Kevin Spraggett
Encyclopedia
Kevin Spraggett is a Canadian chess
grandmaster
. He is 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 the Candidates'
level, having done so in 1985 and 1988. He has won a total of eight Canadian Open Chess Championship
s, seven Closed Canadian Chess Championship
s, and has represented Canada eight times in Olympiad play. Spraggett has also written for Canadian chess publications.
, but lost the playoff match to John MacPhail. One of his key early tournament victories came in the 1974 Montreal Championship, where he scored 5.5/6. He had reached national master strength by this time, just before his twentieth birthday. He attended McGill University
, studying engineering
, and was an excellent student; however, he left McGill before completing his degree, in favor of becoming a chess professional. Spraggett spent his early years developing his game in minor Canadian and American Swiss system open events, where the prizes were often low. His younger brother Grant is also a strong player, having earned the FIDE Master (FM) title.
He was awarded the IM title in 1975, following a second-place finish at the Zonal Canadian Chess Championship
in Calgary
; Peter Biyiasas
won. Spraggett raised his game to meet the challenge of the powerful Soviet defector Igor V. Ivanov, who had settled in Montreal in the early 1980s. Those years saw Spraggett attain success in several strong tournaments, with victories in the 1983 World Open, 1984 Commonwealth Championship
, 1984 New York
Open, and 1985 Commonwealth Championship
. He did not play an international-standard grandmaster round-robin
tournament until Wijk aan Zee
early in 1985, just after his thirtieth birthday, at which time he was the highest-rated IM in the world.
Spraggett won his first of seven Canadian titles in 1984, which qualified him into the Taxco
Interzonal
the next year. His fourth-place result at Taxco 1985, where he topped many more famous players, automatically earned the International Grandmaster title, and seeded him to the Candidates event, the first Canadian to achieve this. He came in last at Montpellier
Candidates 1985, but qualified again for the next Candidates. He defeated Andrei Sokolov
, then ranked third in the world, in a blitz playoff, in his first-round match at Saint John
, 1988, lost in overtime games in the 1989 Candidates' quarterfinal round to Soviet grandmaster Artur Yusupov
at Quebec City
.
Spraggett has followed up with mostly superb performances in eight Chess Olympiad
s, eight victories in the Canadian Open Championship
, and a host of tournament victories in Europe. Spraggett is widely considered to be the strongest chess player in Canadian history. His FIDE rating has been as high as 2633, in January 2007, at age 52, and in the late 1980s he was ranked consistently amongst the top 100 players in the world. Spraggett has lived in Portugal since the late 1980s, and plays most of his tournaments in Europe, although he visits North America every year or two on average, to compete there. His best recent finishes include a victory at the Figueira da Foz
International Chess Festival (December 2008, with 7.5/9) and a clear second place at the Calvià
Open (in October 2007, with 7/9).
s with either color, to complex King's Indian
and Dutch
Defenses, to quieter lines such as the Caro-Kann and Queen's Indian Defences, and more subtle Réti
and English Opening
s as White. This extensive range makes him very difficult to prepare for. Spraggett is also a strong endgame player. A true universalist of the chessboard, his style perhaps most closely resembles that of former World Champion Vasily Smyslov
.
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
grandmaster
International Grandmaster
The title Grandmaster is awarded to strong chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain....
. He is the fourth Canadian to earn the grandmaster title, after Abe Yanofsky, Duncan Suttles
Duncan Suttles
Duncan Suttles is an International Grandmaster of chess who was the strongest Canadian player between the eras of Abe Yanofsky and Kevin Spraggett. He is one of the few over-the-board grandmasters who also holds the title of Grandmaster of Correspondence Chess. Suttles has been inactive in...
and Peter Biyiasas
Peter Biyiasas
Peter Biyiasas is a Canadian chess grandmaster. He was Canadian champion in 1972 and 1975, represented Canada with fine success on four Olympiad teams, played in two Interzonals. He moved to the United States in 1979, settling in California. He has been retired from competitive play since the...
. Spraggett is the only Canadian to have qualified for the Candidates'
Candidates Tournament
The Candidates Tournament is a chess tournament organized by the world chess federation FIDE since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship...
level, having done so in 1985 and 1988. He has won a total of eight Canadian Open Chess Championship
Canadian Open Chess Championship
The Canadian Open Chess Championship is Canada's Open chess championship, first held in 1956, and held annually since 1973, usually in mid-summer. It is organized by the Chess Federation of Canada....
s, seven Closed Canadian Chess Championship
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 next stage of the FIDE World Chess Championship cycle...
s, and has represented Canada eight times in Olympiad play. Spraggett has also written for Canadian chess publications.
Chess career
Kevin Spraggett was raised in Montreal, and began playing chess at age ten. He tied for first in the 1973-74 Junior Canadian Chess ChampionshipCanadian 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 next stage of the FIDE World Chess Championship cycle...
, but lost the playoff match to John MacPhail. One of his key early tournament victories came in the 1974 Montreal Championship, where he scored 5.5/6. He had reached national master strength by this time, just before his twentieth birthday. He attended McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
, studying engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
, and was an excellent student; however, he left McGill before completing his degree, in favor of becoming a chess professional. Spraggett spent his early years developing his game in minor Canadian and American Swiss system open events, where the prizes were often low. His younger brother Grant is also a strong player, having earned the FIDE Master (FM) title.
He was awarded the IM title in 1975, following a second-place finish at the Zonal Canadian Chess Championship
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 next stage of the FIDE World Chess Championship cycle...
in Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
; Peter Biyiasas
Peter Biyiasas
Peter Biyiasas is a Canadian chess grandmaster. He was Canadian champion in 1972 and 1975, represented Canada with fine success on four Olympiad teams, played in two Interzonals. He moved to the United States in 1979, settling in California. He has been retired from competitive play since the...
won. Spraggett raised his game to meet the challenge of the powerful Soviet defector Igor V. Ivanov, who had settled in Montreal in the early 1980s. Those years saw Spraggett attain success in several strong tournaments, with victories in the 1983 World Open, 1984 Commonwealth Championship
Commonwealth Chess Championship
The Commonwealth Chess Championship is a gathering of chess players from Commonwealth countries.-History:A championship was planned for New Zealand in 1949, but it was canceled because the British Chess Federation was unable to attend.-Oxford 1950:...
, 1984 New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
Open, and 1985 Commonwealth Championship
Commonwealth Chess Championship
The Commonwealth Chess Championship is a gathering of chess players from Commonwealth countries.-History:A championship was planned for New Zealand in 1949, but it was canceled because the British Chess Federation was unable to attend.-Oxford 1950:...
. He did not play an international-standard grandmaster round-robin
Round-robin
The term round-robin was originally used to describe a document signed by multiple parties in a circle to make it more difficult to determine the order in which it was signed, thus preventing a ringleader from being identified...
tournament until Wijk aan Zee
Wijk aan Zee
Wijk aan Zee is a small town on the coast of the North Sea in the municipality of Beverwijk in the province of North Holland of the Netherlands. The prestigious Tata Steel chess tournament formerly Corus chess tournament and before that called Hoogovens tournament takes place there every year.Due...
early in 1985, just after his thirtieth birthday, at which time he was the highest-rated IM in the world.
Spraggett won his first of seven Canadian titles in 1984, which qualified him into the Taxco
Taxco
Taxco de Alarcón is a small city and municipality located in the Mexican state of Guerrero. The name Taxco is most likely derived from the Nahuatl word tlacheco, which means “place of the ballgame.” However, one interpretation has the name coming from the word tatzco which means “where the father...
Interzonal
Interzonal
Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by FIDE, the World Chess Federation, and were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle.- Zonal tournaments :...
the next year. His fourth-place result at Taxco 1985, where he topped many more famous players, automatically earned the International Grandmaster title, and seeded him to the Candidates event, the first Canadian to achieve this. He came in last at Montpellier
Montpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
Candidates 1985, but qualified again for the next Candidates. He defeated Andrei Sokolov
Andrei Sokolov
Andrei Yurievich Sokolov is a French chess Grandmaster of Russian origin, now living in France...
, then ranked third in the world, in a blitz playoff, in his first-round match at Saint John
Saint John, New Brunswick
City of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...
, 1988, lost in overtime games in the 1989 Candidates' quarterfinal round to Soviet grandmaster Artur Yusupov
Artur Yusupov
Artur Mayakovich Yusupov is a German International Grandmaster of chess, and a chess writer.-Chess career:...
at Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
.
Spraggett has followed up with mostly superb performances in eight Chess Olympiad
Chess Olympiad
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete against each other. The event is organised by FIDE, which selects the host nation.-Birth of the Olympiad:The first Olympiad was unofficial...
s, eight victories in the Canadian Open Championship
Canadian Open Chess Championship
The Canadian Open Chess Championship is Canada's Open chess championship, first held in 1956, and held annually since 1973, usually in mid-summer. It is organized by the Chess Federation of Canada....
, and a host of tournament victories in Europe. Spraggett is widely considered to be the strongest chess player in Canadian history. His FIDE rating has been as high as 2633, in January 2007, at age 52, and in the late 1980s he was ranked consistently amongst the top 100 players in the world. Spraggett has lived in Portugal since the late 1980s, and plays most of his tournaments in Europe, although he visits North America every year or two on average, to compete there. His best recent finishes include a victory at the Figueira da Foz
Figueira da Foz
Figueira da Foz , also known as Figueira for short, is a municipality in the Coimbra District, in Portugal. It is located at the mouth of the Mondego River, 40 km west of Coimbra, and sheltered by hills ....
International Chess Festival (December 2008, with 7.5/9) and a clear second place at the Calvià
Calvià
Calvià is a municipality on the island of Majorca, part of the Spanish autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. It is located in the southwestern part of the island of Majorca, between the Serra de Tramuntana and the Serra de Na Burguesa. The municipal seat is the town of Vila Calvia.Calvià...
Open (in October 2007, with 7/9).
Highlights
- World Open Champion 1983;
- New York Open Champion 1984;
- Commonwealth Champion 1984 (Hong KongHong KongHong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
) and 1985 (London); - Seven Closed Canadian Chess ChampionshipCanadian Chess ChampionshipThis 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 next stage of the FIDE World Chess Championship cycle...
titles (1984, 1986, 1989, 1994, 1996, 2001, 2002); - Eight Canadian Open Chess ChampionshipCanadian Open Chess ChampionshipThe Canadian Open Chess Championship is Canada's Open chess championship, first held in 1956, and held annually since 1973, usually in mid-summer. It is organized by the Chess Federation of Canada....
titles (1983, 1987, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000); - Tied first place Canadian Junior Championship 1973-4;
- Canadian Closed Blitz Champion 1996;
- Represented Canada at World Championship Interzonals (1985, Taxco, and 1990, Manila);
- Represented Canada at World Championship Candidates' tournament 1985, Montpellier;
- Represented Canada at World Championship Candidates' matches (1988, 1989); he beat Andrei SokolovAndrei SokolovAndrei Yurievich Sokolov is a French chess Grandmaster of Russian origin, now living in France...
(+2 –1 =9) in 1988 at Saint John, but was then eliminated by Artur YusupovArtur YusupovArtur Mayakovich Yusupov is a German International Grandmaster of chess, and a chess writer.-Chess career:...
(+1 –2 =6) in 1989 at Quebec City; - Represented Canada at World Championship Knockout (1997, 1999);
- Represented Canada at Chess Olympiads (1986, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002);
- Silver medal, Board 2, Olympiad 2000, Istanbul;
- Top rated Canadian at year-end 23 times (1980, 1982–90, 1992–2000, 2002-5);
- Canadian Chess Hall of Fame 2000;
- Grandmaster Spraggett wrote a column during 2006 with Chess Canada magazine.
Playing style
Spraggett is a solid positional player, who has the capability of developing sharp tactics against any opponent, but generally these tactics flow naturally and harmoniously from the position, instead of being overly forced. During his career, he has essayed a very wide range of openings, from sharp Sicilian DefenceSicilian Defence
The Sicilian Defence is a chess opening that begins with the moves:The Sicilian is the most popular and best-scoring response to White's first move 1.e4...
s with either color, to complex King's Indian
King's Indian Defence
The King's Indian Defence is a common chess opening. It arises after the moves:Black intends to follow up with 3...Bg7 and 4...d6.The Grünfeld Defence arises when Black plays 3...d5 instead, and is considered a separate opening...
and Dutch
Dutch Defence
The Dutch Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:-History:Elias Stein , an Alsatian who settled in The Hague, recommended the defence as the best reply to 1.d4 in his 1789 book Nouvel essai sur le jeu des échecs, avec des réflexions militaires relatives à ce jeu.-Theory:Black's 1.....
Defenses, to quieter lines such as the Caro-Kann and Queen's Indian Defences, and more subtle Réti
Réti Opening
The Réti Opening is a hypermodern chess opening whose traditional or classic method begins with the moves:White plans to bring the d5-pawn under attack from the flank, or entice it to advance to d4 and undermine it later...
and English Opening
English Opening
In chess, the English Opening is the opening where White begins:A flank opening, it is the fourth most popular and, according to various databases, anywhere from one of the two most successful to the fourth most successful of White's twenty possible first moves. White begins the fight for the...
s as White. This extensive range makes him very difficult to prepare for. Spraggett is also a strong endgame player. A true universalist of the chessboard, his style perhaps most closely resembles that of former World Champion Vasily Smyslov
Vasily Smyslov
Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, and was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidate for the World Chess Championship on eight occasions . Smyslov was twice equal first at the Soviet Championship , and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad medals won...
.
Notable chess games
- Daniel Yanofsky vs Kevin Spraggett, Canadian Zonal, Calgary 1975, Sicilian Defense, Taimanov Variation (B46), 0-1 A subtle positional grind to defeat the eight-time Canadian champion.
- Lev Alburt vs Kevin Spraggett, Atlantic Open, Washington 1979, English Opening (A16), 0-1 Exceptionally complex and hard-fought game sees Spraggett eventually come out on top following a deep exchange sacrifice.
- Kevin Spraggett vs Lev Alburt, New York Open 1984, Alekhine's Defense (B04), 1-0 Ex-Soviet GM gets beaten up quite badly in his favorite defense; Spraggett goes on to win the tournament.
- Lajos Portisch vs Kevin Spraggett, Wijk aan Zee 1985, Queen's Gambit Accepted (D20), 0-1 A complicated positional battle eventually sees the veteran Hungarian GM conceding an upset defeat.
- Kevin Spraggett vs Jonathan Speelman, Taxco Interzonal 1985, Queen's Indian Defense (E12), 1-0 Spraggett shows he will be a contender to qualify with this tactical win over one of England's best.
- Jan Timman vs Kevin Spraggett, Montpellier Candidates' 1985, Queen's Pawn Game, Keres Defense (A40), 0-1 A bizarre opening sees Spraggett sacrifice a piece on move nine, and the experienced Dutch GM struggles to find his bearings for the rest of the game.
- Kevin Spraggett vs Boris Spassky, Montpellier Candidates' 1985, English Opening (A31), 1-0 A former world champion can't handle Spraggett's patient strategical buildup, which explodes into a virulent attack as the time control approaches.
- Kevin Spraggett vs Andrei Sokolov, Saint John Candidates' match, game 5, 1988, Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation (B97), 1-0 After a fashionable sharp opening, Sokolov, the world's #3-ranked player, can't hold the slightly inferior endgame in the face of Spraggett's precision.
- Kevin Spraggett vs Artur Yusupov, Quebec City Candidates' quarter-final, game 2, 1989, Reti Opening (A07) Spraggett maneuvers carefully before unleashing a nasty exchange sacrifice, which crowns his positional pressure.
- Kevin Spraggett vs Boris Gelfand, Moscow Olympiad 1994, Sicilian Defense, Closed Variation (B23), 1-0 A possible opening surprise puts Gelfand on the defensive, and Spraggett never lets up.
- Stellan Brynell vs Kevin Spraggett, Tarragona Open 2006, Queen's Indian Defense (E15), 0-1 A quiet opening leads into middlegame risks by Spraggett, culminating in a lovely finish.