- 2005 Canadian Chess Player of the Year
- 2005 Canadian Open Champion
- 2005 Represented Canada World Boys Under-18 Championship (3rd place)
- 2005 Canadian Under-18 Champion
- 2004 Canadian Chess Player of the Year
- 2004 International Grandmaster (at age 16, youngest Canadian to be awarded Grandmaster title)
- 2004 Represented Canada at Olympiad
- 2004 3rd place, Canadian Championship
- 2004 Canadian Grade 10 Champion
- 2002 Represented Canada at Olympiad
- 2002 Represented Canada World Boys Under-14 Championship (6th place)
- 2002 Canadian Boys Under-14 Champion
- 2002 Canadian Grade 8 Champion
- 2001 International Master
- 2001 3rd place, Canadian Championship
- 2001 Represented Canada World Boys Under-14 Championship (8th place)
- 2001 Canadian Boys Under-14 Champion
- 2001 Canadian Grade 7 Champion
- 1999 Represented Israel World Boys Under-12 Championship
- 1999 Israel Boys Under-12 Champion
- 1998 Represented Israel World Boys Under-10 Championship
- 1998 Israel Boys Under-10 Champion
Contributor (photo): Ilia Bluvshtein.
(1892-1984)
Photo: 1951 Canadian Championship, Vancouver.
- Born Kiev, Ukraine, arrived Canada 1948
- Radiologist, professor
- Basis for Boris Pasternak's fictional character Doctor Zhivago
- Tied 1st place USSR Championship 1927
- International Master 1954
- Correspondence International Master 1967
- Represented Canada at Olympiad 1954
- Canadian Correspondence Champion (1963, 1964)
- Top rated Canadian at Year-end 1967
- Canadian Chess Hall of Fame 2003
Won three games and drew at least one game with future
World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik:
Fedor Bohatirchuk - Mikhail Botvinnik
URS Ch, 1927 Moscow, Russia
Mikhail Botvinnik - Fedor Bohatirchuk
URS Ch, 1931 Moscow, Russia
Fedor Bohatirchuk - Mikhail Botvinnik
URS Ch, 1933 Leningrad, Russia
Fedor Bohatirchuk - Mikhail Botvinnik
Moscow, Russia 1935, Round 15
Photos: 1915 - Fedor and wife Olga (1892-1990) Bohatirchuk; 1982 - Bohatirchuks with daughter Tamara.
Sources: 'Fedor Bohatirchuk: The Forgotten Champion' by Emanuel Sztein, Lenny Cavallaro, Chess Life, 1984.01; chess column by Lawrence Day, Toronto Star, 2002.01.05 (reporting the Doctor Zhivago idea, which Dr. Bohatirchuk said had been told to him); The Oxford Companion to Chess, second edition, by David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld, 1996.
Contributors: 1951 photo - family of Frank Anderson, John Donaldson; Andrew McMillan; 1915, 1982 photos - Dr. Bohatirchuk's daughter, Dr. Tamara Jeletzky (1917-1998) provided to Sergey Voronkov, Yakov Zusmanovich.
- Chess problem composer from St. Hyacinthe;
2 problems published in Canadian Chess Problems by Charles F. Stubbs, 1890
- 2015 =3rd, top Canadian, Championnats individuels de la Francophonie - Open, held in Quebec, Canada
- 1984 Canadian Junior Champion
Photo: copyright 2008 by Hal Bond.
- Appointed Deputy Arbiter, World Championship 2012 (Match Anand-Gelfand)
- Chief Arbiter, SportAccord World Mind Games 2011
- Deputy Arbiter, FIDE World Cup 2011
- FIDE Development Commission 2010-
- Senior Arbiter, Olympiad 2010
- Canada's FIDE Representative 2009-
- FIDE Match Supervisor, World Championship Candidates Final 2009 (Match Topalov-Kamsky)
- FIDE Arbiters' Commission 2008-
- Arbiter, Olympiad 2008
- Deputy Arbiter, World Championship 2008 (Match Anand-Kramnik)
- Arbiter, FIDE World Cup (2005, 2007)
- Arbiter, World Youth Championships 2002
- International Arbiter 2005
- International Organizer 2005
- CFC President 2007-8
- CFC Executive Director 1992-4
- Editor, En Passant 1992-4
- Organizer/Tournament Director, Canadian Amateur Championship (2007, 2008)
- Organizer/Tournament Director, Canadian Championship (2007, 2009, 2011)
- Organizer/Tournament Director, Canadian Open Championship 2006
- Organizer, Canadian Youth Championships 2006
- Organizer, Guelph Pro-Am International Open 2002-5
- Organizer, Canadian Women's Championship (1991, 2007, 2009 [also Tournament Director])
Contributor (photo, biography): Hal Bond.
Photo: copyright 2012 Andrei Botez.
- 2016 Represented Canada at Women's Olympiad
- 2014 Represented Canada at Women's Olympiad
- 2013 Awarded Woman FIDE Master title
- 2013 North American Girls Under-18 Championship - qualified for Woman FIDE Master title
- 2012 Represented Canada at Women's Olympiad
- 2012 Canadian Under-18 Girls Champion [top girl in Under 18 Open]
- 2012 Oregon High School Team Champion; 1st place individual on board 1
- 2011 British Columbia Women's Closed Champion
- 2011 USA All Girls National Champion; won University of Texas at Dallas scholarship worth over $100,000
- 2011 Oregon High School Team Championship - 1st place individual on board 1
- 2010 Top Female, Canadian Open Championship
- 2010 1st place, Canadian Girls Under 18 Championship; Top Under 16
- 2010 Oregon, USA High School Champion
- 2009 Competed 6th Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls
- 2009 Represented Canada World Girls Under 14 Championships
- 2009 Canadian Girls Under 14 Champion
- 2009 British Columbia Girls Under 14 Champion
- 2008 Represented Canada Pan-American Girls Under 14 Chess Championships
- 2008 British Columbia Women's Closed Champion
- 2008 Awarded Woman Candidate Master title
- 2007 Winner Canadian Chess Player of the Year Fan Ballot
- 2007 North American Girls Under 12 Champion; qualified Woman Candidate Master title
- 2007 1st place, Canadian Girls Under 12 Championship
- 2007 British Columbia Girls Open and Under 13 Champion
- 2007 Top girl, British Columbia Under 12 Championship
- 2006 1st place, Under 1600 Section, Canadian Open Championship
- 2005 Represented Canada World Girls Under 10 Championships
- 2005 Top girl, British Columbia Under 10 Championship
- 2004 Represented Canada World Girls Under 10 Championships
- 2004 Canadian Girls Under 10 Champion
- 2004 British Columbia Grade 3 Champion
- 2003 Top girl, British Columbia Under 10 Championship
- 2002 Top girl, British Columbia Under 10 Championship
Contributor (bio, photo): Andrei Botez.
(1832-1902)
Photo: Chess Canada 1974.06.
- Technical secretary, Fédération Français
d'Échecs
- Trains chess arbiters and teachers
- 2006-8 Board 1, Canada, ICCF 5th Pacific Americas Team Tournament first place team
- 2009 Arbiter, World Cup
- 2008 Awarded Correspondence International Master title
- 2001 Chief Arbiter, World Cup of Rapid Chess, Cannes, France
- 1997 Awarded FIDE Master title
- 1997 Chief Arbiter, World Youth Championship, Cannes, France
- 1990-94 Board 4, Canada, 3rd place team, 3rd North Atlantic Team Tournament
- 1992 2nd place, 6th North American Correspondence Championship
- 1988 International Arbiter
- 1980 Represented Canada on Group 'B' 1st place team at World Youth Team Championship
- 1977 Team member, Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Champion
- 1975 Canadian Correspondence Champion
- 1974 Canadian Correspondence Champion
- 1974 Team member, Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Champion
- 1973 Canadian Correspondence Junior Champion
- 1972 Canadian Correspondence Junior Champion
Here is Stephen Boyd's choice for his best game, his first win over a
grandmaster:
Stephen Boyd - Petar Popovic
France Team Championship, Mulhouse, France, Round 5, 1998
Source: Chess Personalia by Jeremy Gaige.
Photo: 1935 Canadian Championship, Canadian Chess Championship Tournament 1935, 1935.
- Wrote Le Tournoi international d'échecs, Montreal 1979 1979
- Co-wrote Fischer - Spasski 1972 1972
- Represented Monaco at Olympiad 1974
Photo: copyright 2008 by Hugh Brodie.
- Played in 29 consecutive Canadian Open Championships 1974-2002
- Played in 32 Canadian Open Championships (1968, 1974-2002, 2005, 2009)
- Historian on chess played in Montreal
Here is Hugh Brodie's choice of two of his best games:
Canadian Open, Windsor, Ontario, Round 3, 1991
Sylvester Robes - Hugh Brodie
Hugh Brodie - Gordon Taylor
Canadian Open, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Round 10, 1997.07.12
Contributor (photo, game selection): Hugh Brodie.
(1864-1945)
Source: Chess Personalia by Jeremy Gaige.
- Chess problem composer from Shelburne, Nova Scotia;
1 problem published in Canadian Chess Problems by Charles F. Stubbs, 1890
(?-1979)
- Secretary, Chess Federation of Canada, mainly during the 1960s
Photo: 2003 John Morrison Memorial, Toronto. Copyright 2003 by the photographer David Cohen.
- Represented Canada at Women's Olympiad 2000
Here is Marina Bryskine's selection of her best game from the 2000 Olympiad:
Marina Bryskine - Oubaaqua Amina
Women's Olympiad, Board 2, Canada - Morocco, Istanbul, Turkey, Round 8,
2000.11.05
Contributor: Marina Bryskine
- FIDE Master 1983
- Represented Canada as Alternate 2 on Group 'B' Gold medal winning team
at World Students' Team Championship 1977; Gold medal for Board
prize
- Represented Canada on Group 'B' 1st place team at World Youth Team
Championship 1980
- Canadian Junior Champion 1977
- Canadian Correspondence Junior Champion 1978
(1717-1800)
- Nova Scotia Director of Public Works, Secretary, Judge
- President of a 'chess, pencil, and brush club' in Halifax from about 1787
Source: Phyllis R. Blakeley, Dictionary of Canadian Biography,
1771-1800 Volume IV, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2000
Photo: copyright 2007 by Les Bunning.
- Lawyer; Senior Partner, Bunning & Farnand
- CFC President 1980-82,1990-2
- Organized Canadian Open (1973,1980), Canadian Closed 1984
- First editor of Bulletin (CFC's chess magazine) 1973-5
- First business manager of the Chess Federation of Canada 1973-5
- Chess columnist, Ottawa Citizen
Les Bunning - Michael Schleifer
Ontario Open, Ridgetown, Ontario, Round 4, 1983.05.22
Contributor (photo): Les Bunning.
- Chartered Accountant
- CFC President
- Most active tournament chess player in Canada 7 years in a row (1986-93)
Here is Doug Burgess' choice for his best game:
Doug Burgess - Francisco Cabanas
Canadian Open, Edmunston, New Brunswick, Round 5, 1990.07.02