At the beginning of World War I, Blake joined the 99th Manitoba Rangers and served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in France beginning in August of 1914. He soon rose to the rank of Major.
Blake learned the game in 1897 and after arriving in Winnipeg he was strong enough to be the only competition for Magnus Smith (1869 - 1934).
Smith was originally from Iceland and at one time lived Winnipeg. He was Canadian Champion in 1899, 1904 and 1906. At some point Smith moved to Brooklyn, New York where he won the Brooklyn Chess Club championship (1907) and Manhattan Chess Club championship (1912, 1913). He passed away in Titusville, Pennsylvania.
From 1907 and 1910 Blake was the champion of Western Canada and the Winnipeg Chess Club Champion. He won the Western Chess Association championship (the precursor to the US Open) in 1911. He was runner up in the Canadian Championship in 1909 and 1913 and in the 1920s he won two Northwest Championships in Canada.
Blake played in several Canadian championships in the 1920s, generally finishing in the middle of the field. His last championship tournament was in 1931. After moving to White Rock, British Columbia he played in the British Columbia vs. Washington matches in 1949, 1950, and 1951. Blake is in the Manitoba Chess Hall of Fame and Museum.
His opponent in this game was Edward P. Elliott (1873-1955, 82 years old) from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Elliott was Western Chess Association champion in 1908 and 1912.
A game that I liked (Komodo 14)
Charles W Blake–Edward P Elliott1–0C61Western Championship, Excelsior8Excelsior, MN23.08.1905Stockfish 15
Ruy Lopez: Bird's Defense 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.b5 d4 Bird's Defense is
uncommon because it's believed that white can gain the advantage. Analysis on
3...Nd4 was first published in 1843 in von Bilguer's Handbuch des Schachspiels,
but it was not widely used until the late 19th century when British master
Henry Bird used it with some success. Since then no strong master has played
it other than as a surprise weapon. 4.c4 4.xd4 is the best line. exd4 5.0-0 c5 6.d3 and white is slightly better. 4...xf3+ 4...d6 5.xd4 exd4 6.c3 f6 7.d3 dxc3 8.xc3 e7 9.0-0 0-0 Gavrikov,V (2550)-Tukmakov,V
(2575) Minsk 1987 is equal. 5.xf3 f6 5...f6 was tried in Barlov,D
(2454)-Larino Nieto,D (2508) Las Palmas 2013 6.e2 c5 7.d3 e7 8.e3 b6
with equality. 6.b3 6.d4 d6 7.b3 e7 8.dxe5 dxe5 9.0-0 c6 White has
a good game. Lasker,E-Bird,H Newcastle on Tyne 1892 6.d3 c5 7.d2 c6 8.f1 Black gets a good game after this. Better was 8.O-O. d5 9.exd5 cxd5 10.b3 Black is slightly better. Klinger,J (2490)-Agdestein,S (2565) Baguio City
1987 6...e7 7.c3 b6 8.b5 d8 An odd choice relinquishing the right to
castle. 8...d6 was correct. 9.d3 g4 An empty threat and so a
waste of time. 9...c6 10.xa7 xa7 11.xb6+ c7 is good for black. 9...c6 10.c3 is not much better, but it's trickier. b5 11.xf7 b4 12.e3 Setting a trap! 12.e2 d5 and the B is trapped. 12...d6 Giving the K
an escape square. 12...bxc3 13.b6+ axb6 14.xb6# 13.b5 cxb5 14.0-0 a5 Black is better. 10.e3 10.xf7 and the position is equal after c6 11.c3 h4 12.g3 f6 13.0-0 10.h3 Driving back the N is correct. Then after f6 11.c3 c6 12.a4 White stands well. 10...xe3 11.fxe3 g5 12.0-0-0 xe3+ 13.b1 f6 14.he1 f2 15.d4 White has the initiative. a6 16.e2 Missing a nice tactical shot that would have gained the advantage. 16.d5 c6 17.xc6 dxc6 18.dxe5+ e7 19.d4 Black is caught in a web where
he has no saving move. Just one example... e8 19...d7 20.f1 h4 21.f5+ 20.xb6 f7 21.xc6 b8 22.f1 xg2 23.exf6 g5 24.c7+ 16...h4 17.g3 h5 18.c3 In spite of his lead in development white can't claim anything
more than equality for his P because black's position is quite solid. d6 19.dxe5 xe5 20.f7 Keeps the Q cut off. f3 21.ed2 xc3 21...d6 was
better. 22.d3 g4 23.d5 a7 with a fully equal position. 22.bxc3
Not bad. 22.d3 was even better. xe4 23.xc3 a7 24.e1 a4 25.d4 a5 26.b4 b5 27.e3 with a winning attack. 22...a7 23.d5
Intending Bc6 which would be very powerful. d6 This allows white a nice
tactical shot, but his position was already very poor. 23...e3 This
allows white to carry out his intended move, but is is actually the lesser
evil. 24.c6 d6 25.f7 xc3 26.xd6+ cxd6 27.xd6+ d7 28.xd7+ c8 29.xa7 xc6 White's grip on the 7th rank assures him of the win. 24.e5
Going after the K in the center. e3 25.exd6 c5 26.dxc7+ This looks
reasonable, but it should have allowed black to put up a much stronger defense.
26.d7 is even stronger. b7 White has a mate in 15! 27.e1 xd5 28.xd5 f2 29.dd1 xe1 30.xe1 c6 31.xb6+ c7 32.d1 h5 33.b8+ e7 34.xh8 b7+ 35.c1 b8 36.xb8 e6 37.d8 f5 38.d3+ g4 39.c8+ g5 40.h4+ h6 41.h8# 26...xc7 27.c4 g4 After this the game is over. 27...b5 offers far better chances. 28.e6 e8 29.xc8 xc8 30.e6 b8 31.d7 xd7 32.xd7 g1+ 33.b2 c5 White will have to work for the point. 28.e2 xe2 As is often the case the game is not yet quite over. White can still
make a serious mistake and allow black right back in the game. 29.f7+ 29.xe2 would be a terrible mistake. b7 White's attack is over and black has
at least equal chances. 29...c6 29...b8 is met by 30.d8+ c8 31.xc8+ xc8 32.d7 with a won ending. 30.xa7 b5+ After this white has a
mate in 7, but the game could not be saved in any case. 31.c1 g5 32.d7+ c5 33.d6+ b5 34.a4+ It's mate next move so black resigned. A forceful
game by Blake. 1–0
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