I could find little information on Belson other than he was born in Belsonko, Finland and moved to Canada to with his parents as a child. He joined the Toronto Chess Club in 1926. He won the Canadian championship in 1934 and 1946. He passed away in Toronto in 1947. 
The following game marked the third consecutive city championship reign for Belson as he swept through the
tournament without the loss of a game.
At the time it was played Belson was described as youthful and ambitious yet exceptional modest and gentlemanly, well0liked and having a host of friends.
The game was critical because his opponent only needed a draw to take the title. The ending was inaccurately played by both sides, but it was a truly fascinating one!
John H. Belson–R.B. Martin1–0A39Toronto City Championship1934Stockfish 16
English 1.f3 f6 2.c4 g6 3.c3 g7 4.g3 c5 5.g2 c6 6.0-0 0-0 7.d4 cxd4 8.xd4 b6 9.b3 d6 10.g5 e6 11.d5 xd5 12.cxd5 e5 After a
slippery opening that could probably be called a couple of different names
things have clarified a bit and white enjoys a slight advantage...he has more
space and it's hard to suggest a really constructive plan for black. That said,
black still has a solid position with ho weaknesses. 13.e3 Nice! White
gains time to bring his B to an active position on d4. a6 14.d4 ed7 14...ac8 was also a good try. 15.f4 c4 16.e4 h5 17.f2 xd4 18.xd4 b6
with equality. Kapengut,A (2450)-Lein,A (2510) Leningrad 1971 15.d2 h5
This does not work out well. 15...ac8 was more logical. 16.f3 b6 17.e3 fe8 18.fc1 c5 equals. Aparisi Arnandis,B (2050)-Camarasa Escutia,J
Cullera 2007 16.xg7 xg7 17.d4 ac8 18.a4 18.g4 was also good.
Clearly, with play on both sides of the board white is better. hf6 19.g5 h5 20.h3 cd8 21.fc1 with an active position. 18...hf6± 19.b4 c4 20.a5 The threat is b5 trapping the Q. b5 21.c6 e8 22.ac1 xc1 23.xc1 b7 24.f4 Prevents Ne5. a6 25.e4 c7 26.d4 b7 27.c2 White's control of
the only open file is a huge positinal advantage. g8 28.c6 From here
until move 36 white was pressed for time. b8 29.xb8 xb8 30.c7 f8 31.xb8 xb8 32.c6 a8 White has a decisive advantage. 33.h3 33.e5 was much stronger. e8 34.h3 and black has no constructive moves. 33...e8 34.f2 34.e5 was still the best move. d8 35.e2 d7 36.f1
In time pressure white has made a couple of harmless moves and in doing so he
has allowed black to equalize. 36.h4 b8 37.c2 37.b6 d7 38.c6 b8 37...d7 38.h3 c8 39.xc8+ xc8 40.g4 White should be able to squeeze
out a win. 36...b8 37.c3 d7 38.d3 The idea of playing 38.h4 and Bh3
was still a better plan. c8 39.xc8+ xc8 A few less than precise moves by
white in time pressure have allowed black to equalize. 40.e5
Havin g let the win slip away in time pressure white now makes a colossal
losing blunder! 40.d4 f6 41.g4 41.e5 leads nowhere after... e8 41...h6 and white can't make any progress. 40...f8 ...and
black counterblunders!! 40...dxe5 41.fxe5 with what should be an easy win.
xe5+ 41.h4 d7 42.e6+ It turns out that the ending is extremely
difficult and this is a good practical try. The best plan is probably beyond a
human's ability to visualize and calculate! 42.h3+ was the best move. c7 43.d4 h6 44.e6 f6 Now the winning procedure according to Stockfish is... 45.f5 b7 45...g5 46.e4 h7 47.f1 b7 48.f3 h5 49.e2 c8 50.e4 g4 51.xg4 hxg4 52.f4 d8 53.xg4 e8 54.h5 f8 55.g6 g8 56.g4 f8+ 57.h6 h7 58.g5 fxg5 59.hxg5 xg5 60.xg5 g7 61.f6+ f8 62.f7 g7 63.f8+ 46.e4 c7 47.f4 c8 48.f3 d8 49.g4 c7 50.f1 gxf5+ 51.h5 xe6 52.dxe6 c6 53.xh6 d5 54.h5 xe6 55.g6 d5 56.h6 e5 57.f7 d6 58.h7 e5 59.xf6 f4 60.gxf4 e4 61.h8 d4 62.e8 d3 42...fxe6 43.h3 h5 43...c7 is met by 44.e4 exd5+ 45.xd5 h5 46.f5 gxf5 47.xf5 b7 48.e4 c7 49.f3 e6+ 50.e4 g6 51.xh5 Black's two center Ps
are too far back and his J is too far away. White wins as follows... e5 52.f4 d8 53.g5 e7 54.h6 f6 55.g4 d5 56.g5+ f5 57.g6 xg6 58.xg6+ f6 59.c2 e5 60.b3 d4 61.c2 f7 62.h5 f6 63.e4 f7 64.g5 wins easily. 44.dxe6+ c7 45.f5 gxf5 46.xf5 c8 47.g4 hxg4 48.xg4 Nothing could
be more natural than this, but it should have tossed away the win. Amazing! 48.h5 g3 49.e3 d8 50.h6 e8 51.h7 xh7 52.xh7 wins easily. 48...h7 ...and loses! 48...g6 holds the draw. 49.f3 49.h5 e5+ 50.e4 xg4 and black wins. 51.f4 f6 52.g5 d5 49...xh4 etc. 49.h5 f6 50.h6 Once again white throws away the win! 50.f3 g8 51.e4 d8 52.f5 f6 53.h6 e8 54.g6 f8 55.h7 xh7 56.xh7 wins 50...c7
The final blunder. 50...xg4 51.h7 e5+ Both sides missed
this problem-like move which allows black to blockade the h-Pawn and at the
same time prevent white's K from assisting the P's advance. 52.e4 g6 53.f5 h8 54.g5 This is the only move that avoids a loss for white! c7 55.h6 Now it's black's turn to fin d the only move to avoid losing! d8 55...d5 56.g7 d4 57.xh8 d3 58.g8 d2 59.h8 d1 60.e5+ c8 61.c5+ d8 62.b6+ c8 63.xa6+ White mates in 20 moves! 56.g7 e8 57.g8 57.xh8 f8 Stalemate 57...d5 58.g7 58.xh8 f8 Stalemate 58...d4 59.xh8 Black has to play 59...Kf8 with a stalemate because if... d3 60.g8 d2 61.h8 d8 61...d1 62.g7# 62.d4+ wins 51.f5 Black resigned 1–0
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