Fortman's admiration for Alf Huggins

[DrCaesar]

Huggins is mentioned many times in Basic Checkers, often in near-reverential terms. Fortman describes him as "one of the game's great competitors."

He says that, later in life, ill health forced Huggins to become inactive in draughts. Any of the older forum members ever meet or play against him?

[Richard Pask]

I only met Alf once: he was an adjudicator at the 1979 EDA Youth Championships held in Bristol. I found him to be the same as everyone else: an absolute gentleman.

[liam stephens]

Alf Huggins 1904 - 1982
I have several letters from Alf Huggins dating from the 1970s.
One of them included his comments on the mail match he played against Paul Thompson in 1963.
This was published in the English Draughts Journal Dec 1978, Vol 18, No 3, page 173.
There is a biographical sketch of him in Anthony Bishop’s Ency.
There is an obituary notice in EDJ March 1983, Vol 22, No3, page 460.
He won the English Open Championship in 1959, 1967, 1969, 1971 and 1973.
He won the British Open Championship in 1960 and 1976.
He won the World mailplay match title against Richard Fortman 1-0-11 draws in 1964/65
and successfully defended the title against S. Weslow 1967/68 and R. Chamberlain 1972/75.

[DrCaesar]

He clearly had a remarkable career in draughts. A steelworker from Monmouthshire, according to Fortman, who also referred to him as "one of the world's finest talents."