Daniel Abraham Yanofsky was the first Canadian grandmaster. He was born in Poland, and his family emigrated to Winnipeg when he was 8 months old. In 1939, at age 14, he held America's leading light Reuben Fine to a draw, and achieved the highest score on 2nd board at Buenos Aires Olympiad. In 1946, Yanofsky beat Mikhail Botvinnik who two years later became world champion. Yanofsky became a lawyer, but scored his first GM norm at Dallas 1957 beating American GM Samuel Reshevsky, one of the world's top players. His second norm came at Tel Aviv Olympiad 1964, where he once again beat Reshevsky.
Yanofsky had a good grounding in the openings, but where he really shone was in positions with an unusual material balance. When his opponent offered a sacrifice, he would disdain material gain instead striking in the centre, pursuing his own attack. He would threaten his opponent's king with checkmate, and then win material as they struggled to defend.
The second Canadian GM was Duncan Suttles. Suttles was born in San Francisco, but his family moved to Vancouver when he was 5, and he became a Canadian citizen at age 21. Suttles seems to have scored his first GM norm at Lugano Olympiad 1968 where he beat future GM Hans Ree, and held GMs Viktor Korchnoi and Bent Larsen to draws. He gained his second GM norm at the Church's Fried Chicken International, San Antonio, 1972 beating American GM Larry Evans, and holding the former world champion Tigran Petrosian to a draw.
Suttles was well known for pioneering fianchetto openings such as the Rat 1.e4 g6 and the Benko's 1.g3, and for developing his knights to peculiar squares. American GM Anthony Saidy described Suttles as the most original strategist since Nimzowitsch. Suttles is the president of the Vancouver software company Magnetar Games.
Peter Biyiasas was born in Greece, but moved to Vancouver when he was young. Biyiasas scored his first GM norm at the Marshall Chess Club tournie in New York 1977 where he beat Soviet Emigre GMs Anatoly Lein and Leonid Shamkovich. He was awarded the GM title after scoring well at Buenos Aires Olympiad 1978. The next year he emigrated to the United States where he became a programmer for IBM.
Kevin Spraggett was born, and raised in Montreal, Quebec. He was awarded the GM title for his performance at Taxco Interzonal 1985 where he beat GMs Jonathan Speelman and Lev Alburt. In recent years, he has been living in Portugal where he continues to play.
Evgeny Bareev was born in the Soviet Union, and became a grandmaster in 1989. By 2003, he was the 4th highest rated player in the world. In 2015, he emigrated to Toronto, Ontario where he coaches promising juniors, and occasionally plays.
Alexandre Lesiège was born in Montreal, Quebec. He was granted the GM title for his performance at the Quebec Open 1999. He retired from chess in 2004, but returned in 2015, beating Bareev in a mini-match.
Dimitri Tyomkin played his earliest games in Israel, but from 1998-2005 played many tournaments in Canada transferring to the Canadian federation. He received his GM title in 2001. Currently, he is living in Spain where he continues to play.
Mark Bluvshtein was born in the Soviet Union. His family moved to Israel in 1993, and then Toronto in 1999. He became a grandmaster in 2004, the youngest Canadian GM at age 16.
Igor Ivanov was born in the Soviet Union where he once defeated the then world champion Anatoly Karpov in a game. He defected to Canada in 1980 living at first in Montreal. He played for Canada in Toluca Interzonal 1982, and Lucerne and Thessaloniki Olympiads in 1984 and 1988. Increasingly in the 1980's, he began playing more and more tournaments in the United States. He was awarded the GM title in 2005 for his achievements earlier in his life. He passed away in 2006.
Bator Sambuev was born in Russia, where he gained the GM title in 2006. He emigrated to Toronto in 2007, and then moved to Montreal in 2010.
Pascal Charbonneau was born in Montreal. He won a chess scholarship studying at the University of Maryland Baltimore, and then settled in New Jersey. He gained his GM title by winning the Chicago Winter Invitational in 2006.
Anton Kovaylov was born in the Ukraine. His family emigrated to Argentina in 2000, and then Montreal, Quebec in 2007. He became a GM in 2008. In recent years, he has been studying at the University of Texas Dallas.
Thomas Roussel-Roozmon was born in Quebec. He scored his first GM norm in the Quebec Open in 2007, and his second norm at the Khanty-Mansiysk Olympiad in 2010.
Eric Hansen was born in Irvine, California, but grew up in Calgary, Alberta. Hansen achieved his final GM norm at Istanbul Olympiad 2012, and was awarded the title the next year. He lived briefly in Dallas where he attended university, but more recently has based himself in Montreal or Spain.
Razvan Preotu was born in Toronto in 1999, but his family moved to Burlington in 2003. He scored his third GM norm at the 2016 World Open in Philadelphia, and then broke 2500 by drawing with GM Gata Kamsky at the 2016 Washington International, qualifying to become a GM.
Kaiqi Yang seems in line to become Canada's next GM. He was born in China, and emigrated to Toronto in 2017. His victories at Pacarin and Novi Sad, Serbia in January, February 2019, seem set to push his rating over 2500, the last requirement he needed to qualify.
References
Bruce Harper and Yasser Seirawan. Chess on the Edge, vols. 1-3. Chess'n Math Association.
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