Kevin Spraggett

Kevin Spraggett (born 10 November 1954, Montreal) is a Canadian chess grandmaster. He is the second Canadian Grandmaster. He is the only Canadian to have qualified for the Candidates' level, having done so in 1985 and 1988. He has won a total of eight Canadian Open Chess Championships, seven Closed Canadian Chess Championships, and has represented Canada eight times in Olympiad play. Spraggett has also written for Canadian chess publications.

Early life

Kevin Spraggett was raised in Montreal, and began playing chess at age ten. He tied for first in the 1973-74 Junior Canadian Chess Championship, but lost the playoff match to John MacPhail. One of his key early tournament victories came in the 1974 Montreal Championship, where he scored 5.5/6. He had reached National Master strength by this time, just before his 20th birthday. ["CFC Bulletin", November 1974, p. 15.] He attended McGill University, studying Engineering, and was an excellent student. But he left McGill before completing his degree, in favor of becoming a chess professional. Spraggett had many hard years developing his game in minor Canadian and American events, where the prizes were often low. His younger brother Grant is also a strong player, having earned the FIDE Master (FM) title.

Progress of a champion

He was awarded the IM title in 1975, following a second place finish at the Zonal Canadian Chess Championship in Calgary; Peter Biyiasas won. Spraggett raised his game to meet the challenge of the powerful Soviet defector Igor V. Ivanov, who had settled in Montreal in the early 1980s. Those years saw Spraggett attain success in several very strong tournaments, with victories in the 1983 World Open, 1984 Commonwealth Championship, 1984 New York Open, and 1985 Commonwealth Championship. He did not play an international-standard Grandmaster round-robin tournament until Wijk aan Zee early in 1985, just after reaching age 30, at which time he was the highest-rated IM in the world. ["The British Chess Magazine", May 1985, pp. 213-216.]

Spraggett won his first of seven Canadian titles in 1984, and this qualified him into the Taxco Interzonal the next year. His surprise second place at Taxco 1985, where he topped many more famous players, earned him the International Grandmaster title, and also gave him Candidate status, the first Canadian to reach this exalted height. His career really took off from that point, as he narrowly lost in overtime games in the 1989 Candidates' quarterfinal round to Soviet star Artur Yusupov at Quebec City, after first defeating world #3 Andrei Sokolov in a first-round match at Saint John, 1988.

Spraggett has followed up with mostly superb performances in eight Chess Olympiads, eight victories in the Canadian Open Championship, and a host of tournament victories in Europe. Spraggett is generally considered to be the strongest chessplayer in Canadian history. His FIDE rating has been as high as 2633, in January 2007, at age 52, and in the late 1980s he was ranked consistently amongst the top 100 players in the world. This was a considerable achievement owing to the comparative lack of support and public interest chess has in North America, compared to Europe and other parts of the world. Spraggett has lived in Portugal since the late 1980s, and plays most of his tournaments in Europe, although he visits North America every year or two on average, to compete there. One of his best finishes in recent years was clear 2nd place at the Calvia Open in October, 2007, with 7/9.

Playing style

Spraggett is a solid positional player, who has the capability of developing sharp tactics against any opponent, but generally these tactics flow naturally and harmoniously from the position, instead of being overly forced. During his career, he has essayed a very wide range of openings, from sharp Sicilian Defences with either color, to complex King's Indian and Dutch Defenses, to quieter lines such as the Caro-Kann and Queen's Indian Defences, and more subtle Réti and English Openings as White. This extensive range makes him very difficult to prepare for. Spraggett is also a wonderful endgame player. A true universalist of the chessboard, his style perhaps most closely resembles that of former World Champion Vasily Smyslov.

Brief career summary

* World Open Champion 1983;
* New York Open Champion 1984;
* Commonwealth Champion 1984 (Hong Kong) and 1985 (London);
* Seven Closed Canadian Chess Championship titles (1984, 1986, 1989, 1994, 1996, 2001, 2002);
* Eight Canadian Open Chess Championship titles (1983, 1987, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000);
* Tied first place Canadian Junior Championship 1973-4;
* Canadian Closed Blitz Champion 1996;
* Represented Canada at World Championship Interzonals (1985, Taxco, and 1990, Manila);
* Represented Canada at World Championship Candidates' tournament 1985, Montpellier;
* Represented Canada at World Championship Candidates' matches (1988, 1989); he beat Andrei Sokolov (+2 –1 =9) in 1988 at Saint John, but was then eliminated by Artur Yusupov (+1 –2 =6) in 1989 at Quebec City;
* Represented Canada at World Championship Knockout (1997, 1999);
* Represented Canada at Chess Olympiads (1986, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002);
* Silver medal, Board 2, Olympiad 2000, Istanbul;
* Top rated Canadian at year-end 23 times (1980, 1982-90, 1992-2000, 2002-5);
* Canadian Chess Hall of Fame 2000;
* Grandmaster Spraggett wrote a column during 2006 with "Chess Canada" magazine.

Notable chess games

* [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1131032, Daniel Yanofsky vs Kevin Spraggett, Canadian Zonal, Calgary 1975, Sicilian Defense, Taimanov Variation (B46), 0-1] A subtle positional grind to defeat the eight-time Canadian champion.
* [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1131074, Lev Alburt vs Kevin Spraggett, Atlantic Open, Washington 1979, English Opening (A16), 0-1] Exceptionally complex and hard-fought game sees Spraggett eventually come out on top following a deep exchange sacrifice.
* [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1017384, Kevin Spraggett vs Lev Alburt, New York Open 1984, Alekhine's Defense (B04), 1-0] Ex-Soviet GM gets beaten up quite badly in his favorite defense; Spraggett goes on to win the tournament.
* [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1114123, Lajos Portisch vs Kevin Spraggett, Wijk aan Zee 1985, Queen's Gambit Accepted (D20), 0-1] A complicated positional battle eventually sees the veteran Hungarian GM conceding an upset defeat.
* [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1131308, Kevin Spraggett vs Jonathan Speelman, Taxco Interzonal 1985, Queen's Indian Defense (E12), 1-0] Spraggett shows he will be a contender to qualify with this tactical win over one of England's best.
* [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1131294, Jan Timman vs Kevin Spraggett, Montpellier Candidates' 1985, Queen's Pawn Game, Keres Defense (A40), 0-1] A bizarre opening sees Spraggett sacrifice a piece on move nine, and the experienced Dutch GM struggles to find his bearings for the rest of the game.
* [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1131292, Kevin Spraggett vs Boris Spassky, Montpellier Candidates' 1985, English Opening (A31), 1-0] A former world champion can't handle Spraggett's patient strategical buildup, which explodes into a virulent attack as the time control approaches.
* [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1131477, Kevin Spraggett vs Andrei Sokolov, Saint John Candidates' match, game 5, 1988, Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation (B97), 1-0] After a fashionable sharp opening, Sokolov, the world's #3-ranked player, can't hold the slightly inferior endgame in the face of Spraggett's precision.
* [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1131542, Kevin Spraggett vs Artur Yusupov, Quebec City Candidates' quarter-final, game 2, 1989, Reti Opening (A07)] Spraggett maneuvers carefully before unleashing a nasty exchange sacrifice, which crowns his positional pressure.
* [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1048322, Kevin Spraggett vs Boris Gelfand, Moscow Olympiad 1994, Sicilian Defense, Closed Variation (B23), 1-0] A possible opening surprise puts Gelfand on the defensive, and Spraggett never lets up.
* [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1436466, Stellan Brynell vs Kevin Spraggett, Tarragona Open 2006, Queen's Indian Defense (E15), 0-1] A quiet opening leads into middlegame risks by Spraggett, culminating in a lovely finish.

References

External links

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* [http://www.kevinspraggett.com Kevin Spraggett fan site]
* [http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~bw998/canchess.html#SPRAGGETTK Spraggett biographical sketch at Canadian Chess]