RIP - Serge Lacroix

[Hugh Brodie]

After being ill for several years, Serge Lacroix passed away in June. He would have been about 80.
His chess career began in Quebec City in the mid 1950's as a junior. He opened a chess club there in the late 1960's on the Cote d'Abraham. I stayed there a couple of times - sleeping on the floor - during his weekend tournaments. He organized monthly tournaments for several years, as well as being involved in the Quebec Carnival tournaments (he won in 1972 and 1981).

He moved to Montreal in the mid 1970's - running chess clubs in various locations. First one was at 1111 de Maisonneuve E, which got slated for demolition. He then moved to 1365 Ste Catherine E - calling his club "Le Specialiste des Echecs". He sold the club in the early 80's, but the club and name remained there until about 2002. His next location was in the old LaSalle hotel on Drummond St. It was known then as the "Merlion" (today it's a "Best Western"). It was open seven days a week with regular tournaments. He was competing with Roman Pelts who also had a club running regular events. Both clubs folded a couple of years later. He then opened a club on the second floor of a building on Mont-Royal, near Papineau - it lasted about a year. He then dedicated his time to tournament play.

Since the FQE started keeping records (around 1972), Serge played over 3700 FQE-rated games (and probably hundreds more before then). He gave me a big pile of old scoresheets, and I added as many as I could to CanBase (there are over 1200) - but many had unreadable or missing player/tournament/date info that they could not be kept for posterity.. .

His last tournament was in 2014, and his health was in a decline then.

RIP. .

[Aris Marghetis]

This is tremendously sad news.I grew up in Montreal and he was at EVERY tournament. He was truly a Quebec chess legend. Rest in peace.

[Hans Jung]

Yes Serge Lacroix was a Quebec chess legend. Rest in Peace Serge.

[Jacques Labelle]

Je viens de me poser la question: "Qu'arrive -t-il à Serge Lacroix". Mauvaise et triste nouvelle ... Je l'aimais bien; à 17 ans une de mes premier exploit est de l'avoir battu. Et plusieurs fois ensuite ... Mais il m'a déjà écrasé ! Une bonne fois ! Merci Serge. Jacques Labelle.

[Frank Dixon]

In my respectful opinion, Serge Lacroix would be a very worthy inductee to the Canadian Chess Hall of Fame, as a lifelong player of enormous activity, indefatigable promoter of chess, and a 'chess evangelist'. He was something of a category unto himself!

I first met him at the Quebec Carnaval Open 1973, my first-ever big tournament. When visiting his chess emporium, I, along with two high school teammates and two adults as part of our group, were treated to a chess group lesson, in French, which helped me develop my second language skills, since one could easily follow his presentation on a demo board. Then he challenged me, a 15-year-old unrated player, just arrived after a 7-hour bus trip to get there in midwinter, to a 15-minute game, and I won (although I believe he took it easy on me!). Buoyed by this unexpected outcome, my spirits were raised, and I went on to have a good tournament. Serge had an engaging personality, and was very friendly to everyone, so far as I could see. What a tremendous positive example for developing chess!!

Serge and I went on to a friendship which I could renew whenever I was in Montreal, and we played a couple of very interesting training games in my pet variations (I kept the game scores). By my count, he wound up slightly ahead in our head-to-head rivalry, over a 30+ year stretch.

Canadian chess will likely never again see anyone quite like Serge Lacroix!! He will most definitely be missed. Thanks for the memories, Serge!!

RIP Serge,
Frank Dixon
NTD, Kingston

[Aris Marghetis]

I support Frank's recommendation that Serge Lacroix be considered for the Canadian Chess Hall of Fame. It's wonderful that non-Montrealers like Frank are posting in his recognition. Having spent almost three decades in Montreal, I can tell you that Serge Lacroix was an absolute legend there! His apparent love for chess and chess people was extraordinary; everyone seemed to know him?!

P.S. I understand this isn't always possible, but it would be nice to recognize more of our legends while they are still with us ...

[Frank Dixon]

Thanks, Aris, for your insights! I do believe the Canadian Chess Hall of Fame has some catching up to do, since several years saw no selections; I do believe they are making progress on this!!

I am presenting game one from the Dixon vs Lacroix match, Montreal 2000, for your enjoyment. Just to note that in game two of this match, Serge defeated me in a game I count as among the best games I have ever lost, and I plan to bring that game soon! In our games, sharp play predominated, with White generally winning; I had enormous problems playing Black against Serge, winning two games over a 30-year stretch!]

Frank Dixon (2090) -- Serge Lacroix (2112)
Montreal 2000, played Jan. 5, chez Maison de Serge
Match game #1 of 4
Time control: G/45'
King's Gambit, Fischer Defense, C34
Clock times in brackets
Notes by Frank Dixon

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 d6
[We played our match with games starting late at night, after Serge ended his workdays at Le Specialiste, his chess bistro. As a King's Gambit player since high school, I have found that 3...d6, the Fischer Defense, is consistently the most popular reply I have faced. Next would be 3...d5, then 3...g5. I prefer 3...Be7, the Cunningham Defense, myself, when called upon to defend the gambit, with the rare line 3...Be7 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.e5 Ne4!? my choice to lead into rarely explored territory!]
4.Bc4 g5!?
[In ECO C, second edition, 1981, GM Victor Korchnoi recommended 4...h6 as best here.]
5.h4 g4 6.Ng5!?
[This move is risky, but I do have a sharp plan which I had analyzed quite deeply, and enjoyed success with. White realizes that the N/g5 could become trapped, and does plan to sacrifice it for compensation. A similar idea has been seen for many years in the lines with 4.d4, but not with 4.Bc4, to my knowledge. There is some resemblance to the ancient Muzio Gambit, where White allows Black to advance his Kingside pawns to win the N/f3, by ...g4xf3.]
6...Nh6 7.d4 Qe7 8.O-O Nc6 9.Nc3 f6
[Traps the knight, but, as explained, White knew this might happen!]
10.Bxf4 fxg5 11.Bxg5 Qd7 (4,17)
[White certainly has some compensation for the piece; Black's position is not so easy to play. One measure of the plan's value is that Serge has consumed 13 minutes more than me, and with a 45-minute control, this could become significant as the game unfolds.]
12.Qd2!
[Threatening to regain the piece by Bxh6, with Black lagging in development and space, and his King still in the center.]
12...Bg7 13.e5!
[This set Serge thinking! Since White is threatening 14.e6!, winning the Queen, the pawn capture is virtually forced.]
13...dxe5
[Shuts the B/g7 into a passive role.]
14.d5! Na5 (8,26)
[Black has several possibilities here, and in other games reaching this position, I have faced 14...Nf5, 14...Ne7, and 14...Nd8. All have their problems. Play is about to become very sharp.]
15.Bb5 c6 16.dxc6 bxc6
[And not 16...Qxd2? 17.cxb7+!! Qd7 18.bxa8Q!!, 1-0, as in Dixon -- Dr. Peter Sibbald, Kingston Chess Club Gambit Tournament 2003 (G/15'), which was organized by Dr. Dilip Panjwani, with a wide menu of gambits to select from, and the matched opponents getting a game with each color!]
17.Bxh6 Qxd2
[Black welcomes the chance to exchange Queens, but this by no means ends his problems!]
18.Bxd2 cxb5 (12,35) 19.Nd5!
[The double threat of the fork on c7 and the capture on a5 places Black in a deep quandary.]
19...Rb8 20.Bxa5
[Restores material equality with a continuing attack!]
20...Bb7 21.Nc7+ Ke7 22.Rad1! Rhd8 23.Ba4#!, 1-0. (17,41)
[A highly picturesque finish! Serge was somewhat shocked, but he recovered quickly, after a short break for a couple of slugs of beer, to respond magnificently to defeat me!]

[Frank Dixon]

I have to correct a typo at the end of the Dixon -- Lacroix game, posted yesterday, immediately above this post. Black's 22nd move was 22...Rhc8, not 22...Rhd8, as I wrote. Sorry about that. The full corrected game score:

Frank Dixon -- Serge Lacroix, Montreal 2000, M 1 of 4, King's Gambit, C34:
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 d6 4.Bc4 g5 5.h4 g4 6.Ng5 Nh6 7.d4 Qe7 8.O-O Nc6 9.Nc3 f6 10.Bxf4 fxg5 11.Bxg5 Qd7 12.Qd2 Bg7 13.e5 dxe5 14.d5 Na5 15.Bb5 c6 16.dxc6 bxc6 17.Bxh6 Qxd2 18.Bxd2 cxb5 19.Nd5 Rb8 20.Bxa5 Bb7 21.Nc7+ Ke7 22.Rad1 Rhc8 23.Bb4#, 1-0.

[Hans Jung]

I have to correct a typo at the end of the Dixon -- Lacroix game, posted yesterday, immediately above this post. Black's 22nd move was 22...Rhc8, not 22...Rhd8, as I wrote. Sorry about that. The full corrected game score:

Frank Dixon -- Serge Lacroix, Montreal 2000, M 1 of 4, King's Gambit, C34:
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 d6 4.Bc4 g5 5.h4 g4 6.Ng5 Nh6 7.d4 Qe7 8.O-O Nc6 9.Nc3 f6 10.Bxf4 fxg5 11.Bxg5 Qd7 12.Qd2 Bg7 13.e5 dxe5 14.d5 Na5 15.Bb5 c6 16.dxc6 bxc6 17.Bxh6 Qxd2 18.Bxd2 cxb5 19.Nd5 Rb8 20.Bxa5 Bb7 21.Nc7+ Ke7 22.Rad1 Rhc8 23.Bb4#, 1-0.

Nice game Frank in the old swashbuckling style! - and a miniature no less!

[Frank Dixon]

Thanks, Hans! Generally speaking, when Serge and I got together for chess, our games were sharp and interesting, if not necessarily correct chess! That was definitely the case for this match:
G1: FD 1-0 SL, King's Gambit;
G2: SL 1-0 FD, Sicilian Dragon;
G3: FD 1-0 SL, Evans Gambit;
G4 : SL 1/2 FD, Sicilian Dragon.
I do have all four game scores, and plan to post the complete match soon!