Kevin Spraggett

Kevin Spraggett, Canadian chess grandmaster (b at Montreal 10 Nov 1954). His chess career gained momentum with a second-place showing at the 1973 Canadian Open. With the influence of Soviet dissident Igor Ivanov, Spraggett's chess became stronger and in 1983 he entered foreign competitions, winning the prestigious New York Open and 2 Commonwealth championships. At the world championship at Toluca Interzonal, Mexico (1985), he became the first Canadian to qualify for the candidates cycle. The next year he played top board in the Chess Olympiad at Dubai. At the 1988 World Chess festival in Saint John, he defeated Soviet Andrei Sokolov and became the first Canadian to advance to the quarterfinals of this competition.