A biography by Richard Fortman

Richard Hallett was born December 2, 1929 in Lynn, Massachusetts. He was a checker prodigy at age 15 defeating the veteran Maine master Ray Gould in both the 1946 and 1947 New England Tournaments and also winning over another prodigy, 16 year old Leonard Rosenfield of Boston in the finals. He entered in the strong 1950 Paxton US Open finishing in 10th place losing only to Chamblee while drawing with Ryan, Levitt and Bruch. Richard moved temporarily to Nashville, Tennessee winning the 1950 Southern States Tournament. Hallett then dropped from sight in all checker circles before surfacing 25 years later as a handicapper in a Miami, Florida dog track. There he met checker expert Joe Schwartz and was persuaded to return to the game and won both the 1978 and 1979 Florida Open Tournaments. He then moved to Poughkeepsie New York to work for Schwartz's real estate company. His US Open Tournament record is: 1980 - 3rd, 1982 - 3rd, 1984 - 2nd, 1986 - 8th, 1988 - 4th, 1990 - 4th, 1992 - 4th, 1994 - 8th, 1996 - 2nd where, as runner up to the world champion, Ron King, he is again eligible to challenge for the world 3-move match title.

In 1991, after the resignation of world champion, Marion Tinsley, and the withdrawal of Asa Long, Richard was selected as the USA representative to challenge Derek Oldbury for the world 3-move match title. The match was played in Weston Super-Mare, England in October 1991 with Oldbury winning 7-4-27. Hallett also played two stake matches with Oldbury; a 20 game 3-move match in 1985 ending in a draw 2-2-16, a 20 game 11 man ballot match in 1986 with Hallett winning 4-3-13.