Maurice Fox

Maurice Fox (14 January 1898, Russian Empire – 25 June 1988, Canada) was a Canadian chess master. He won the Canadian Chess Championship eight times; this is tied for the most Canadian titles with Daniel Yanofsky.

Biography

At the end of 1898 he moved from Russia to London, England. After graduating from the University of London in 1921, he emigrated to Canada in 1923. The next year, Fox took second, behind John Morrison, in Hamilton (CAN-ch). In 1926, he took second in the Canadian Chess Championship held at Nationale. He was Canadian champion in 1927, 1929, 1931 (after playoff), 1932, 1935, 1938, 1940 and 1949. He also played in several United States Opens.

In 1928 and 1929, he won the Montreal City Championship. In 1929, he took 5th in Bradley Beach, New Jersey, USA (Alexander Alekhine won). In 1930, he won the Montreal CC Summer tournament. In 1931, he took 12th in New York (José Raúl Capablanca won). In 1933, he took 9th in Detroit (US Open). The event was won by Reuben Fine. In 1935, he won the First Montreal Speed Championship, Montreal City Championship, and Canadian Chess Championship held at Sun Life. In 1936, he took 2nd, behind Boris Blumin in Toronto Canadian Chess Championship. In 1936, he took 2nd, behind Arthur Dake, (preliminaries) and tied for 8-10th (finals) in Philadelphia (US Open). The event was won by Israel Horowitz.

In 1937, he took 2nd in Quebec City (CAN-ch, Boris Blumin won). He won the Canadian Chess Championship at Toronto 1938 and Montreal 1940. His last win of the Canadian Championship title was in 1949 at Arvida, Quebec, ahead of Daniel Yanofsky and Fedor Bohatirchuk. In 1945, Fox beat Morrison on board 1 in a telegraph match Toronto vs Montreal. In 1954, he played for Canada at first reserve board in the 11th Chess Olympiad in Amsterdam (+5 –2 =1). At age 58, Fox beat 13-year-old Bobby Fischer, a future World Champion, in the 1956 Open Canadian Chess Championship at Montreal.