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| Mar-18-08 | | Gameoverziggy: Does anyone know where we can find anymore of his games? |
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| Sep-10-08 | | jon01: He probably thought that he was and would be the best ever player named 'Magnus'. |
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| Oct-03-08 | | Karpova: Article "In from the Cold: The Life and Chess of Magnus Smith" by Myron Samsin: http://www.chesscafe.com/text/skitt... A long but interesting article.
Excerpt:
<Reykjavik, Iceland, is known to chess players for the Spassky-Fischer match of 1972. But just north of the city, jutting westward into the North Atlantic, lies a rocky peninsula known as Snaefellsnes. Tiny fishing villages dot its edge, and a thin layer of soil offers the promise of a few crops in the interior. Towering over its western tip is the giant volcano Snaefellsjökull, today one of the main tourist sites on the island. Into this landscape, near the village of Raudhamel, Magnus Magnusson was born in 1869. Years later upon arriving in the New World he would adopt the surname Smith, but his original name, following the Icelandic custom of patronymic surnames, meant "Magnus, the son of
Magnus."
Young Magnus appeared at an unfortunate time in his country's history. For at least a half-century before, the weather had been unusually warm. Because of it, crops were bountiful, the sea was full of fish, and Iceland's population grew and prospered. Then the weather changed for the worse. Beginning around 1870, it turned cold and stayed cold for twenty years. No crops grew. Harbors were choked with ice, and no fish could be caught. Mass famine set in. Diaries of the time recorded horrific scenes as the island starved, trapped far away in the northern ocean. Magnus' mother Ragnheidur died in the famine when he was six years old. His father being either absent or dead, Magnus had only his siblings for comfort. His sister Holmfridi was left to care for him, two other sisters, and a brother. Because of her the little family survived the famine years, though Magnus would be frail and slight for the rest of his life, likely due to youthful malnutrition. His sister brought the family to Stadharstad, on the south coast of Snaefellsnes. There Magnus was able to take school lessons with the local parish priest, Thorkell Eyjolfsson. Thorkell seems to have been well connected, as his wife was the daughter of a Thingmann (member of the parliament, or Althing), his son would become a Thingmann, and his daughter would marry one. Perhaps Magnus also learned the rudiments of chess here, from the educated and cultured priest at Stadharstad. He certainly did know something of chess while in Iceland, though only a little, as he would later tell a Montreal newspaper.> Johann Einarsson Straumfjord was his uncle.
The article also contains games missing from the database. I will try to submit them. |
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| Dec-04-08 | | Karpova: Some games from the article mentioned in my post above - I submitted them a long time ago and they are still not in the database so I post them here: The first game is annotated and therefore so messed up - I'll post the same game without annotations below it. [Event "North West tournament"]
[Site "Winnipeg, Canada"]
[Date "1904.??.??"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Magnus Smith"]
[Black "Charles W Blake"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C63"]
1.e4 Annotations by Magnus Smith from "Checkmate", March 1904 e5 2.Nf3
Nc6 3.Bb5 f5 How many of us do not cast a kindly eye upon this
move as a possible relief from the difficult defence to the ♖uy
Lopez. 4.d3 I believe this to be the best move; it is endorsed
by the "Handbuch". Bc5 5.O-O d6 6.Nc3 f4 This is premature,
♘f6 is the usual move. 7.d4 exd4 8.Nxd4 Bd7 9.Bxc6 bxc6 10.Bxf4 Qf6 11.Be3 Ne7 12.Nce2 O-O 13.c3 Rab8 14.Qd2 Ng6 15.f4 Rbe8 16.Ng3 Rf7 17.Rf2 h6 18.Raf1 Rfe7 19.Qd3 Nh4 20.a4 ♗ad, yet it is interesting to note the
trouble that this wasted move gave White. Bb6 21.Nf3 Nxf3+ 22.Rxf3 Bg4
23.R3f2 h5 24.Bxb6 axb6 25.h3 The only way to save the center
pawn. h4 26.Nh1 Bd7 27.Re1 Bf5 28.Rfe2 Bd7 29.Qf3 All this
manoevring on White's part is necessary to hold the position. c5 30.b3
Bc6 31.c4 Qd4+ 32.Nf2 Rf8 33.f5 Rfe8 34.Qg4 Qf6 35.Qf4 g6 ♗lack's
case was getting more desperate with every move, but this did
not improve matters. Evidently he overlooked that he could not
win the ♔♙ by ♕d4+ after White's ♘g4 on account of ♘f6+ winning
a piece. 36.Ng4 Qd4+ 37.Kh1 Rf8 The best move. 38.Qg5 Rh7 ♘ot
good, but with the best continuation White would win easily. 39.fxg6 Rg7
40.Nh6+ Kh8 41.Qxh4 1-0
[Event "North West tournament"]
[Site "Winnipeg, Canada"]
[Date "1904.??.??"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Magnus Smith"]
[Black "Charles W Blake"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C63"]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 f5 4.d3 Bc5 5.O-O d6 6.Nc3 f4 7.d4 exd4 8.Nxd4 Bd7 9.Bxc6 bxc6 10.Bxf4 Qf6 11.Be3 Ne7 12.Nce2 O-O 13.c3 Rab8 14.Qd2 Ng6 15.f4 Rbe8 16.Ng3 Rf7 17.Rf2 h6 18.Raf1 Rfe7 19.Qd3 Nh4 20.a4 Bb6 21.Nf3 Nxf3+ 22.Rxf3 Bg4 23.R3f2 h5 24.Bxb6 axb6 25.h3 h4 26.Nh1 Bd7 27.Re1 Bf5 28.Rfe2 Bd7 29.Qf3 c5 30.b3 Bc6 31.c4 Qd4+ 32.Nf2 Rf8 33.f5 Rfe8 34.Qg4 Qf6 35.Qf4 g6 36.Ng4 Qd4+ 37.Kh1 Rf8 38.Qg5 Rh7 39.fxg6 Rg7 40.Nh6+ Kh8 41.Qxh4 1-0 [Event "Western Chess Association Tournament"]
[Site "Chicago, USA"]
[Date "1906.??.??"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Magnus Smith"]
[Black "G H Wohlbrecht"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C42"]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.O-O Be7 8.Re1
f5 9.c4 Be6 10.cxd5 Bxd5 11.Nc3 Nxc3 12.bxc3 O-O 13.Bb2 Bd6 14.c4 Bxf3
15.Qxf3 Bb4 16.Re3 Bd2 17.Re2 Nxd4 18.Bxd4 Qxd4 19.Rd1 Ba5 20.Qxb7 Rab8
21.Qf3 Rfd8 22.Qxf5 Bb6 23.Qxh7+ Kf8 24.Re3 Qc3 25.Qh8+ Kf7 26.Qh5+ Kf8
27.Rf3+ Ke7 28.Rf7+ 1-0
[Event "National Masters Tournament"]
[Site "New York, USA"]
[Date "1911.??.??"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Albert Hodges"]
[Black "Magnus Smith"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C13"]
1.d4 e6 2.e4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.Bxf6 Bxf6 6.Nf3 c5 7.exd5 exd5 8.Bb5+ Nc6 9.O-O O-O 10.Bxc6 bxc6 11.h3 cxd4 12.Nxd4 Qb6 13.Nb3 a5 14.Na4 Qb4 15.Nbc5 Bf5 16.c3 Qf4 17.Qc1 Qh4 18.Qe3 Rfe8 19.Qf3 Re5 20.Nb6 Rae8 21.Nbd7 Bxd7 22.Nxd7 R5e6 23.Nxf6+ Rxf6 24.Rae1 Rfe6 25.Re3 Qa4 26.Rfe1 Qxa2 27.Qg4 h5 28.Qf5 g6 29.Qc2 Rxe3 30.fxe3 a4 31.Qf2 Qb3 32.Rf1 Qb7 33.Qh4 Qxb2 34.Qf6 Qb7 35.Ra1 Ra8 36.h4 a3 37.g4 a2 0-1 [Event "National Masters Tournament"]
[Site "New York, USA"]
[Date "1911.??.??"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Magnus Smith"]
[Black "Frank James Marshall "]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B40"]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 d5 4.exd5 exd5 5.Bb5+ Nc6 6.O-O Nf6 7.Bg5 Be7 8.dxc5
O-O 9.Nc3 Be6 10.Bxc6 bxc6 11.b4 a5 12.a3 h6 13.Bf4 Nh5 14.Be5 axb4 15.axb4 Rxa1 16.Qxa1 f6 17.Nd4 Bd7 18.Bg3 f5 19.Be5 Bf6 20.Nf3 Bxe5 21.Nxe5 Nf4 22.Nd3 Qg5 23.Nxf4 Qxf4 24.Rb1 Re8 25.b5 d4 26.Qa4 Qd2 27.Qc4+ Be6 28.Qd3 dxc3 29.b6 Qxd3 30.cxd3 c2 31.Rc1 Bc8 32.g3 Re2 33.Kf1 Rd2 34.Ke1 Rd1+ 35.Rxd1 cxd1=Q+ 36.Kxd1 Kf7 37.Kc2 Ke6 38.d4 Kd5 39.Kd3 Ba6+ 40.Kc3 g5 41.f3 g4 42.f4 Ke4 0-1 |
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| Jul-31-09 | | myschkin: . . .
Pic: http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/... * "Magnus Smith Trap"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnus...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQfX... |
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Nov-30-10
 | | GrahamClayton: Smith achieved the unusual double of winning both the Brooklyn Chess Club championship (1907) and the Manhattan Chess Club championship (1912). |
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| Nov-12-13 | | TheFocus: Magnus Smith drew a match against Charles Curt, the result being +4=7-4 in 1908 at the Brooklyn Chess Club. |
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| May-06-14 | | ljfyffe: Samsin's article, quoting St.John Globe, mentions Roosin, but it is a misquote. Rosen was stated. That is, Leon Rosen, the Polish-American chessist. I remember, having written an article on the 1905 doublecross of Blake in En Passant though many years ago. |
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| Jun-11-14 | | ljfyffe: If not a typo, Golombek mistakenly has Smith from Ireland! |
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| Apr-02-16 | | luftforlife: "It may perhaps be considered, in its way, a noticeable comment on Dr. [Antonius van der] Linde's disbelief in the Icelanders' fondness for chess that an Icelander, Mr. Magnús Smith, residing at Winnipeg, Manitoba, is now the foremost chess-player of Canada, having won the championship of English North America last summer (1899)." Willard Fiske, Chess in Iceland and in Icelandic Literature (Florence: The Florentine Typographical Society 1905), 37 n.43. Here's a link (see screen 60):
http://books.googleusercontent.com/... |
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| Apr-03-16 | | luftforlife: Here's a link that should work:
https://books.google.com/books?id=8... Although the author's name appears on the title page as "Willard Fiske," his full name is "Daniel Willard Fiske." He has a page here: Daniel Fiske. |
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| Apr-18-16 | | ljfyffe: <Toronto Globe, April 6, 1899
CHESS SMITH OF MANITOBA AHEAD
Montreal, April 5 - The junior division chess
tournament was finished this afternoon. Miss
Tower of the Montreal Ladies' Chess Club winning the intermediate championship and gold
medal. A Montreal player C.J. Dixon, Secretary of
the Cercle St. Denis Club takes second prize, and
S. F. Shenton of Toronto University, the third.
In eigth round of the senior division, Stewart
opened with the Ruy Lopez against Goldstein,
and, on his seventh move, sacrificed a knight,
but secured an advantage in position which led
to a win in nearly thirty moves. As Goldstein is one of the strongest players in the tournament,
and had at the time one of the leading scores,
this was a remarkable performance, especially
considering that Stewart plays without seeing the board. Saunders of Toronto also lost a
point, being defeated by Flack of Kingston, who adopted the French defence, and by the opportune advance of a pawn on his suxteenth move won the exchange. This reverse seemed to
unnerve the Toronto player, for he shortly
afterwards lost his rook, then the queen and the game. Smith, the Manitoba champion, defended the Ruy Lopez against Fish of Toronto, and came
to the end game a knight ahead, each player having a rook and three pawns besides. Fish offered a determined resistance, but after a prolonged struggle, Dmith won.> |
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| Apr-18-16 | | ljfyffe: *Smith won (my error) |
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| Apr-18-16 | | ljfyffe: <Davies defeated Barry in a queens pawn game
whivpch was fought with varying fortune. Kent
playing a queens pawn against Short, lost a piece in a series of exchanges but succeeded in recovering the advantage. He got a pawn ahead with a strong attack, which enabled him to win.
The game between Snellgrove and Munn, with the same opening, early assumed a very interesting and complicated position. After a
prolong fight, a draw was agreed upon. The net result of the round was to give Smith, the Manitoba champion, a clear advantage of one point over all othet competitors, with Davies,
Saunders, Flack and Goldstein bracketed for
second place with six points each.> |
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| Apr-18-16 | | ljfyffe: * which was (my error) |
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| Apr-18-16 | | ljfyffe: <In the nineth round Flack defeated Barry
(French defence) although the latter had at one time a decided advantage. Kent offered the King's gambit to Saunders, who accepted it.
The position was about even when Kent gave up
a knight for the sake of a promising attack, but
the sacrifice proved unsound and Saunders won
after about a dozen moves. Snellgrove played the
centre counter gambit against Goldstein, who
pushed a pawn to the seventh square. Snellgrove
succeeded in repelling this attack, but got into a complicated position, which resulted in a win for Goldstein.
Smith played the Ruy Lopez against Stewart and
won a pawn early in the game, but the position was a very tied up one, with interlaced pawns,
and it was a long time before he could make the
advantage tell. Stewart fought hard, but the Manitoban champion won another pawn and the game. Short played the Petroff defence against Munn, and an even game resulted, each
player coming to the end game with rook and four pawns. But Short got the upper hand, and won by
pushing one of his pawns to queen. Davies played a Ruy Lopez against Fish and lost a pawn in the opening, but succeeded in holding his own in the end game, which ended in a draw.
At the close of the day's play, the socore stood:
Smith 8; Flack 7; Goldstein 7; Saunders 7;
Davies 6.5; Short 5; Snellgrove 5; Kent 4.5;
Munn 4.5; Stewart 4; Barry 3.5; Fish 2.5.> |
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| Apr-18-16 | | ljfyffe: *score stood (errors all mine) |
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Apr-18-16
 | | Sally Simpson: I enjoy reading these Victorian/Edwardian reports of how a game went. If there was no way to record a game of chess then all chess web sites would read something like this as taken from above: "Saunders of Toronto also lost a point, being defeated by Flack of Kingston, who adopted the French defence, and by the opportune advance of a pawn on his sixteenth move won the exchange. This reverse seemed to unnerve the Toronto player, for he shortly
afterwards lost his rook, then the queen and the game." How does one kibitz to that and if so what would it read like. "White should have resigned when he lost his Rook."
"Reports state that Flack often adopted the French Defence. The advance of the pawn on move 16 sounds like it was all book." "Saunders is a mere chess tourist, he is always getting unnerved when the exchange down." "Go Flack!"
The final table of this tournament.
http://chess.ca/canadian-championsh... Scroll down to the 24th Canadian Championship.
(We have to find this Saunders - Flack game.) |
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| Apr-18-16 | | ljfyffe: <Simpson>The table should say E. Saunders, of course....A writeup of the 6th and final preliminary round 1899 is given in the Toronto Mail and Empire,
Wed., April 15, 1899 edition. |
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Apr-18-16
| | Sally Simpson: Hi ljfyffe,
The other tables have it as E. Saunders of Toronto and some Ernest Saunders. The 'F' is possibly a typo but the lad who put up the website. |
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| Apr-18-16 | | luftforlife: <Sally>: I have Saunders-Flack, and other games from the 24th Canadian Championship (Dominion Tournament, Championship Class/Senior Division). I have been researching this tournament and those players who competed in it for some time now; please consult my forum for all the details. In several days, I will transcribe the following games from Montreal 1899: Saunders-Flack, Eighth Round, French Defense, "23. . . . B tks P ch.," 0-1. Short-Goldstein, Ninth Round, Ruy Lopez, "29. K to Kt 3," 1-0. Sanders [sic] - Smith, Twelfth (Final) Round, Scotch Game, "26. R tks R," 0-1. Short-Davies, Twelfth (Final) Round, Ruy Lopez, "28. B to K 6 ch." (N.B.: Black's final move not clearly legible, must be checked), 0-1. Snellgrove-Flack, Twelfth (Final) Round, Bird's Opening, "30. Q tks Q ch.," 1-0. I've already transcribed Bolster-Stewart, Second Round, Giuoco Piano, "15. . . . Qe3," 0-1, and Stewart-Goldstein, Eighth Round, Ruy Lopez, "28. Bb6," 1-0. Once I've transcribed the games, and I've double-checked the game-scores as transcribed into algebraic notation, I will prepare PGN headers and moves and submit them for upload. I've addressed issues such as Steven Wright's misdescription of Ernest Saunders as "F. Saunders" in his tournament crosstable, and other appellative mishaps, in my forum. Please take a look. Best to you. |
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| Apr-18-16 | | ljfyffe: <A list compiled of chess players in championships by the Secretary of the CCA of the time has H. Jackson, not C.O.> |
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| Apr-18-16 | | luftforlife: From the article appearing in The Montreal Gazette on April 7, 1899 covering the eleventh and penultimate round of the 24th Canadian Championship at Montreal on April 6, 1899: "A HARD FOUGHT GAME"
"The centre of attraction all through the evening was the game between Goldstein and Smith. The later [sic] opened with the Ruy Lopez, and for some time the position was even, but on the middle game Goldstein came out of a wholesale exchange of pieces a pawn to the good. It was a doubled pawn, and the advantage was not an easy one to make use of, but by the steady advance of his pawns and the careful manipulation of knight and bishop Goldstein gradually forced his opponent into a very difficult position, in which Smith defended himself with great skill. Eventually it resolved itself into an ending of bishop and two pawns against knight and two pawns, but Goldstein had a pawn nearer queen, and pushed it to victory. After a severe struggle lasting to 80 or 90 moves, Smith resigned shortly after midnight. Goldstein is a member of the Cercle St. Denis Club, and his hard won victory was hailed with loud applause." The Montreal Gazette, April 7, 1899, p.8. |
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| Apr-18-16 | | luftforlife: From the article appearing in The Montreal Gazette on April 8, 1899 covering the twelfth and final round of the 24th Canadian Championship at Montreal on April 7, 1899: "SMITH WINS FIRST PRIZE"
"Saunders played the Scotch game against Smith, and by sacrificing the exchange on his twelfth move got up a lively attack, but it proved to be not quite good enough, for the Manitoba champion defended himself with his usual care, forcing an exchange of queens, which compelled Saunders to resign about ten moves later." * * *
"The meeting closed with the presentation of the prizes. Mr. Smith received a handsome case of silver fruit knives and forks, Mr. Goldstein a gold medal, Mr. Flack a case of carvers, Mr. Davies a gold medal, Messrs. Saunders and Short, each a chess board and men, Mr. Snellgrove a case of spoons. The brilliancy prize, offered by Mr. Richard White, managing director of The Gazette, was awarded to Mr. Stewart, who received a hearty round of applause for his clever play without sight of the moves." The Montreal Gazette, April 8, 1899, p.5. |
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Apr-18-16
| | Sally Simpson: Hi luftforlife,
Brilliant.
"In several days, I will transcribe the following games from Montreal 1899." I cannot wait several days. I'm now like a kid on Christmas Eve watching the minutes slowly drag by. Please post the bare score. Stick in my private forum thingy thing. Please....
Prizes:
" Mr. Smith received a handsome case of silver fruit knives and forks." "Mr. Snellgrove a case of spoons."
I came 2nd in a minor tournament in Dortmund in 1970. I won a flask! and also the best game which was a round of applause. Not a "hearty round of applause." just a normal round of applause. I could have won the thing (and got a bigger flask.) but I hung my Queen in the last round. (it was the first thing I ever won at Chess. I was chuffed. I kept going on about it. My then girlfriend said 'why don't you get it engraved.') |
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