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2006 Checkers At Stonehaven
Ron King
Stonehaven and Harbor
Stonehaven, Scotland, hosted the 2006 British Open
Checkers Tournament from July 17 to 21. There were
sixteen entrants from the British Isles, Barbados,
and Turkmenistan. The players’ roster featured
such notable checkers masters as Ron King, Tom Watson,
Colin Young, Shane McCosker, and the three older
Durdyev brothers ~ Mustafa, Paraahat, and Bagtiyar.
The checkers event was held Stonehaven’s
Town Hall, and throughout the great tournament
an exciting and challenging atmosphere prevailed.
Spectators commented that the checkers players
displayed an excellent caliber of technical
skill with a few individual tricks thrown
in for good measure to keep all opponents
on their toes. Good sportsmanship was the
theme at each checkerboard.
The successful winner of the checkers tournament
was Mustafa Durdyev with a score of 30 points. He
took the crown of British Open Champion from Colin
Young, of Stonehaven. Ron King placed second and
third with 29 points and Tom Watson from Scotland
ranked fourth with 24 points.
World 3-Move Draughts/Checkers Qualifier Tournament
The St Leonard's Hotel in Stonehaven hosted
the World 3-Move Qualifying Checkers/ Draughts
Tournament from July 24 to 28, 2006. Twelve
players took part in the championship match,
including representatives from the US, Barbados,
Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Turkmenistan.
Several contenders from the British Open
participated in this title match as well.
St. Leonard’s Hotel, Stonehaven |
Ron King vs former British Open Checker Champion,
Colin Young from Stonehaven |
Graham Young, President of Aberdeen
Draughts Club and Vice President
of Scottish Draughts Association
responsible for organizing both events,
noted the event in the Town Hall
attracted the biggest ever entry
with forty-two master checkers players
taking part. Thirty-five of the tournament
entrants stayed in accommodation
within the surrounding areas of Stonehaven
and everyone was impressed with the
beauty of Stonehaven and the hospitality
of the local residents in the area.
It was commented that some of the
checkerists enjoyed the Open Air
Pool nearly every day.
Ron King emerged victorious as the winner
of the World 3-Move Qualifying Tournament
in a field of twelve Masters and Grandmasters
in the checkers mind sport by placing first
with a final score of twenty-three points.
This championship win earned King the right
to challenge current 3-Move World Champion,
Alex Moiseyev, in 2007. Bagtiyar Durdyev
placed second with 19 points, and beat out
William Docherty, Scotland, also with 19
points by HP, while fourth place went to
Jim Morrison, US, with a score of 18 points.
Mustafa Durdyev also had 18 points, but ranked
fifth overall.
Graham Young commented that Ron King, who
enjoyed celebrity status in his hometown
where he taught checkers in schools and prisons,
had noted the difference in attitude towards
the game in Scotland and Barbados was immense
as checkers was a game that most people played
in the Caribbean island at some level.
Both checkers tournaments were highly competitive
and very successful events.
November 7, 2006
World GAYP Title Match Scheduled
“Ron "Suki" King
of Barbados will defend his Go-As-You
Please world title against Jim Morrison
of Glasgow, KY, winner of the 2005
Qualifying tournament in Prague. The
match will be held at the International
Checker Hall of Fame in Petal, MS on
Nov. 27 through Dec. 2, 2006. Alan
Millhone will referee the 24 game match.”
Jim Morrison represented ACF and had contended
for the GAYP World Title on two previous
occasions, holding the Bajan Checkers Grandmaster,
Ron King, close in score.
December 10, 2006
Ron King defends World GAYP Title
Jim Morrison & Ron King study the checkerboard options during the World Match
Ron King of Barbados successfully
defended his World GAYP Title defeating
Jim Morrison of Kentucky by a score
of three wins, no losses, and eighteen
draws. The match, sanctioned by WCDF,
was held December 4-9 at the International
Checker Hall of Fame in Petal, Mississippi,
and Alan Millhone acted as competition
referee. Special thanks were offered
to Deloris Walker for the accommodations
and for her gracious hospitality.
A prize fund of $3740 was split 60/40
between the two title contenders.
The tournament purse came from the
Derek Oldbury fund and donations made
by V. Niederhoffer, R. Beckwith,
A. Millhone, and S. L Green.
July 28/07
Las Vegas Sun
Lubabalo Kondlo wins GAYP US Championship
Ron "Suki" King
earns $40,000 a year by teaching the game
in university classrooms in Barbados and
$15,000 by tutoring prison inmates. A statue
of him stands in front of the grade school
he attended. The former checkers world champion
was given 12,000 square feet of land, on
which he will build a checkers theme house,
by Barbados government officials.
Sponsorship deals enable Ron King and
his wife to drive Suzuki and Mitsubishi vehicles.
In many ways, the two checkers players clashed late Thursday afternoon when they met in Round 11 of the American Checker Federation (ACF) championships in the Plaza showroom.
The King (Ron King)
King, 49, is weary. He misses three flights
from Barbados, which delays his arrival at
the tournament until Round 5. He can't make
up those lost games but nearly catches the
leaders.
He looks like Caribbean royalty, from his
white sandals to gold trimmed white pants,
long sleeve shirt and cap, to impress
potential sponsors.
"When I talk to business people, I tell them I am King Suki, not Ron King," he says. "I portray that I am a king. When you have a king, you have to give him what he wants. Right? Works all the time."
King, the reigning Go As You Please, or
standard checkers, world champion, is the
only man to play in 11 world title matches,
and he was awarded the Barbados Service Star,
his country's highest civilian national honor,
in 1992.
In 1998 Ron King defeated 385 opponents
in Houston simultaneously, earning him a
spot in the Guinness Book of World Records.
He hasn't lost a game in Barbados in 26 years.
Ron King gets much pleasure from his work
in prisons.
"It helps them think and calculate," King says, "look at life differently."
Because he likes to trash talk, some call him the Muhammad Ali of checkers. But his weariness kept that to a minimum at the Plaza.
Against one foe, however, he left to survey
games around the whole red draped and red
carpeted showroom.
Against Kondlo, he shows up 13 minutes late
with a bottle of cranberry juice in a white
plastic bag.
Kondlo was not very pleased about King’s
nonchalant attitude and had no intention
of shaking King’s hand.
Congratulations to Lubabalo Kondlo and John
Webster for winning 1st and 2nd place. Just
2 honor points separating 1st and 2nd place.
Lubabalo Kondlo is a 35 yrs old and originally from Port Elizabeth of Eastern Province, now living in Soweto who only lost one game, but didn't lose a round, and his first time in USA and his 1st US National Tournament.
John Webster was the leader of the pack all rounds
until the last round, there was a 5 way tie with
28 points (Webster, McCosker, Kondlo, Lindsay, & Beckwith)
going into the final 13th round.
Ron King predicted he would come from behind and
win it w/~32, but hit draw wall with the top contenders
late in tournament (Kondlo, Morrison, Nash). Ron
missed his flight and arrived in Vegas Tuesday, starting
his late entry in the 5th round.
Ron King (Barbados) Vs Lubabulo Kondlo (SA)
Following the receipt of a single bid for the hosting of this match it was agreed that the World GAYP Championship Match will be held at Medina, OH, USA from 8th to 13th of September 2008.
Barbados Advocate
Ron King: "I
will regain Three Move Restriction Title"
Web Posted - Thru Dec 14 2006
BARBADOS WORLD draughts
champion, Ronald “Suki” King,
will be seeking to regain the Three Move Restriction
Title (TMRT) currently being held by Alex Moiseyev
of the United States of America.
Ron King’s thoughts of regaining the Three
Move Restriction title comes in the wake of his recent
successful defense of the Go As You Please World
title against American Jim Morrison.
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