THe statement that players scoring 50% in the Canadian Champion doesn't take into account the strength of the entrants. A 2/3 score would be more justified, being equal to the currently awarded FIDE-master title.
But, in fact, all the 1800s Canadian Championships have been rated! The web has two systems of calculating historical ratings: Edo by Rod Edwards covers the 1900s
www.edochess.ca. But Chessmetrics, by Jeff Sonas, didn't rate old Canadian Championships, just international events.
There was a CFC rating system, 1954-64 where 2300 was a master rating, not 2200. It doesn't seem right to give 2200 players a Canadian Master title when they weren't recognized as masters in their own time (I'll discuss those players later).
Also, I think having experience playing against other masters is crucial in becoming a master, so prefer to include players with international experience such as members of the Olympiad teams.
Canadian Hall of Famers:
William Pollock
Magnus Smith
John Henderson
John Cherriman
I would recommend the following six historic players receive the Canadian Master title, based on achieving a 2300 rating and playing 24 master games:
Albert Ensor PQ 1875
Joseph Cooke PQ 1891
James Narraway ON 1891
Thomas Davison ON 1892
Magnus Smith MB 1904
Charles Blake MB 1905
Details from
www.edochess.ca:
Albert Ensor (82 games) PQ
1873 2377 (3 games) CanCh
1875 2378 (24 games) high
1876 2355 (55 games) also played in USA
Magnus Smith (76 games) MB
1899 2393 (15 games) CanCh
1904 2347 CanCh (24 games) also played in USA
1906 2400 (20 games) high CanCh
James Narraway (77 games) ON
1888 2285 (5 games) co-CanCh
1889 2291 (9 games) co-CanCh
1891 2273 (14 games)
1892 2277 (11 games) 1893 CanCh
1898 2328 high CanCh 1897 CanCh
Thomas Davison (61 games) ON
1889 2293 (8 games)
1891 2322 (14 games) high CanCh
1892 2272 (11 games)
1894 2256 (14 games) CanCh
Charles Blake (59 games) MB
1904 2266 (11 games)
1905 2310 (17 games)
1906 2312 (15 games) high
1907 2298 (16 games) 1913 co-CanCh
Joseph Cooke PQ (58 games)
1887 2201 (8 games)
1891 2301 (14 games) high
1893 2282 (18 games) MontCh
1894 2246 (10 games)
Of the others over 2200, It could be argued to include William Pollack and Nicholas MacLeod who had invented opening lines and played internationally.
William Pollack (483 games, but only 20 in Canada, but represented Canada at Hastings)
1884 2362 (10 games)
1889 2415 (53 games) high
1895 2368 (40 games, Montreal and Hastings)
Richard Fleming PQ 1889 2332 CanCh (only 9 games)
Frederick Jones 1876 2286 (only 11 games)
George Jackson ON 1875 2281 CanCh (only 22 games)
Nicholas MacLeod (88 games)
1886 2171 (8 games) CanCh
1888 2204 (5 games)
1889 2206 (40 games in USA)
1901 2278 (22 games in USA)
Frank Marshall 1896 2255 (played in '94 CanCh)
Ernest Saunders ON 1897 2243
S Goldstein PQ 1899 2243
Jacob Ascher 1883 2239 (only 14 games)
Henry Howe 1879 2237 CanCh
Thomas Phillipps 1903 2230 (only 14 games as master)
Ludolph Schull 1868 2228
William Hicks 1874 2212 CanCh (only 9 games as master)
Ulysses Flack ON 1899 2207 (only 12 games)
These other players did well in a Canadian Championship:
DC Robertson 1894 2187
RJ Spencer MB1907 2185
Edward Sanderson PQ 1877 2173 CanCh
Robert Short PQ 1894 2162 CanCh
AW Bruce MB 1904 2157
W Kurrle PQ 1904 2157
John White PQ 1873 2148
George Barry PQ 1889 2145 CanCh
Edwin Pope PQ 1888 2141 CanCh
Clement Germain 1898 2138
Joseph Sawyer 1904 2137 CanCh
Edward Holt 1877 2136
CT Anstey PQ 1904 2134
Hermann von Bokum 1874 2128
Henry Northcote ON 1871 2127
William Boultbee 1892 2119 CanCh
Thomas Taylor ON 1891 2110
Jesse Hurlburt ON 1874 2105
A T Stephenson AB 1904 2104
Joseph Shaw 1881 2102 CanCh
T Riley Davies PQ 1899 2100
J Fish ON 1898 2086
Joseph Babson 1893 2071
JF Cross MB 1907 2067
Herbert Burrell 1904 2067
Mavor ON 1897 2055
Dr William Smith ON 1873 2053
Dr Henry Vercoe ON 1873 2049
John Barry 1881 2047
AM Snellgrove ON 1899 2041
William Jones 1898 2038
FH Andrews 1875 2035
C Corbould ON 1898 2028
Ernest Kent PQ 1899 2028
William Atkinson 1879 2027
Dr Issac Ryall ON 1872 2021
Donald Ross MacLeod 1886 2019
Cyril McGee ON 1898 2015
WH Judd ON 1897 2013
W. Stewart ON 1899 2007
Stewart Munn PQ 1899 2001
George Larmine 1871 2001
Lastly, these ratings aren't comparable to today's ratings. Looking at early Canadian Championship games is comparable to A-class player's games. Computers can now analyze the moves and assess a player's strength.
Average elo of top players:
1880 2438
1900 2580
1920 2650
1940 2642
1960 2685
1980 2730
http://web.zone.ee/chessanalysis/summary450.pdf
Computer analysis of move choices by Kenneth Regan:
Staunton
computer 1990, edo 2479 to 2627
Anderson
computer 2060, edo 2395 to 2673
Morphy
computer 2310, edo 2634 to 2796
Steintz
computer 2210, edo 2529 to 2803
So the above ratings may be too high as none of the Canadian players are computer 2200 strength.