John Morrison (chess player)

John Stuart Morrison
Born	7 December 1889 Toronto
Died	1 March 1975(1975-03-01) (aged 85) Toronto
Known for	Five-time Canadian chess champion

John Stuart Morrison (1889-1975) was a chess master who won the Canadian Championship five times between 1910 and 1926. He represented Canada at the 1939 Buenos Aires Olympiad and played in several international tournaments that were won by José Raúl Capablanca.[1][2]

Biography

Born in Toronto, Morrison grew up in the city's west end. He discovered chess through books in 1907 and was mentored in the game at lunchtime at the Toronto Engraving Co. by Alfred Hunter, a co-worker and Toronto chess club member. At 19, Morrison won his first Toronto championship, a feat he repeated in 1945.[3][4]

Morrison won the Canadian Championship five times (1910, 1913, 1922, 1924, and 1926) and shared first place in 1931 (Maurice Fox won the playoff).[5] He took twelfth place at New York City 1913,[6] seventh place at New York 1918,[7] and equal 14th place at London 1922; all three tournaments were won by Capablanca.[8][9][10]

Morrison played first board (+5 –6 =4) on the Canadian team at the 8th Chess Olympiad at Buenos Aires 1939.[11][12]

In 2000, he was inducted posthumously into the Canadian Chess Hall of Fame.[13]

A number of Morrison's games are published in chess books, including Capablanca's Chess Fundamentals.[14]

References

1. Gaige, Jeremy (1987), Chess Personalia, A Biobibliography, McFarland, p. 291, ISBN 0-7864-2353-6
2. "Morrison, John Stuart [obituary]". Globe and Mail. 1975-03-03. p. 33.
3. Malmsten, Eric (2018-02-13). "Celebrating the Beaches Chess Club – Toronto Champions 100 years ago" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-03-17.
4. "The Toronto Closed Chess Championships". torontochess.org. 2021-05-07. Retrieved 2023-03-17.
5. Early Canadian Championships [1872-1943]
6. "New York National 1913". 365Chess. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
7. "New York 1918". Chessgames.com. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
8. Watts, W.H., ed. (1968). The Book of the London International Chess Congress, 1922. Dover Publications.
9. "Tournament: 15th BCF Congress - London, 31 July - 18 August 1922". British Chess Game Archive. 2022-11-22. Retrieved 2023-03-17.
10. "Capablanca in hard tilt with Morrison". New York Times. 1922-08-22. Retrieved 2023-03-17.
11. "8th Chess Olympiad: Buenos Aires, 1939". Archived from the original on 2012-02-24. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
12. "Passengers of the Piriápolis - Buenos Aires 1939". www.ara.org.ar. Retrieved 2023-03-17.
13. Cohen, David (2020-01-15). "John Morrison". Canadian Chess - Biographies. Retrieved 2023-03-17.
14. Capablanca, José Raúl. Chess Fundamentals (Algebraic ed.). Everyman Chess. pp. 59–60. Retrieved 2023-04-26.

Further reading

• "Chess in Canada." American Chess Bulletin, v. 11, 1914
• Yanofsky, D. A. (1967), 100 Years of Chess in Canada, p. 20

External links

• John Morrison Player profile. Chessmetrics
• John Stuart Morrison Player profile. Chessgames

• John Stuart Morrison Player profile. 365chess