Alex Moiseyev won the Southern Tournament held in Lebanon, TN on July 9-11. The Majors division featured a 4-way tie for first between John Post, Mike Choate, John Acker, and Lynn Steelman, with John Acker winning on honor points. The Minors division was won by Trey Stanley.

See the Players Rep Corner (at right) for updates regarding National Tournament Week on August 1-5.

The 2010 ACF 3-Move National Tournament bid was awarded to John Acker for the Days Inn in Springfield, Illinois in honor of the late Richard Fortman. Springfield was Mr. Fortman’s hometown. I am grateful for John’s hard work at this bid and appreciate his enthusiasm at getting an early start with publicity, and for arranging a venue with free playing room and various door prizes. See John’s site at http://checkers2010.info for ongoing tournament detail. The hotel is located off an interstate with several restaurants nearby. Three proposed differences in format were noted within the bid:

• The tournament will run Sunday, August 1 to Thursday, August 5, rather than the usual Monday start.
• The bid did not include a separate youth tournament. The youth champion (21 and under) will be decided by the highest finisher in the main tournament, as had been the case in many Nationals of the past.
• The Masters will have 5 days of play and 2 two-game rounds occurring in Rds. 1 & 8. Majors and Minors will play 8 four-game rounds. On a related topic, I note that Gene Lindsay’s fund will take effect in this National. (Thank you, Gene!)

Donations are welcome and may be sent to John Acker, 668 Stinchcomb Dr. #10, Columbus, OH 43202, or on the Store/Donations page here. Donors with at least $20 will receive a copy of select games.
I hope everyone will consider making plans for this year’s National. In addition to honoring Mr. Fortman, I anticipate a lot of nice perks (currently in the planning stages) to this year’s tournament.

Richard Beckwith,
ACF Player Rep

The WCDF are pleased to announce the following details:

Ron King (Champion) vs. Richard Beckwith (Challenger)
World (GAYP) Championship Match 2010.

A bid has been accepted from R. Beckwith (USA) for this match to be played at the Rodeway Inn & Medina Conference Center, Medina, Ohio USA in 2010. Provisional dates are October 5th -10th. The total bid amount is $6,900 of which approx $2,000 will go towards expenses.

World (GAYP) Women’s Championship Match 2010.

A WCDF women’s qualification event (match) was held at the Isle of Wight, Britain, in September 2009. This was won by Wilma Wolverton (USA) who became the official challenger to the Women’s World (GAYP) Championship Title that is currently held by Amangul Durdyeva (Turkmenistan). However, Wilma Wolverton has declined to make a challenge. Following this the runner-up Joan Caws (IOW) was offered the opportunity to make a challenge and she has also declined. As there is no official challenger there will be no official match for this title in 2010.

WCDF Qualification Tournament 2010

A bid has been accepted from the Irish Draughts Association to host the 2010 Qualifying Tournament at the “Radisson Hotel” at Dublin Airport, Dublin, Ireland, from Wednesday 27th to Saturday 30th October 2010. (The Irish Open will be held at the same venue from Saturday 23rd Oct 2010, to Tuesday 26th Oct 2010.)

The first ten players in the Qualifying Tournament will be given €100 each. The overall winner will be the official challenger to play Alex Moiseyev for the World (3 Move) Championship title in 2011. In the event of the winner declining this opportunity, the next highest finishing player will become the challenger. The person who plays Alex Moiseyev for the world title will receive a bonus payment of €2,000 (approx US$2,900 at today’s exchange rate) from the I.D.A. after the match is concluded. It is also intended to host a Women’s and Youth event subject to entries.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the various companies, organizations, and individuals for submitting these bids and raising substantial amounts of money, in particular Joe LoConti’s firm EVERGREEN-UNI, the ACF and IDA.

Sincerely:
Hugh Devlin, WCDF President.

Many of our members renew dues at the end of the year. Please check expiration date of membership cards or on your bulletin mailing label and, as appropriate, send $25 (for U.S. members) to the ACF Treasurer, currently Kim Willis, 31 Sandstone Rd., Eldon, MO 65026. The annual dues for non-U.S. members who receive a hard copy of bulletin are $35 (Canada) or $40 (overseas) due to postage. ACF dues may also be paid on-line via Paypal (with a small fee) at ACF Store/Membership page. Please inform the ACF secretary, also Kim Willis, of any address changes, or bulletins may not be forwarded.

After a long fought 40 games Alex has retained his 3-Move World Title.
The match between Champion Alex Moiseyev and challenger Ron 'Suki' King has ended in a draw, meaning that Alex retains his title.

The final score is 4-4-32.

Congratulations to Ron King as well for putting forth a fantastic effort, leading for much of the match.

Ron struck first with a win in the final game of day 1, while Alex evened things up by winning the final game of day 2.

Day 3 consisted of 4 draws.

Ron then won a game on Day 4 and another on Day 5 to take a two game lead before the rest day on Saturday.

Alex won a game on Day 6 and another on Day 7 to even things up.

Both players scored a win playing the white side of the "Skunk" (12-16 24-20 10-15) on the 8th day followed by 2 more draws in the evening.

Day 9 came and went with 4 draws.

Day 10 finished out the match with 4 more draws.

We greatly appreciate those (Alex,Steve,Dr. Beckwith,Alan) who have kept us all informed on the ACF Forum.

Congratulations to Richard Beckwith (USA) and Wilma Wolverton (USA) on their success at the recent Qualification Tournament held at the Isle of Wight, Great Britain, held on 2nd – 5th Sept 2009. Bids are now being sought for the hosting of the following World Championship (GAYP Matches in 2010).

World Championship Match (GAYP) 2010:

Defending Champion -------- Challenger
Ron King (Barbados) Vs Richard Beckwith (USA)

World Women's Championship Match (GAYP) 2010:

Defending Champion -------- Challenger
Amangul Durdyeva (Turkmenistan) Vs Wilma Wolverton (USA)

Bids are also being sought for the hosting of the World Qualification Tournament (3 Move) 2010. We would encourage all affiliated organizations to consider placing a bid for the hosting of one or more of these important events next year. All bids should be sent to John Reade, WCDF Secretary, on or before 1st December 2009.

Sincerely: Hugh Devlin, WCDF President

Congratulations to Jim Morrison (Glasgow, KY) for winning his own "Jim Morrison" ACF GAYP National Tournament held in Lebanon, TN August 3-7. Jim won a three-way tie by honor points over Joe Schwartz (2nd) and Richard Beckwith (3rd). Albert Tucker won the Majors division on honor points over Josh Armstrong. Willis Shewcraft won the Minors. Forty-six players from three countries participated, with a prize fund of $9000. Jim Morrison won first prize of $1974 and had already agreed to represent USA in the upcoming World GAYP Qualifier on September 1-4 in England. Jim also won the GAYP National event in 1995 and 1991. Wilma Wolverton captured the trophy as highest finishing woman player. The "Arthur Niederhoffer" Youth Tournament was won by Josh Armstrong (older youth) and Solomon Reece (younger youth).

There are two world title matches expected later this year. Alex Moiseyev will defend his three-move world title against Ron King (Barbados). The match is scheduled to take place Oct. 5-15 in Medina, Ohio. Amangul Durdyeva (Turkmenistan) will defend the woman's three-move title against Javzan Gerelchuluun (Mongolia). It appears the match will occur October 23-28 in Mongolia, but negotiations are still pending.

Richard Beckwith,
ACF Player Rep

Statement regarding the proposed Women's World GAYP Championship Match 2008 - 2009 Amangul Durdyeva (Turkmenistan) Vs Jan Mortimer (New Zealand)

The process of attempting to arrange a World Championship Match between defending Champion Amangul Durdyeva (Turkmenistan) and challenger Jan Mortimer (New Zealand) began after Jan Mortimer's success in the Qualifying Tournament 2007 held in the USA. Draughts organisations affiliated to the WCDF were asked to submit bids to host this match by 1st December 2007 but none was received. The New Zealand Draughts Association submitted a bid (value US$5,800) on 14th July 2008. However the Executive Board felt that the defending Champion's cost of arranging travel to New Zealand was not fully covered in this bid and decided to allow Turkmenistan an opportunity to submit an increased bid. An increased bid (value US$7,350) was received from Turkmenistan on 29th August 2008. The Executive Board eventually accepted the Turkmenistan bid in late September 2008.

The Turkmenistan National Draughts Centre proposed various dates for this match to be played, originally in December 2008, and later May 2009, June 2009, and then a late offer of August 2009 (to have started today). For a variety of reasons this match has not been played. It has left the Executive Board with the undesirable task of making a decision regarding it.

The many issues raised, the sequence of events, and the details of various Emails have been examined and discussed within the Executive Board over the past number of weeks. It is our belief that this match could have, and should have been played in Turkmenistan as there were a number of opportunities available to do so. The fact that this has not occurred is disappointing. Our decision is that Amangul Durdyeva will remain as the Women's World GAYP Match Champion.

Sincerely: Hugh Devlin, WCDF President.

Our GAYP "Jim Morrison" National Tournament will take place August 3-7 in Lebanon, Tenn., with a separate youth tournament the preceding weekend. Kim Willis will serve as referee. See August calendar section (at left) and Player Rep Corner (at right) for other details. An additional note is announced here:

I...and a small video crew will be making the trip down to Lebanon, TN in August to witness all of the action at the U.S. Nationals. I would appreciate it very much if you could let the folks who will be attending know that we will be there so we don't take anyone by surprise.

As you know, we've been working on a feature-length documentary about the world of competitive checkers and its inhabitants. We started this adventure back in September 2008 when we attended the OH State Championship and the World GAYP title match between Lubabalo Kondlo and Ron 'Suki' King. Since that time we've visited Lubabalo in South Africa and have done a fair amount of shooting in various other locales. We will visit Suki soon in Barbados. Those who are interested can visit our production and travel blog. We're careful not to give away many story elements in the blog but it does offer a glimpse into what we've been up to. The blog can be found here http://www.kingmemovie.com

We're looking forward to meeting and spending time with some more great checker players! I look forward to seeing you and all the other players in August. Anyone who has any questions about our project should feel free to contact me via phone or email.

Best Regards, Geoff Yaw
Think Media Studios Office. 440-995-0600
geoff@thinkmediastudios.com
thinkmediastudios.com

Kim Willis has stepped up her role of service to checkers by being elected to position of ACF Treasurer. Dues should now be set to Kim Willis, ACF Secretary/Treasurer, 31 Sandston Rd., Eldon, MO 65026. Please do not send dues to past treasurers. ACF dues may also be paid on-line via Paypal (with a small fee) at ACF Store/Membership page. Please inform the ACF secretary, Kim Willis, of any address changes, or bulletins may not be forwarded.

It is with great sadness that we report checker legend Richard Fortman passed away on November 8. Richard was a former world champion at mail play, frequent annotator, and well known for his classic 30-year-old work "Basic Checkers" which provided play on the first 144 openings. Richard lived in Springfield, IL and remained active on internet checker sites even into his nineties. He will be missed.

Richard Beckwith,
ACF Player Rep

Congratulations to Alex Moiseyev for winning the Checkers gold medal for USA in the 1st World Mind Sports Games held in Beijing, China on October 13-17. Ron King of Barbados won the silver medal, followed by Raivis Paegle of Latvia (Bronze). There were 42 participants from 19 countries. Standings are posted at http://toernooibase.kndb.nl/opvraag/standen.php?taal=&kl=23&Id=1084&jr=9&afko=23
nnThe event also served as the annual 3-move WCDF qualifying tournament. The highest finishing qualifiers in the tournament (excluding present world champions) were Ron King of Barbados and Javzan Gerelchuluun of Mongolia. The WCDF is soliciting bids for the following three 2009 events: 1) Moiseyev-King 3-move world title match 2) Durdyeva – Gerelchuluun 3-move ladies title match 3) 2009 GAYP Qualifying Tournament. Bids are due December 1, 2008. (Due to the lateness of the qualifier, extensions for bid arrangements will be considered upon request.)

Richard Beckwith,
ACF Player Rep

Ron King of Barbados successfully defended his GAYP world title against Lubabalo Kondlo of Port Elizabeth, South Africa by a score of 1-0 with 23 draws. The match was held Sept. 8-13 at the Rodeway Inn & Medina Conference Center in Medina, Ohio. Alan Millhone was referee. Ron won the final and 24th game, although he would have retained the title with a drawn match. Lubabalo won the right to challenge by winning the 2007 WCDF Qualifier in Las Vegas.

Prize fund was $1500, and the players' flight, lodging, and food expenses were funded as part of the bid. The match was sponsored by EVERGREEN-UNI (Joe LoConti's agency), Richard Beckwith, and additional contributors. A film crew recorded the week's proceedings, as well as the preceding Ohio State Tournament, for an upcoming documentary.

Richard Beckwith,
ACF Player Rep

Jim Loy has provided me with a sample ACF bulletin to be freely distributed. If you are thinking of joining the ACF but are unsure of what the bulletin is like, you can now download a sample bulletin. The 2005 February ACF bulletin is now available in PDF format.

If you don't have a PDF viewer (adobe is typically used) you can download one here:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

Download February 2005 ACF Bulletin

Sincerely,
Jason Solan
ACF Webmaster