GMKevin Spraggett

Kevin Spraggett grew up in Montreal in a family of seven children. His father taught him chess at about seven, although he took it seriously only in his teens. He studied engineering at McGill University before leaving to pursue professional chess. After winning the 1974 Montreal championship, he became an international master in 1975. His early professional years were spent largely in Canadian and American open tournaments. He shared first at the 1983 World Open and won the 1984 New York Open.

His first Canadian championship, in 1984, qualified him for the Taxco Interzonal. Fourth place there in 1985 earned him a place in the Candidates and the grandmaster title. He became the first Canadian-born GM. In the next Candidates cycle, he defeated Andrei Sokolov in 1988 before losing to Artur Yusupov in 1989. He won seven Canadian closed championships and eight Canadian Opens. At the 2000 Olympiad, he earned individual silver on board two. Spraggett settled in Portugal in the late 1980s and continued competing across Europe. He also wrote for Canadian chess publications and maintained a chess blog.