Magnus Smith

(Magnus Magnusson)

(1869-1934)

2000 Canadian Chess Hall of Fame

Inventor of the Magnus Smith trap in the Sicilian Defence, which once caught World Champion Emanuel Lasker and still catches players, even at the World Youth Championships

1907-10 Worked for Lasker's Chess Magazine and The Chess Weekly

1907.06.11 Defeated World Champion Emanuel Lasker in a simultaneous exhibition in Winnipeg

Three times Canadian Champion (1899, 1904, 1906)

1899.01.18 Defeated Harry N. Pillsbury in a simultaneous exhibition in Winnipeg (then scored +1 -2 against Pillsbury on his return in 1900)

Born Iceland, emigrated 1885, settled in Winnipeg 1898, emigrated to the USA in 1907 and died in Titusville, Pennsylvania

Source: 'In from the Cold: The Life and Chess of Magnus Smith' by Myron Samsin, Skittles Room, ChessCafe.com, 2008.03.12, copyright 2008 by CyberCafes, LLC.

Contributor: Stephen Wright.