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December, 2003 ACFB #306

President's Corner:

My Trip to the "All Irish Open"

Hello, Everyone,

I shall always look back fondly on my two weeks spent in Cookstown, Northern Ireland, where I arrived on a Monday afternoon to see the second week of the Three-Move World Championship Match between champion Ron King and challenger Alex Moiseyev.

When I entered the lovely Greenvale Hotel, I was told to go upstairs to find the kibitzers watching on closed circuit television! A Belfast company was hired to install an overhead camera in the players' private room so that the moves could be seen in real time as they were played.

John Read, the referee, used a pen on the table to point to the player whose turn it was. A wonderful way to watch a match without disturbing the players or waiting for someone to relay moves played.

Later in the day I met the referee and had several conversations with Ron King. Ron gave me a lovely hardbound book that he had compiled and inscribed. I appreciate this unexpected gift and the kindness that it demonstrated on such an historic occasion. Thanks, Ron!

I was honored to watch Patricia Breen and Jan Mortimer sign the contract for their Women's World Title Match and to witness some of their games. This match was very important for the encouragement and advancement of women as active participants in our game. This match was also on closed circuit televison.

I met my old friend, Tommy Canning, and too many others to mention in this brief report. All the players were friendly and fun to be around. One more name I must mention was Master Player, Hugh Devlin, who was instrumental in the important match negotiations.

Hugh talked me into entering the Masters Division, where I finished last! But I learned a lot and it was a great privilege to compete against so many of the top players of the world. [Editor's Note: Alan is too modest to mention that, inspite of his last place finish, he won the only game that Ron King lost in the tourney. Congratulations, Mr. President!]

It was nice to see Lisle Cormier and his father at the tournament. Lisle is a rising young player who finished fourth in the Masters! I am sure that all ACF members join me in feeling very proud of his sterling performance.

Many players told me that they would come to America to play in our national events if we adopted two-game rounds. We should seriously consider this as we move to a new era of international cooperation.

The final night featured a dinner for about 100 players and their families. This included an awards ceremony at which I was honored to come on stage to say a few words as your President.

I passed out a number of ACF Bulletins and signed three new members. "BUILD THE MEMBERSHIP NOW" was my slogan.

If Cookstown and the Northern Events Company decided to hold another Irish Open, I would highly recommend that you consider participating in an event that you will always remember. I know I will!

In conclusion, to everyone who made my trip so unforgettable, a heatfelt thanks.

Sincerely,

Alan Millhone, President, American Checker Federation.

International Update:

At the October meeting of the World Draughts Federation(FMJD) held in Cookstown, Ireland, it was decided to create a new organization called the World Checkers and Draughts Federation (WCDF). This Federation is distinct from the FMJD. At present, there is no website for the new organization. This will be forthcoming after the revised constituion has been submitted and voted on. Charles Walker is charged with revising and submitting this new constitution.

Watch for further news on this matter on the ACF Website (www.usacheckers.com/) and in these pages. (Submitted by Lisle Cormier.)

Multidisciplinary Problem Competition

Alex Moiseyev is an expert in at least 3 forms of draughts: originally Russian draughts, then international draughts (10x10), and now checkers. He is also a composer of problems in each of these 3 disciplines.
Below are 3 of Alex's problems, one from each discipline. Send solutions to these problems to John Reade at 123 Andover Avenue, Middleton, Manchester M24 1JQ, England to arrive no later than 1 January 2004. The sender of the first complete set of correct solutions opened on that date will receive a copy of Richard White's English translation of Petroff's book on Russian draughts published in 1827.

Match Results.

Alex Moiseyev Defeats Ron King

Alex Moiseyev of the United States silenced his critics on Wednesday, October 22, 2003, after winning the Three-Move World Title Match in convincing fashion over former Three-Move World Champion Ron King of Barbados by a score of 8-2-25 at the International Festival of Draughts in Cookstown, Northern Ireland.

Alex won the first game of the best-of-40 match and never trailed his esteemed opponent. Both players introduced outstanding new play, with Alex's Montrose Cross cook in Game 20 getting the most publicity.

This long-awaited match put to rest a world title dispute that threatened to tear apart the world's major checker organizations. While the American Checker Federation has recognized Alex as Three-Move World Champion since 2002 following a breakdown in communications for a 2001 World Title Match between Alex and Ron, the English Draughts Association and the Northwest Draughts Federation continued to support Ron as World Champion. Now the matter is finally settled, despite a heated argument over a decision by Referee John Reade to remind the contestants to fix their clocks near the end of Game 27.

Congratulations, Alex Moiseyev! (Contributors will receive copies of the games.)

As for Ron King, Alex has been quoted as saying "This is not our first match, and it's unlikely to be our last!" In fact, Ron won the Irish Open Tournament following the match. Jack Francis placed second with 27 points (two points behind Ron) and Mustafa Durdyev (25 points) in third place with Lisle Cormier, as mentioned in the President's Corner, in fourth with 24 points.

Patricia Breen Retains Her Title

Patricia Breen of Carlow, Ireland, defended her title of Women's World Champion on Thursday, October 30, 2003, with a 5-1-10 victory over challenger Jan Mortimer of New Zealand, despite a valiant effort by Mrs. Mortimer during the final four games of the match.

Congratulations, Patricia Breen!

Jan earned the right to challenge Patricia, who last defended her title in 1995 against younger sister Karena Breen, by placing highest among women at the 2002 U.S. National Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada. The match took place at the International Festival of Draughts in Cookstown, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, from October 27 - 30, 2003, in a best-of-twenty game event. The match was hosted by the Northern Federation of Draughts in association with the Northern Ireland Events Company and the Cookstown District Council.

In all likelihood, this is not the last we shall see of Jan Mortimer. She demonstated both courage and a fighting spirit against a formidable opponent.(Contributors will receive games.)

Earl Morrison Wins Canadian Match Championship:

The Canadian Championship Match between Champion Leroy Adams (Winnipeg, Manitoba) and Challenger Earl Morrison (of St. Lambert, Quebec) was held on October 22 - 26, 2003, at the Maple Farms Hotel in Ancaster, Ontario, near Hamilton. Earl defeated LeRoy in a thirty-game match by the score 8-4-15. Congratulations, Earl!

Let's hope this starts another active period in Canadian Match history! (Submitted by Earl Morrison and the CCA) (Contributors to this match will receive copies of the games.)

The results of the preceding matches may be viewed in vivid color (with photos) on the ACF web site (www.usacheckers.com/.)

Remarks on Prior Canadian Matches.

James M. Dykes vs. James Labadie 3-1-45 (June, 1878, London, Ontario)

The games were preserved in a match book. (First ed., Call No. 62; 2nd Ed. published by M. D. Teetzel, 1909)

Various claimants appeared from time to time in the interim, but the first serious attempt to revive interest in the title was sponsored by A. S. Wheeler ( President of the Ontario Checker Association and Editor of the Toronto Sunday Telegram checker column) together with several other members from the Ontario Association and the local Hamilton Checker Club. This resulted in twelve game match for the Canadian Match Championship between Prof. William Ross Fraser and George McRitchie (Champion of Hamilton, Ontario) The match was held at the Hamilton Club late in 1950 and resulted in a victory by Prof. Fraser.

W. R. Fraser vs. G. McRitchie 6-2-2. (IDC, P. 11.)

W. R. Fraser vs. J. D. MacFarlane 4-1-5 (Jan. 1951, Central YMCA in Montreal.)(IDC, P. 12)

W. R. Fraser vs. J. H. Durant 5-0-3 (Feb. 1951, same location but no publicity!) (IDC, P. 12.)

W. R. Fraser vs. J. D. MacFarlane 11-4-19 (Jan. 26 to Feb. 23, 1952.) This match expanded the number of games to 40 (if necessary) and was played under a mixed system of openings (GAYP, Two-Move, Three-Move and Eleven-Man-Ballot.) (Fraser later played Tinsley a like match in Montreal, losing 0-14-26, all twenty games being played with no title involved. The games are preserved in Fraser's Inferno.)

[Editor's note: Several other matches for the title were played subsequently. Perhaps an interested and more informed reader could help fill out the details.]

Tournament Results.

California State Tournament, August 30-31 in Santa Monica, CA.

Gerry Lopez was first, follwed by John Gibson, Warren Meacham and Don Sievewright.

Submitted by Gerry Lopez.

Bill Henson's Birthday Checker Tournament. Saturday, September 13, 2003, Centralia, IL. Five rounds were played in one class, Three-Move restriction. Final Standings:

No entry fee was collected. A midday meal was served by Mrs. Bill Henson and later there was a birthday celebration with cake and ice cream. Bobby Smith graciously donated trophy plaques for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places, inscribed with the date, place and reason for the checker tournament. A nice item to hang on one's wall. Thank you Bobby and thank you Mrs. Henson.

Kentucky Open. October 3-5, Richmond, KY

Alex was so far ahead that he was allowed to go back to his home on Saturday evening and did not have to play the final round on Sunday. He had already won 10 games and allowed only 2 draws. On hand were 5 former Kentucky Champions! Herbert Reed made a fine showing and is the new Kentucky State Champion. Leon Creek did his usual excellent job as referee and score keeper. Thanks, Leon! Submitted by your President, Alan Millhone.

Illinois 101 Checker Tournament was held October 4 - 5, 2003, in Marion,

IL. In the "B" Class, we had Dylan Phelps and Noah Lambert competing at ages
six and seven, respectively! Here are the results.

Class A.

Class B.

Nebraska State Open (Lloyd Mills Memorial.) October 19, 2003, in Schuyler,

NE. A nice lunch was served by the Stallsworths. Submitted by John Pestal.

North Carolina District 4 Open. November 6-8 (Thursday through Saturday) at the Quality Inn, Lexington, NC.

Tim Laverty, the tournament referee, is the new District 4 Champion for 2003. Nice job, Tim!
Note: Two honor points are 86. and 86.- the 86.- is actually 85 23/30. Tim likes fractions!

Checker Calendar.

Mississippi Open GAYP Checker Tournament will be December 13, 2003 starting at 9:00 a. m. at the International Checker Hall of Fame in Petal, MS. Lunch and dinner are complimentary with entertainment provided by Santa Claus and Elvis. There will be prizes for all! Come prepared to have a great time! Please call 601-582-7090 if you are coming and the number attending, or email [Contact The American Checker Federation for this email address]. From Chan Waldrop, Secretary ICHF

Sedalia, Missouri Tournament December 20, 2003 at the Moose Lodge, 4950 Duke Road, near Walmart. Turn North off Highway 50; behind Applebee's. Register 8:00 a. m., play begins at 9:00. Four rounds, Three-Move restriction, two or three classes. In case of bad weather, call the sponsor, Chris Weiland, (660-826-8729) to find out if tournament is still on.

2004 NationalTournament Planned for the first two weeks in August at a famous location of the Las Vegas Strip! Why two weeks? Because we are planning to have both a Three-Move and a GAYP tourney! This was the brainchild of Joe Schwartz who has pledged $2,000 toward the prize fund! The tourneys are planned for a two-week period to allow players to choose which event (or both) to attend. Please contact Gerry Lopez, 41858 Corte Selva, Temecula, CA 92591 (Tel: 909-695-2499. (email: Contact The American Checker Federation for this email address) More attendees equals better rates and accomodations.

ORGANIZED CHECKERS

IN THE USA

By Richard Fortman

Prior to 1912, America lacked a national organization, in contrast to both England and Scotland where annual national tourneys date from the late 1800's to the present time. A number of states did hold annual tourneys, in particular, Illinois (1889), Maine (1897) and Michigan (1882) to name three.

In that era, the majority of players resided in the larger cities (in direct contrast to today) in which active checker and chess clubs were abundant; San Francisco, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Chicago, St. Louis, Toledo, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Philadelphia and notably, Boston, where the famous Wells Club prospered for over 80 years, with a membership of 450 at its peak year.

It was here in the early part of the year 1904 that a number of prominent players and promoters banded together to formulate a proposal to invite 10 of the British players (5 each from both England and Scotland) to play an international team match the following year. The Americans would pay for the round-trip ship tickets, plus board and room for the entire team and two officials. This proposal was accepted by both England and Scotland after which the playing rules were submitted. Each player was to play four games with all opponents on the new 2-move restriction, which the British had adopted in their early1900 tourneys. Since America had not done so, this was the major sticking point but it was finally agreed upon, rather than have this contest fall through.

The USA team was selected by invitation in contrast to the second International Match in 1927 where half of the team had to win their place by elimination matches. The initial invitations were as follows: Charles Barker, August Heffner and Sam Grover of the Boston area, Clarence Freeman of Providence, RI, Melvin Pomeroy and Dr. August Schaefer, NY, George Dearborn of Lowell, MA, Charles Hefter of Chicago, John F. Horr of Buffalo and Lucius T. Head of Albany.

Of these, Freeman declined for health reasons (kidney disease which took his life four years later at the age 49). Pomeroy declined in view of the new restriction since he played GAYP only, winning the world title over Alf Jordan in a suspicious match. Hefter bowed because of pressing business. (He owned a Chicago department store.) The substitutes were John T. Denvir of Chicago and Willis G. Hill of New Hampshire. The reserves were Percy Bradt, G.A. Pierce and W. C. Parrow.

The British team consisted of World Champion Richard Jordan of Edinburgh, Robert Stewart, Blairadam, James Ferrie, George Buchanan and James Searight of Glasgow. This was the Scottish "BIG FIVE" whose combined score in this contest was a remarkable 46 wins with just two losses. The English team consisted of Allan Hynd of Manchester, Willie Garner, Yorkshire, Alfred Jordan of London, Herbert Morrall of Liverpool and William Hallowell also of Manchester. Their combined score was 27 wins along with 32 losses.

Against a superior team and unfamiliar (with the exception of Barker and Heffner) with 2-move, the US team fought gamely with both Heffner (4-1-35) and Barker (5-3- 32) making plus scores with the remainder minus: Dr. Schaeffer (5-7-28), Horr (3-6- 31), Denvir (3- 9-27), Grover (2-7-31), Head (2-7-31), Dearborn (2-6-24), Hill (6-12-22) and Reynolds (2-15-23) bring up the rear. A total score of 73 to 34 with 284 draws. (9 games were judged unplayed: Dearborn's games in rounds 9 and 10 because of illness and the final game between Denvir and

Stewart because of time constraints.)

A sum of $2,625 was raised for this match with expenditures of $2,293. The bulk of the money was raised with $5 subscriptions plus gate receipts of $718!

The ninth man on the US team, John T. Denvir, was a Chicago contractor and politician having served four terms as state senator. At the time of this match, he was 46 years of age and lived for almost 40 more. His play was confined mainly to the Chicago Chess and Checker Club where he had many sessions with that city's best including Charles Hefter who had recommended him for a place on the team.

Mr. Denvir was the author of numerous books but he is best known for his work entitled John T. Denvir's Report of the International Games Played at Boston, Mass with date omitted. By some means, never disclosed, he had obtained copies of the match games and issued a so-called "pirated edition." It was cheaply produced in every respect: paper, binding, printing were of inferior quality. There were few notations on the games themselves and the entire printing contained many errors. It was issued in late 1905 under the copyright J. T. Denvir.

This breach of etiquette was harshly criticized by the New England Checker Association. Later the following year the NECA published what is known as the "Heffner edition," beautifully produced and bound with 340 pages and limited to 600 copies.

My treasured copy is No. 30 almost in mint condition after a century. But despite its many flaws, the Denvir book was one of my first, along with a copy of the Sixth American tourney book, given to me in June 1931 by my mentor, Harland Richards. I had just begun playing that year and I literally devoured these two books, playing over each of the games a number of times. Lacking an understanding of why these moves were being made, one might say I learned to play imitating the games by rote.

One year later the New England Association, smarting under this one-sided defeat, made plans to hold what was described as a "tourney open to all checker players, save one, in America." The executive committee consisted of Frank A. Fitzpatrick, J. J. Lannin, Dr. Edward Hamm, George H. Dean, Sam Grover and W. G. Hill. This committee raised $500 in donations (not listed in the tourney book) and the tourney was played March 18-24, 1907 at the American House, the same location as the earlier international match. There were just 16 entries (no doubt more had been hoped for) which included Barker, Heffner, Zink, McDonald, Andrews, all from the Boston area and H. L. Pigeon, R. Davis, F. Peck and W. G. Hill from the Massachusetts area, J. J. Lannin, L. S. Head from New York, W. G. Hill, Lowell, MA, H. B. Reynolds, Syracuse, G. A. Pierce, Minneapolis, Hugh McKean, making the long trip from Salt Lake City, Joe Maize from Pittsburgh and A. J. Klinda from Philadelphia.

These 16 players met in a preliminary round which sent Barker, Heffner, Zink, Davis, Head, Hill, Maize, Andrews, and Reynolds into the major tourney, single knock-out, 2-move restriction. In the semi finals, Barker won over Reynolds, 2-1-3, with Heffner winning over Head 1-0-3. In the finals, Barker won after an ill-advised cook by Heffner with white: 10-14, 23-19, 11-16, 27-23, 16-20, 31-27, although later draws were missed. For their efforts, the players were rewarded as follows: Barker - $150, Heffner - $100, Head - $80 and Reynolds - $60. A later tourney book was issued by the Boston club with notes and diagrams by Heffner, consisting of 92 pages with a limited edition of 300 copies, of which mine is #192, almost in mint condition. The "barred" player, Denvir, evidently made no plans to enter.

Four years later, a group of players from the Detroit and Toledo area had banded together to promote another national tourney, to be held at the famous summer resort of Cedar Point, near Sandusky, Ohio. Through the pages of Manson Teetzel's Canadian Checker Player, a drive for funds was started in October, 1910.

The following year the American Checker Association was formed, with Frank A. Fitzpatrick President along with Vice Presidents, J. J. Lanin, R. W. Peterson, A. W. Valentine and Capt. F.B. Fishburne. Manson Teetzel was elected Secretary and Fred Hogue Treasurer.

The second American Checker Association tourney was held the following year (August, 1912), at the Breakers Hotel with $1000 raised towards the prize fund.

This attracted an entry of forty masters and those of lesser skill. Former U.S. champion, Charles Barker had died three years earlier at the age of 51 after an attack of gastritis, and A. J. Heffner was unable to get time away from his position as a railway clerk. Among the tourney favorites were two "transplants": the former English champion, Alfred Jordan and a Scottish contender for the championship of his native country, Hugh Henderson, who settled in the coal district of Pennsylvania. Hugh felt he had been snubbed when passed over as the 5th member of the 1905 Scottish team in favor of James Searight. Henderson's play here, along with his showing three years later at Chicago seemed to justify this charge although Searight was the only player to win over both Barker and Heffner.

These forty players were divided into four groups of ten each, playing a two game round robin, with the high four from each group advancing to the single knock-out master's tourney.

The sixteen players to advance were: Hugh Henderson, Alfred Jordan, Harry Lieberman, H.B. Reynolds, Newell Banks, Louis Ginsberg, Patrick Whalen, John F. Horr, Julius D'Orio, F. R. Wendemuth, L. J. Goldsmith, A. J. Klinka, T. J. Harrigan, Sunset Bell, H. O. Newcombe and L. R. Winnemore.

In round 2, Henderson won over Horr 3-1-4, Reynolds over Whalen, Jordan over Ginsberg with Lieberman winning over Banks. After this hard fight against Horr, Henderson went on to win over Alf Jordan in the semi-finals and also over Reynolds in the finals to become the first American Checker Association and National Champion a feat he had been unable to do in his native Scotland.

First prize was $300, second $150, third $125 and fourth $100. Secretary Teetzel published the tourney book of 500 copies. The binding was inferior to the first tourney, making it difficult to find copies as time went on.

Three years later, the third American Checker Association tourney was held in Chicago, IL at the Sportsman Club with 32 entries but a prize fund of just half that of the previous tourney, a total of $500 with just $100 to the winner.

The players were again divided into four groups of eight each with the four highest going into the masters (called the majors at that time.) The champion, Hugh Henderson, seemed rusty after a long layoff, losing heats to both Jesse Hanson and Morton Spielman, but qualifying by wins over newcomers, Tom O'Grady, Peter Doran and R.W. Patterson. In the first round of the masters, Henderson got his revenge by defeating Spielman, and also won over O'Grady in round 2, along with Jordan, Banks and Ginsberg. In the semi-finals, Henderson had a stern joust with 21 year old Louis Ginsberg 1-0-15 draws there evidently being no restriction on the number of games played. The other pairing of Jordan versus Banks set a record of 23 successive draws, at which time Banks quixotically tilted with the playing committee, asking for a drawn round which was denied. After returning to the board, Henderson notes in his column: "There is no doubt that Banks practically threw away the 24th game with his careless play with Black in a standard Bristol-Cross." Henderson then went on to defeat Jordan in the finals 1 - 0 - 5 draws, with a five hour win on the Dundee and then a draw with the weak side.

During a business meeting, E. H. Greene of Kansas City, MO was elected as the new president to succeed the retiring A.W. Valentine. Mr. Greene would play an important role in American checkers over the next dozen years, and also produced the tourney book, a vast improvement over the previous one. The paper and binding were of high quality and consisted of 358 pages including a problem section of 130 examples for a price of $3.00.

A footnote to this tourney: at the 1949 Cedar Point tourney, I was honored to meet (and also play four draws) with the internationalist, Thomas O'Grady of Rochester, NY. He had been in retirement for a number of years following his participation in the 1927 second International but was coaxed back into action by Willie Ryan whom he played in the Newark tourney with a fine fourth place finish. Mr. O'Grady was a most convivial gentleman and an entertaining story teller even though handicapped by a speech impediment.

During one after-hours session in the hotel bar, Tom (as he preferred to be called) was telling some stories to a group which included Jack Dworsky, I and several others. He said that after Henderson had won this Chicago tourney, he invited some of his friends (who included O'Grady) to help celebrate his victory at a local saloon, as it was called back in those days, with Hugh footing the bill. During the course of the evening with the beer flowing freely, Henderson climbed up on one of the tables and called for attention to propose a toast: "Let's all have a drink in honor the greatest checker player in the world, Hugh Henderson!" And O'Grady turned to us with a smile, saying: "And who could deny him?"

In this tourney, his final one at age 75, Tom O'Grady had some trouble finishing in 5th place, behind Tinsley, Dworsky, Bruch and myself. A grand old man indeed! This proved to be the apex of Henderson's career as he died three years later, on October 23, 1918, a victim of the massive influenza epidemic that had swept the country, leaving a widow and several children destitute.

Due in part to World War I, there was a five year span before the fourth American Checker Association National tourney which was held in 1920 at Cedar Point, Ohio with an increased prize fund of $1000. Here with forty entries, a preliminary round robin with five groups of eight each and the two highest going into the masters (then called majors).

As with Henderson at Chicago, future champion John F. Horr had problems in the prelims, losing to John Dougherty and was held to a six game drawn round by 23 year old John Howe Jr., of Chicago. Horr managed to sneak in by winning his other five rounds to tie with Howe, just ½ points ahead of Dougherty.

With the preliminary rounds out of the way, Horr won over Townsend, Howe, Jordan and Hanson tying for 3rd and 4th, and Reynolds and Newell Banks coming in 5th and 6th, the latter having problems once again losing to Hanson and Bradford. First prize was $200, second $150, third $87.50 and fourth $37.50.

During the business meeting of the preceding national tourney, a motion was passed to include the four "barred" openings in the next tourney which was accepted.

Champion Horr had made a detailed study of these "exchange" openings in preparing for this tourney which put him in the position to win key games over Jordan, Townsend, Reynolds and Bradford, even though he was unable to draw the weak side of the Dundee Cross versus Reynolds. This tourney marked the debut of 16 year old Asa Long of Toledo. Although failing to make the masters, he upset master players Reynolds, McKean, Ralph Banks and Hickey, missing out by just 1½ points in the initial step of career that spanned over 60 years!

With the country prospering, the 5th American Checker Association tourney was held just two years later, returning to Boston and the historic American House hotel with 38 entries. It was here that A.J. Heffner introduced his new "Heffner Double Corner" plan which was approved, eliminating the qualifying round. President E.H. Greene was re-elected for a second term and John G. Finley of Newark, NJ who was destined to play an important role in checkers for the next 15 years with his full page column in the Roseville Citizen paper was elected as the new Secretary.

At the same time, during the business meeting, a proposal by Saul Weslow and seconded by H. Morrall to discard the four barred openings was reported in the tourney book as being "carried unanimously". This was not so as both John Horr and Chris Nelson who had attended the meeting walked out in protest.

This tourney marked the advancement of Asa Long, now 18 years old, from an expert in 1920 to a master here, defeating the former English champion not once but twice in the finals, to capture 1st place, $250 and a championship medal. Alf Jordan came in second, followed by Ginsberg who had won over Long, then Townsend, Duffy, and Weslow among others. Many years later Asa Long mentioned to me that this was "perhaps my most satisfying win as I thoroughly disliked Jordan, both as a person and also as a checker player, who had treated me as an 'upstart' at the 1921 Cedar Point tourney." Asa had also won the annual Cedar Point earlier that same year over Mike Lieber in the finals.

The following year, under the guidance of Secretary Finley, the entire country was divided into zones, for the purpose of raising funds for the 6th national tourney. This was awarded to New York City as Harry Latz, manager of the Alamac Hotel, had offered $500 to stage the tourney there. A record breaking prize fund of $2130 had been raised, and also a record $500 plus a gold medal, going to the tourney winner.

This marked the debut to national play of one of America's greatest players, Samuel Gonotsky of Brooklyn, NY. Although he had played in several earlier Brooklyn club tourneys he was virtually unknown. At age 22, he won this tourney by defeating in successive rounds Ellis, Ostrander (in one loss), Lawson, Lewis, Roberts, Newcombe and Ginsberg, also in one loss. In the semifinals he lost to A. Jordan by over playing the strong side of a 12-16 Edinburgh, but returned to win over Jordan in the finals on this same opening!

[Editor’s Note: This remarkable history will be continued over the next several issues.]

Old Paraffin (Part 3):

Red: Jessie Hanson White: Willie Ryan (1928)(CCC, Game 278(Oct. 1947))

• A. " Ths weak move is practically a loss, although I do not know a certain win against it. One of Ryan’s "horse-radish" lines, it is very trappy as he once knocked out the ‘Great

Ginsberg’ with it in a 1926 Brooklyn masters tourney." Hanson in California Checker Chatter, Game 278 (Oct. 1947.) This Hanson-Ryan game was played in Cleveland, Ohio during a series of matches that the two played during 1928. Ryan won this particular match 3-2-25. (Richard L. Fortman.) [Editor’s Note: The Ginsberg vs. Ryan game was featured in Part 2 of this series.]

• B. " I believe this is the only move to draw." Hanson. (Ryan had characterized the text as “the only satisfactory draw” in IYM.)

• C. Left in IYM with the remark “makes an easy game for white.” rlf.

• D. 8-11 27-23 6-10 22-18 1-5 30-26 3-7 26-22 11-16 20-11 7-16 22-17 (“White’s only statisfactory draw.” Ryan.) 9-13 18-9 5-14 28-24 13-22 24-20. Drawn. William Evans vs. Willie Ryan. SCME, P. 103, Note A. (A neat escape by Ryan pointed out by rlf.)

• E. 8-11 transposes to note D.

• F. “A losing move.” Hanson, who did not point out the obvious 31-26 to draw. rlf. [Editor’s Note: This draw can arise from Boland’s Checkers in Depth, P. 83, No. 1, if White plays 30-26 instead of the correct 22-18.]

• G. "And this is where I missed the win. I first looked at the proper 2-7 to force 20-16 and then either 14-17 or 14-18, etc. to draw. But I had a ‘Jack Dempsey’ knock-out punch with the 13-17*! pitch. Then 22-13 and now 14-17* 21-14 10-17 19-10 12-26 31-22 and 7-14 Black Wins!” Hanson. (This is the elegant " Hanging ( or Dangling) Piece " win which

was given in ECB some years back with several other examples of this theme rlf.)

• H. And Willie got away! Richard Fortman thought that this obscure game might be enjoyed by ACF members. [Editor’s Note: Next time: a new idea discovered by Brian Hinkle.]

Target Practice Solutions: (Diagrams 3-11)

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