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James Wyllie
(The Herd Laddie)
Andrew Anderson
(1799-1861)
Robert Martins
(1822-1904)
John McKerrow
(1816-1910)
Jullian Janvier
Robert D Yates
(1857 - 1885)
Richard Jordan
vs. James Ferrie
Strickland
Drummond
Searight
Freeman
Barker
Christie
R. Jordan
A. Jordan
Stewart
Buchanan
Tanner
Banks
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Checker Champion Henry Christie
(1856 - ?)
Henry Christie was notably a fine checker player; in fact, he was considered to be one of the very best checker players to herald from England. As with many of his checker counterparts, Christie loved the game and gave it his all during regular games and tournament play. He possessed his own style that assisted him to become the high scorer for the British team in the second International match of 1927.
Twice Henry won the English checker Championships, and in several International matches between England and Scotland, he was one of the leading players for England. Though Christie had lost his right eye in a terrible hunting accident, and wore a glass eye, the tragedy did not conflict with his skill as a solid checker player.
In 1927, as a 61 years old checker player, Christie ended a match with a score of one win, two losses, and thirty-seven draws. As a result of this great feat, he was called the “drawing master”. Some have still stated that this score was rather remarkable, but all in all he had more checker talent and skill at his finger tips so that his score could have been and should have been a lot better than that. In a discussion on his game in his biography, comments were made that he played conservatively and this resulted in some many draws, but whether he did or not, was something only Henry Christie himself knew about. Some sources say that he did not play conservatively at all but came with a competitive mindset to play and win and that this checker mentality was depicted in the way he attacked the skilled play of Ginsberg, Long, and Gonotsky.
Henry Christie was a strong checker tournament player and although he ended with four draws against Bradford on the first day of a tournament, Christie displayed a tenacity in his board play on day two as he attacked the checker game of Louis Ginsberg. The result of this strategy and fortitude was indeed a win for Christie by a score of 1-0-3. This match was a great feat for Christie as Louis Ginsberg was one of the strongest checker players in the world at this time. Furthermore, Ginsberg was a great natural crossboard player, who lost very few games during his career. Ginsberg was an equal to Alfred Jordan, also renowned for his play in this era, and certainly would have presented Henry Christie with many interesting challenges in the tournament checker play.
It’s also interesting to see how a series of matches during a tournament can have an unexpected outcome at the end. The following illustration clearly shows how the nature of the sport can readily change game by game. In this tournament, Robert Scobbie of the Scottish team beat Asa A. Long by the score of 2-1-1 in their match, and again this checker champion did not lose very often. Then Ginsberg beat Scobbie in their match with a score of 1-0-3, and Henry Christie beat Louis Ginsberg.
Asa Long later reported in an article in the American Checker Federation Bulletin (ACFB) that Christie should never have lost to him. However, reports have stated that Christie's loss to Gonotsky on the eighth day of the tournament was both misguided and not well thought out. The ballot drawn was the Edinburgh 9-13, 22-18, and admittedly, the weakest play of the two move openings.
His biography states that "He played safe, and did not underestimate any of the American strategists", but some sources disagree with this statement and believe that Christie attempted to surprise Gonotsky by playing 11-15. Checker experts feel that this was a ridiculous play given that Christie was playing one of the greatest natural cross-board checker players who ever lived. It would have been hard enough to draw the great Gonotsky with the Edinburgh, even had he chosen 12-16, or 10-15, or 6-9. These are all proven draws in published checker literature. But to attempt to attack Gonotsky with 11-15 on which there was some published play but certainly not enough proven draw play to depend on, was a very poor checker decision made by Henry Christie under these game circumstances.
Today, 9-13, 22-18, and 11-15 are still considered weak 3-move openings, and it would have been the same in 1927. Unfortunately, although Christie played the game brilliantly againstGonotsky, he was not able to recover enough to win the match. At one point, however, he did play a magnificent 4 for 4 shot that almost drew the game, but that was only ALMOST as it did not help him succeed as winner.
Despite the defeat against Gonotsky, Henry Christie proved to the checker world that he was indeed a skilled checker player, but his one failing was that he did not make the best decision in a given game situation. Perhaps his strategy was well thought out in his mind, but the game play just didn’t allow him to carry through with it. Christie was not unique to this as a checker champion, as many masters before and after him have also found themselves in precarious positions despite their ingenious tactics and innovative plays.
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CHECKERS CHEST
Two Player