I'm not a small guy and run a 1x11 setup, after going to a 1x setup I've never looked back, I've not had a chain jump off the chainring, no annoying rubbing of the chain on the front derailleur, no shifting problems. I believe that a 1x setup will work for most people if you choose your chainring according to the trails you ride in your area. Admittedly SRAM's 1x11 setup was originally designed for racing, and because of that, they designed the front chainring to be changed out easily without the need to remove the cranks. I've ridden lots of trails, and all the standard setups, 3x9, 3x10, 2x10, 1x9 and now 1x11. By far my favorite setup has been 1x11. It gives me enough range, very fast shifts, and a level of reliability I have never known until now.
Happy to see you got your issues sorted out with the front derailleur, I would not have guessed that changing the chain would have fixed the problem. Reading your post initially I thought you did not have enough throw on the front derailleur, bad chain line, or a bad chainring but you have proved the problem was with the chain. Understanding why moving to a Shimano chain fixed the problem would be interesting to know.