Checkers Treasure Hunt Down Under

[Danny_Alvarez]

I have to confess that I have been inspired by Mr Hinnershitz, and all the wonderfully interesting things he posts here . I have recalled that I once found some really old checkers books in the Austtralian National Library. So today I went to their website and I found digital copies of some very nice books. I think that I even found an Australian Checkers Author which would be fantastic

I have applied for a membership to the library (Alas, only australian residents can do so!) and I look forward to sharing whatever treasures i do find.
they have digital copies of the following:
* Introduction to the game of draughts by William Payne
* Guide to the game of draughts by Joshua Sturges
* ABC of draughts : a stepping stone to the standard works by Fred Passey (australian)
once i get access to it ill share (i applied for access today but it will take a week or so to get it)

I have also found 2 other things somewhere else, one is a picture of checkers players in Belmore Park, Sydney taken in 1938. and the absolute best thing I have found today is a newspaper article from my home town (Brisbane, Queensland).
I have done some screen captures I'll post the one with the most information. It dates from Tuesday 28th August 1894.

nla.jpg

draughtschampionshipqld.jpg

regards,
D. Alvarez

[Danny_Alvarez]

hmmm I tried typing Mr Jay H. 's full surname and i was censored hahahaha

aww well c'est la vie !!!

D. Alvarez

[tommyc]

Great going Danny................your doing some "digging". Funny thing while looking the that photo i was thinking nothing much had changed in over 100 yrs................same ol craggy faces like we re looking at today........well cept for Toyeva and Amangul........oh better add Kim too and Jan........or ill be run outa town.!!!!lol.

[Jay H]

hmmm I tried typing Mr Jay H. 's full surname and i was censored hahahaha

aww well c'est la vie !!!

D. Alvarez

Hello Danny_Alvarez,
You might enjoy a visit here...
http://www.online-museum-of-checkers-history.com/
You will not learn how to play here,the site is not "tutorial" based. But, you will learn about the people, places and things that make up the history of the game. (English Checkers/Draughts)

Regards,

Jay H

[Danny_Alvarez]

Mr H as I said before you are truly inspirational and I honestly think that history is as important as game theory. Keep up the good work sir, I have looked at the website and it's on my favorites already. It's of specific interest the letter of resignation of former World Mail Champ & former Australian Champion Richard E. Chamberlain.
Regards,
D. Alvarez

[Jay H]

Mr H as I said before you are truly inspirational and I honestly think that history is as important as game theory. Keep up the good work sir, I have looked at the website and it's on my favorites already. It's of specific interest the letter of resignation of former World Mail Champ & former Australian Champion Richard E. Chamberlain.
Regards,
D. Alvarez

Thanx for the praise, Danny
Fellow ACForumite Liam Stephens from Ireland, and Ken Lovell (rhymes with shovel) from England, along with myself, edit the OMOCH site.....and, I think I could state on thier behalf ,that it is probably not so much our work, as it is the history of the game itself, that inspires you !!( much as it inspires us)

Regards

Jay Hinnersh!tz

[George Hay]

Danny, what a great find! Checkers/Draughts books of the past being posted on the internet is just in its infancy. I like The Liturature Of Checkers by W.C. Call as it shows what we can look forward to in the hopefully not too distant future. What strikes me is how intercontinental checkers was even back then, with magazines reporting draughts news throughout the English Speaking World....I chekced out the Chamberlain letter at OMOCH. It is an
example of the good sportsmanship of intercontinental checkers. --George Hay

[Danny_Alvarez]

I agree totally George, I personally think that resources will be far easier to get to and knowledge will be shared more freely.
The world is becoming far smaller and that will help in the future for our checkers community to be a bit larger.
the OMOCH website is one of my favourites because i do enjoy history and knowing what other players did and what it was like for them.
That Chamberlain letter is just very dear to me because of the australian connection.

I have found a few other interesting things and i;ll post as soon as i can.

have a great day George

[George Hay]

I found a checkers treasure at http://www.archive.org/ Checker Kings In Action by Tom Wiswell and Millard Hopper. The price is right, as it is a free e-book. This is the book about the Unrestricted World Title Match of 1951. Wiswell was the challenger and beat the champion Hopper by 7-2-27 to claim the crown. Later "unrestricted" or "freestyle" checkers would be called GAYP for Go-As-You-Please, and Ron King is the current world champion. Well, this book did not show up typing in "checkers." But it did show up typing in "checker kings in action" in the search box. Checkercycle features Wiswell vs Hopper (11-15, 22-18) Game 16 in one of his presentations. Jim Loy's Checkers Pages features Wiswell vs Hopper (10-15, 22-18) Game 14, and Jim Loy calls it "my favorite game." Wiswell vs Hopper 1951 is my favorite checkers match, just as Fischer vs Spassky 1972 is my favorite chess match. GAYP Checkers is my favorite game. --George Hay

[Danny_Alvarez]

George, i just made a post about a quote from a book you have mentioned on this thread from Mr Call.
I will download this book as soon as i can. Wiswell due to how prolific he was , is one of my favourite authors.
it was lifted from an old newspaper article from Australia.

cheers and thanks for sharing a whole book with us

Danny

[George Hay]

Danny, thank you, I read the W.T. Call topic. Mr. Call is himself a good writer. Maybe the classics could eventually be pieced together from various sources. Of course, it would be great to have an intact book, no missing pages or partial pages, all in one PDF file. It is amazing how much of checkers theory goes back to the early authors. And to think, no computers! --George Hay

[jaguar72]

I found a checkers treasure at http://www.archive.org/ Checker Kings In Action by Tom Wiswell and Millard Hopper. The price is right, as it is a free e-book. This is the book about the Unrestricted World Title Match of 1951.
George Hay

Thanks, George. Great post.

For those who might like to have the actual book, there is currently on eBay what looks like a really nice hardback copy of Checker Kings in Action. It even has a good condition dust jacket, quite unusual.

It is only $8.00 with $3.50 shipping and better yet, is a Buy-it-Now. The item number is 320654607587 and it's located in Denver, CO. Type "Tom Wiswell" into eBay search and it should come up. You can search by the item number, too, of course.

I would buy it in a heartbeat but I already have a copy. It's a nice deal for someone, though. It's a very good book with the usual Wiswell infectious enthusiasm!

V/R,

Gary Jenkins/jaguar72

[liam stephens]

R. D. Yates Checker Player (W T Call) is also available to read online in the archive .org site.
Just type in the title in the search box.

[tommyc]

In my collection i have McCalls [Rambles of the Switcher] original and dated 1916 @a price of 50 cent[US] Lol.

[Danny_Alvarez]

That sounds like an awesome buy Tommy