include("/usr/brazeau/misc/chinook/web_docs/php/tournament/intro.php"); include("/usr/brazeau/misc/chinook/web_docs/php/breadcrumb.php"); printHeader("1996 United States 3-Move Championship", "Danville, Virginia", "November 11 - 16, 1996"); printBreadCrumbTrail("Description"); ?>
The 1996 United States 3-Move Championship Tournament was held from November
11 to 16 at the Howard Johnson Inn in Danville, Virginia.
This tournament was dedicated to Earl Luffman, a checker player from Danville
who was tragically killed in an automobile accident on January 11, 1995.
Earl's finest triumph was winning the Major division in the 1994 United
States Championship in Garland, Texas.
Located at the border between Virginia and North Carolina, Danville served as
the last confederacy capital during the United States Civil War.
The Howard Johnson Inn was an ideal venue because the excellent playing areas,
rooms and restaurant were all under the same roof.
There was also a very nice cafeteria nearby.
A total of $11,300 was raised for prize funds.
Prior to the commencement of the first round, several presentations and
speeches were made.
Bryce Luffman, Earl's younger brother and tournament sponsor, spoke about his
brother as did Earl's minister.
A plaque recognizing Earl's accomplishments was presented to the Luffman
family by the Danville City Council.
The
American Checker Federation
then acknowledged
Ron King's
recently successful defence of his Go-As-You-Please World Championship title.
James Morrison,
the challenger, presented
Ron King
with the championship trophy.
The tournament featured a total of 70 entrants with 20 masters, 21 majors and
29 minors.
The Masters division featured strong contingents from the United States,
Barbados, Canada, and Great Britain.
All games in this division were played in the Board Room.
Chinook convincingly won this division with 30 out of a possible 32
points.
Ron King
finished 2nd with 22 points.
Since King had the highest number of points among the humans, he was declared
the United States Open Champion.
Richard Hallett
finished 3rd with 20 points and earned the right to challenge King for the
World 3-Move Championship.
Chinook won all its rounds and was only held to a draw by the World
Champion
Ron King
in the 4th round.
However, King handily lost to Chinook in the final round.
The complete record of the Masters division appears at the bottom of this page.
Other notable performances were that of
Alex Moiseyev,
the 100 square American Champion who has had very little experience with the
8x8 style of play.
He showed great ability in beating 4th place
Jack Francis
(recent winner of the British Tournament) and tieing the tough veteran
Ed Bruch
(who finished 5th).
James Morrison,
twice winner of the United States Open Go-As-You-Please Championship, had a
strong tournament and finished 3rd.
The Major and Minor divisions played in the Piedmont room.
Anthony Bishop played excellent checkers to win the Majors with 28 points;
then Bill Stewart and
Joe Schwartz
24; Albert "atuck" Tucker and Don West 20,
Bill Levine, Larry Pollard, Al Kopko, Vincent Delong 18; and Raleigh
Johnson 16.
The Minor division was dominated by the very fine play of Bill McClintock
with 30 points.
This was followed by Ben Jones 24; Carson Gullett and Lonnie Martin 22;
Floyd Wilson, E. W. McConnell, Will Criner 20; and Merle Vaughan, Henry
Headinger, Jay Greer, Buck Smith 18.
One night, after a long day of playing checkers, all participants enjoyed
a party hosted by fellow participant
Joe Schwartz.
The event featured food, drink, cake, door prizes, and story prizes.
A nice touch appreciated by everyone!
The tournament director was Don Lafferty.
Here are the final results for the Master Division.
Rank Name RD1 RD2 RD3 RD4 RD5 RD6 RD7 RD8 Total Pts 1. CH Chinook +WL +HK +BC =RK +RH +EB +JM +RK 30 N/A 2. RK Ron King +LA +TL +EB =CH =JM +AM =RH -CH 22 N/A 3. RH Richard Hallett =LB +JM =HK +EL -CH +GL =RK =JF 20 140 4. JM James Morrison +RB -RH +WL +BC =RK +EL -CH =AM 20 132 5. JF Jack Francis =GL -EB +RA +TL -AM +EM +EL =RH 20 118 6. EB Ed Bruch =WB +JF -RK +GW +EM -CH =AM =TL 18 136 7. TL Tim Laverty +EL -RK +LB -JF -GL +HK +WB =EB 18 122 8. AM Alex Moiseyev -BC =RA +RB +WB +JF -RK =EB =JM 18 122 9. LA Leroy Adams -RK =WC =GL =RA =WB +BC =LB +EM 18 110 10. LB Les Balderson =RH =WB -TL -GL +RB +WL =LA +RA 18 110 11. EL Elbert Lowder -TL +GL +GW -RH +BC -JM -JF +HK 16 N/A 12. BC Bob Cooper +AM +EM -CH -JM -EL -LA +GW =GL 14 130 13. GL Gene Lindsay =JF -EL =LA +LB +TL -RH -RA =BC 14 124 14. WB John Webster =EB =LB =EM -AM =LA =RA -TL BYE 14 121 15. RA Rawle Allicock -HK =AM -JF =LA +GW =WB +GL -LB 14 114 16. EM Earl Morrison +GW -BC =WB +HK -EB -JF +WL -LA 14 108 17. HK Harvey Kelley +RA -CH =RH -EM =WL -TL BYE -EL 12 130 18. WL John Walcott -CH =LA -JM +RB =HK -LB -EM +GW 12 120 19. GW Gene Westmoreland -EM +RB -EL -EB -RA BYE -BC -WL 8 N/A 20. RB Ron Bailey -JM -GW -AM -WL -LB - WITHDREW -- 0 N/Ainclude("/usr/brazeau/misc/chinook/web_docs/php/trailer.php"); ?>