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I see in my copy of the Modern Encyclopedia of Checkers (MEC) that it was written by "William (Willie) F. Ryan, Worlds' Champion Checker Player." You will search in vain for Ryan's name on a list of World Champions.
We do see that he drew a match for the Title with Walter Hellman, in 1949. Hellman retained his Title because of the draw. So, Ryan wasn't Champion then. And the second edition of MEC, the one that I have, was written in 1943.
Well, in 1937 Ryan won a blindfold match, over Newell Banks. Both players played several games simultaneously, without sight of the boards. The match was for the World Blindfold Title. The NCA (the national governing body at that time) refused to recognize the match as being for the title. And they declared Banks the World Champ, in that form of checkers. Apparently, Banks didn't object. Later that year, Banks defeated Ryan in a second blindfold match. The ACF and apparently the British association never recognized either match as an official match. There's never been an official match. I'd say that Ryan was Champ, for a while, but not "Worlds' Champion Checker Player."
But we have more clues. Asa Long won the World Championship in 1934. He defended his Title in 1936. He didn't defend it again until 1948, when he lost it to Hellman. Ryan apparently challenged Long, and declared himself Champion when Long wouldn't play. There is some precendent for that in checkers history.
I would say that Ryan was champ at blindfold, for a short period of time, and never at 3-Move. Thank goodness there are better ways to choose a challenger nowadays.