Stephen Francis Smith (1860 or 1861,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada – 12 May 1928,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England) was a Canadian

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

master. Born in Ontario,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, he emigrated with his family to London,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, in the mid-1870s. Following in his father's profession Smith trained as a doctor, eventually becoming a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons and a Licentiate of the Apothecaries' Society. He played in the British Chess Championship and at Hastings (1895, 1919, 1927/28) but never in the Premier. Smith won the City of London Chess Club championship in 1895 and placed second in 1905/06. He shared 6th in the

London 1899 chess tournament The London 1899 chess tournament was a chess tournament held in London. Players of the tournament included old champion Wilhelm Steinitz and Emanuel Lasker, the latter of which won the tournament. The organizing committee was headed by Sir George ...

(the Minor Tourney,

Frank James Marshall Frank James Marshall (August 10, 1877 – November 9, 1944) was the U.S. Chess Champion from 1909 to 1936, and one of the world's strongest chess players in the early part of the 20th century. Chess career Marshall was born in New York Cit ...

won), participated in the Ostend 1907 chess tournament (C tournament), took 4th at Deal 1907 (

George Alan Thomas Sir George Alan Thomas, 7th Baronet (14 June 1881 – 23 July 1972) was a British badminton, tennis and chess player. He was twice British Chess Championship, British chess champion and a 21-time All England Open Badminton Championships, All-E ...

won), tied for 10-11th at Oxford 1910 ( Henry Ernest Atkins won), and tied for 6-8th at London 1910 (W. Ward won). During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he left the British Isles for North America. He won the Vancouver Chess Club championship in the Spring of 1915, but there is no mention of there being a British Columbia championship in 1915. Smith is first mentioned as a B.C. Champion in the August 1925 edition of BCM. He challenged Sydney Gale to Canadian Chess Championship match 1920 (abandoned by Gale after +1 –1). Smith played in

1st unofficial Chess Olympiad The 1st Team Chess Tournament was held together with the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, 12–20 July 1924, at the Hotel Majestic. Fifty-four players representing 18 countries were split into nine preliminary groups of six. The winner of each round ...

at Paris 1924 as the sole representative of Canada. He was one of the 15 delegates from all over the World who signed the proclamation act of the International Chess Federation (originally known as ''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'',

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...

) on July 20, 1924.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Stephen Francis 1860s births 1928 deaths Canadian chess players British chess players Canadian emigrants to the United Kingdom