Maurice Fox (14 January 1898 in Ukraine, Russian Empire – 25 June 1988 in Montreal) was a Canadian

chess master A chess title is a title regulated by a chess governing body and bestowed upon players based on their performance and rank. Such titles are usually granted for life. The international chess governing body FIDE grants several titles, the most pres ...

. He won the

Canadian Chess Championship This is the list of all the winners of the Canadian Chess Championship, often referred to as the Canadian Closed Championship to distinguish it from the annual Canadian Open tournament. The winner of the Canadian Closed advances to the World Cup st ...

eight times, and is tied for the most Canadian titles with

Abe Yanofsky Daniel Abraham Yanofsky, (March 25, 1925 – March 5, 2000), commonly known as Daniel Yanofsky or Abe Yanofsky, was a Canadian chess player, chess writer, chess arbiter, and lawyer. He was Canada's first Grandmaster and an eight-time Canadian ...

Biography

At the end of 1898, Fox's family escaped from a series of pogroms in the small town in Ukraine where he had been born to London, England. After graduating from the University of London in 1921, he emigrated to Canada in 1923. The following year, Fox took second, behind John Morrison, at the

in Hamilton. In 1926, he took second in the Canadian Chess Championship held in Montreal. He was Canadian champion in 1927, 1929, 1931 (after a playoff), 1932, 1935, 1938, 1940 and 1949. He also played in several United States Opens. In 1928 and 1929, he won the Montreal City Championship. In 1929, he took 5th in Bradley Beach, New Jersey; world champion

Alexander Alekhine Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine, ''Aleksándr Aleksándrovich Alékhin''; (March 24, 1946) was a Russian and French chess player and the fourth World Chess Champion, a title he held for two reigns. By the age of 22, Alekhine was already a ...

won. In 1930, Fox won the Montreal Chess Club Summer tournament. In 1931, he took 12th in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

(

José Raúl Capablanca José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (19 November 1888 – 8 March 1942) was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. A chess prodigy, he is widely renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play. Capablanc ...

won). In 1933, he took 9th in Detroit (US Open); the event was won by

Reuben Fine Reuben C. Fine (October 11, 1914 – March 26, 1993) was an American chess player, psychologist, university professor, and author of many books on both chess and psychology. He was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the mi ...

. In 1935, he won the First Montreal Speed Championship, Montreal City Championship, and

held at Sun Life. In 1936, he took 2nd, behind

Boris Blumin Boris Blumin (January 11, 1908 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html"_;"title="ecember_29,_1907_Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O._S._Saint_Petersburg.html" ;"title="Old Style and New Style dates">O. S.">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="ec ...

in Toronto at the Canadian Championship. At the 1936 US Open, he took 2nd, behind

Arthur Dake Arthur William Dake (April 8, 1910 – April 28, 2000) was an American chess player. He was born in Portland, Oregon and died in Reno, Nevada. He was born into a Polish farmer family ( Edward Winter has quoted a mistaken statement with Dake's n ...

in the preliminaries and tied for 8-10th (finals) in Philadelphia. The event was won by

I.A. Horowitz Israel Albert Horowitz (often known as I. A. Horowitz or Al Horowitz) (November 15, 1907 – January 18, 1973) was an American International Master of chess. He is most remembered today for the books he wrote about chess. In 1989 he was induc ...

. In 1937, Fox took second in Quebec City (Canadian championship, Boris Blumin won). He won the Canadian Championship at Toronto 1938 and in Montreal 1940. His last championship win was in 1949 at Arvida, Quebec, ahead of

Daniel Yanofsky Daniel Abraham Yanofsky, (March 25, 1925 – March 5, 2000), commonly known as Daniel Yanofsky or Abe Yanofsky, was a Canadian chess player, chess writer, chess arbiter, and lawyer. He was Canada's first Grandmaster and an eight-time Canadian ...

and Fedor Bohatirchuk. In 1945, Fox beat Morrison on board 1 in a telegraph match Toronto vs Montreal. In 1954, he played for Canada at first reserve board in the 11th

Chess Olympiad The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in 2020 and ...

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(+5 –2 =1). At age 58, Fox beat the 13-year-old prodigy,

Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 11� ...

, at the 1956 Canadian Open Chess Championship in Montreal. In a 1973 interview, Fox indicated he had learned chess at 14 when a brother brought home a chess set. His brilliance soon became apparent. While still in London, he was the only player to defeat Capablanca in a simultaneous exhibition (see Notable Games below). "I never took a lesson in my life," said Fox. "In fact, it was much later, after I entered tournaments with top players, that I even looked into a chess book." His specialty was the Scotch Opening. "I liked the Scotch because it is an aggressive, more reckless style of play," he said. "I hated to get piled up in a defensive game. I liked action." Blind in his left eye from childhood, Fox's deteriorating eyesight affected his ability to play competitive chess in later years. Nevertheless, at 80, he played in the Quebec Open, losing only to

Kevin Spraggett Kevin Spraggett (born 10 November 1954) is a Canadian chess grandmaster. He was the fourth Canadian to earn the grandmaster title, after Abe Yanofsky, Duncan Suttles and Peter Biyiasas. Spraggett is the only Canadian to have qualified for th ...

. Fox never pursued a chess career, but worked as an electrical engineer with

Bell A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inter ...

and later with the standards branch of the federal government. He married his wife Sylvia in 1928, with whom he had two children. In 2000, Fox was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Chess Hall of Fame.

Notable games

José Raúl Capablanca vs Maurice Fox, London 1919, Simultaneous Exhibition, Vienna Game, Anderssen Defense, C25, 0-1Alexander Alekhine vs Maurice Fox, Toronto 1924, French Defense, Exchange, Svenonius Variation, C01, 1/2-1/2Bobby Fischer vs Maurice Fox, Montreal 1956, CA Open, Zukertort Opening, Symmetrical Variation, A05, 0-1

Biography

Notable games

References

External links