Nicholas MacLeod

Nicholas Menalaus MacLeod (8 February 1870, Quebec - 27 September 1965, Spokane, Washington) was a Scottish-Canadian chess master.

He took 6th at Ottawa 1881, tied for 3rd-9th at Quebec 1881/82, took 8th at Glasgow 1884, and finished 5th at Glasgow 1886 (the 3rd Scottish Chess Championship).

MacLeod won the Canadian Chess Championship in 1886 and 1888, and shared 1st but lost a play-off match for the title in 1887. He finished last out of 20 players at New York 1889 (the 6th American Chess Congress, won by Max Weiss and Mikhail Chigorin, losing a world-record 31 games while winning 6 and drawing 1. He finished 2nd at Quebec 1890.

He was the only player to beat Emanuel Lasker in an 18-board simultaneous exhibition at Quebec on November 26, 1892. Lasker won 15, drew 2, and lost 1, to MacLeod. It may have been Lasker's worst loss, as he was two queens down.

He was Minnesota Champion in 1899, and won the second Western Chess Association Tournament (later called the U.S. Open Chess Championship) at Excelsior 1901.