Charles Blake (chess player)

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Charles Blake
Charles Blake (chess player).png
Born(1880-06-12)12 June 1880
London, England
Died18 May 1961(1961-05-18) (aged 80)
Canada
EducationBedford Modern School

Charles Blake (12 June 1880 – 18 May 1961) was an Anglo-Canadian chess player and prominent lawyer in Canada.[1] He won the U.S. Open Chess Championship in 1911, was chess champion of Western Canada between 1907 and 1910, and was Winnipeg Chess Club Champion, between 1907 and 1910.[2][3]

Early life[]

Charles Blake was born in London on 12 June 1880.[1] He was educated at Bedford Modern School.[1][4]

Legal career[]

Blake emigrated to Canada in 1903 and read law in Winnipeg, Canada, and was called to the Manitoba Bar in 1909.[1] He practised with Rothwell & Johnson in Winnipeg, between 1909 and 1911, before setting up his own practice in Brandon, Manitoba, in 1912.[1] He moved to Ontario in 1925 and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1929 and the British Columbia Bar in 1949.[2]

War years[]

At the outset of World War I, Blake joined the 99th Manitoba Rangers.[1] He was with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in France, 8th Battalion, 1st Canadian Division, from August 1914 where he was a Lieutenant, promoted Captain in October 1915.[1] He was promoted to Major in September 1916.[1]

Chess player[]

Blake was chess champion of Western Canada between 1907 and 1910, and was Winnipeg Chess Club Champion, also from 1907 to 1910.[2][3] Blake won the U.S. Open Chess Championship in 1911.[2][3] He was said to be one of the few players who could effectively compete with Magnus Smith, the three time Canadian Chess Champion.[5] Blake was runner up in the Canadian Chess Championship in 1909 and 1913.[5] In the 1920s he won two Northwest Competitions in Canada.[5]

Final years[]

Blake’s wife predeceased him and he died, without issue, on 18 May 1961.[2]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Who's Who in Canada, An Illustrated Biographical Record of Men and Women of the Time, Edited by B.M Greene. Published by International Press Limited, Toronto, Canada, 1927, p. 1484
  2. ^ a b c d e "Charles Blake". 30 June 2020.
  3. ^ a b c The Windsor Star, Ontario, Canada, 7 January 1930, p. 16
  4. ^ Bedford Modern School (Bedford, England), VIPAN, Herbert Edwin (22 December 1901). A register of the old boys of the Bedford Modern School. Compiled and edited by H.E. Vipan ... Together with a few chapters on its history and institutions. W.J. Robinson. OCLC 557698898 – via Open WorldCat.
  5. ^ a b c "Historical Who's Who". www.bcchesshistory.com.
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