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https://en.chessbase.com/post/induct...s-of-fame-2022 List of familiar names including John Watson and James Tarjan in the US Hall of Fame and Miguel Najdorf, Judit Polgar, and Eugenio Torre in the World Hall of Fame.
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On the basis of Filipino GM Eugenio Torre being inducted recently into the World Chess Hall of Fame, I have to believe that Canadian GM Kevin Spraggett is a worthy inductee as well.
I believe that the CFC leadership should move forward in supporting GM Spraggett's nomination for the WCHOF. It is arguable that Kevin has had a stronger career, overall, than Eugenio!
And I also believe that the late GM Igor Ivanov would have a strong case with the WCHOF, mainly through his domination of the U.S. Grand Prix circuit in the 1980s, as well as for other notable achievements. The Russians wouldn't be too happy to see Igor, a Soviet defector, inducted! All the better reason for it to happen! -
While I smile at your sentiment, I think that the sole criterion should be the chess. Igor was a very interesting person, and I think a very under-rated chess player, in part because he seemed to want it that way.Originally posted by Frank Dixon View PostComment
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Igor and Kevin would make a great addition to the WCHF. Totally agree with you Frank. Perhaps some dayComment
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I also believe the late Canadian GM / IA Daniel Abraham Yanofsky (1925-2000) would be a very worthy and deserving selection for the World Chess Hall of Fame.
He epitomized the very strong amateur player, and what was possible for a player who decided on that lifetime path in chess. He first played for Canada at age 14 on board 2 at the 1939 Buenos Aires Olympiad, which was also the first Olympiad in which Canada took part; he made one of the best scores in the entire event. He played for Canada at the 1980 Malta Olympiad, 41 years later!! And many times in between. He won 8 Canadian Closed Championships, the first at age 16 in 1941. He defeated future World Champion and reigning Soviet Champion Mikhail Botvinnik at Groningen 1946; Botvinnik won the tournament, and was likely the strongest player in the world at that time. Yanofsky, an IM from 1950, the year in which FIDE formalized the international title system, then became the first GM in the British Commonwealth of Nations, with his performance at the 1964 Tel Aviv Olympiad, after scoring his first GM norm at Dallas 1957. Those are but a few of his career achievements in chess. He was a superior scholar, won the British Championship in 1953 while studying at Oxford University, and chose a legal career, based in Winnipeg, building a distinguished and honorable reputation. He later entered politics at the local level, as a member of Winnipeg's City Council. He served in the Royal Canadian Navy in World War II. He was a Queen's Counsel (QC), and a Member of the Order of Canada. He earned the International Arbiter title, and authored at least two excellent books.
Cecil Rosner of Winnipeg would no doubt be able to provide even more information on GM Yanofsky's life and achievements in chess, and would be perhaps the best selection to lead a nomination effort for the WCHOF!
It is time for the WCHOF to include Canadians!!
Respectfully,
Frank Dixon
NTD, KingstonComment
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I agree with Frank and especially with his last sentence. It is time for the World Chess Hall of Fame to include Canadians!!Comment
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According to Wikipedia, there are 40 members of the WCHOF.
Some players that appeared to me to not be included: Anand (maybe because he's still quite active?), Kramnik, Philidor, Timman, Portisch, Reshevsky, Nunn, Geller, Polugaevsky, etc.
Perhaps Yanofsky and Spraggett should be in the Super Canadian Chess Hall of Fame, but neither of them should get in the WCHOF before any of the players I mentioned above, imo.
Edit: add Anderssen, Averbakh, and Bogoljubov, for startersLast edited by Tom O'Donnell; Thursday, 20th October, 2022, 12:30 PM."Tom is a well known racist, and like most of them he won't admit it, possibly even to himself." - Ed Seedhouse, October 4, 2020.Comment
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Yes, that is a MASSIVELY IMPRESSIVE list!! I agree with your view.Originally posted by Tom O'Donnell View PostComment
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All good points in the discussion!
First, something on sports halls of fame in the general sense.
The first major one I know of is the National Baseball Hall of Fame, started for AMERICAN baseball in 1936. Its focus remains on American baseball, although the sport is now quite international in its extent. Inductees are selected by the Baseball Writers Association of America, on an annual basis, for players' major league careers of at least ten years, for those who are retired at least five years. There is also a builders' category, and standouts from the Negro Leagues have been included since 1971; baseball at the Major League level was barred to Blacks before 1947. It is situated in Cooperstown, New York, where baseball originated around 1840. I have visited; it is very impressive.
Golf was another sport which began its Hall of Fame in the late 1930s, through the PGA (Professional Golfers' Association) of America. It has been partially absorbed into the World Golf Hall of Fame, located near Jacksonville, Florida, with an international spectrum of inductees. The site is also very impressive.
Basketball, founded as a sport in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1891 by Canadian James Naismith, has its Hall of Fame right there. It has an international spectrum, also including women in the past couple of decades. The current NBA began only in 1946. Again, my visit left me highly impressed.
Chess, begun in the 6th or 7th century, in the Middle or Near East, only had its rules, with tournament and clock practice, standardized in the later half of the 1800s. The World Chess Hall of Fame dates only from 2001, and again is an American creation, located in Saint Louis, after a couple of moves. So, chess is a much older activity with a much newer Hall of Fame. There are certainly some glaring omissions, as IM O'Donnell has pointed out in his post. Looking at its website and wikipedia article, it is unclear what its connection with FIDE is, if there is one at all.Comment
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Historical Canadians that could be in the US Hall of Fame, or rather, top Canadians in the U.S:Originally posted by Frank Dixon View Post
GM Igor Ivanov (Canadian Champion winner of chicken points)
GM Duncan Suttles (Canadian Champion born US)
GM Peter Biyiasas (Canadian Champion moved there)
GM Pascal Charbonneau (Canadian Champion moved there)
IM Frank Anderson (Canadian Champion moved there)
Boris Blumin (Canadian Champion moved to New York)
George Eastman (Toronto Champion moved to be Michigan Champion)
Jeff Sarwer (Under-10 World Champion moved there)
WCM Harmony Zhou (Under-8 World Youth Champion lives there)
WIM Yuanling Yang (lives there)
Malcolm Sim (Major Arbiter in both Canada and US)
Frank Marshall (born in New York but lived in Montreal)
IM Danny Kopec (American played in the Canadian Closed)
GM Leonid Shamkovich (govt wouldn't let him stay, so to US)
GM Wesley So (briefly here where his mother lives)
IM Kamran Shirazi(briefly in Toronto)
and there was a master on the prairies who had dual citizenship
Should Canadians who win major master tournaments in the US count? Besides the Botez sisters and those going to American Universities on
chess scholarships.
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I could not believe that he was not HoF. Needed to check >>> he was inducted in 1986.Originally posted by Erik Malmsten View Post
https://worldchesshof.org/hof-inductee/frank-j-marshall
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