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Champion Clarence Freeman
Checkers Game
1863-1909
Although the sport of checkers was in its
infancy in the US during the 19th century,
prominent checker game players quickly emerged
with skill and an equal love of the game
that patrons of checkers exhibited in Britain.
Clarence Herbert Freeman was a full-blooded
Pequot Indian, who was born in Plainfield,
Connecticut. As many other checker players
and masters, Clarence Freeman developed an
interest in checkers as a young boy and learned
to play the game in a most unique way. Instead
of using standard checker pieces of red and
black, he used yellow and white pieces of
maize or corn as his checker men. Freeman,
too, would spend hours practicing checkers
game moves and techniques until such a time
that he had acquired skill to face real checkers
opponents, both in America and from across the Atlantic.
Champion Clarence Freeman
Clarence Freeman played against various local
New England opponents of talent and other
great checkers game players of this era,
and then he was offered the chance of a lifetime
when he was matched against the checkers
World Champion, James
Wyllie, on one of Wyllie’s American
tours. A friendly match consisting of twenty
games was arranged to be played between the
Champion and Freeman at Providence, Rhode
Island, in 1884. To the amazement of many
checkers enthusiasts, Clarence Freeman won
the match with four wins against Wyllie’s
one win, and 15 draws. The match clearly
established Freeman as World Class champion
checker player.
Around this time, there was a team match
between New York and Providence. Champion
Freeman played with the Providence checkers
team and beat his opponent, Dr. August Schaefer,
with one win, no losses, and three draws.
Champion Clarence Freeman's game was gaining
strength and Freeman now thought that this
was a good time to challenge the current
American Champion, Charles Francis Barker
for his American Championship title. The
match was organized between Freeman and Barker
with a winning purse of $400.00. In 1885,
exactly a year after his defeat of World
Champion, James Wyllie, C.
H. Freeman also
defeated C. F. Barker in
a display of skill and took the American
Championship title by the score of six
wins, three losses and sixty-nine draws.
The result of champion Clarence Freeman’s
successes gave him a new name as well as
his titles in checkers. Champion Freeman
became the "champion
beater" and "peerless
player of Providence".
However, the championship title changed
hands again soon afterwards when champion
Clarence Freeman played against A. J. Heffner.
In a restricted match with a purse of $200.00
and the checker game Championship title of
America. Freeman faced Barker at Providence,
Rhode Island on May 25, 1885. A. J. Heffner
succeeded in defeating the current checker
champion, Clarence Freeman, by the score
of four wins, three losses and thirty-seven
draws.
Shortly thereafter, C.F. Barker challenged
the checker champion, Heffner, for the championship
title, and their match was played in Providence
in 1886. The result was a win for Barker
with two wins against Heffner’s one
win and forty-seven draws.
Four years later, in 1890, Freeman challenged
C. F. Barker for the American Checker Championship
and a purse for $500.00. Clarence Freeman
beat Charles Barker again by the score of
two wins to one and 27 draws. The twist in
these series of matches was that Barker seemingly
would beat Heffner, and then Heffner, in
turn, would beat Freeman; then Freeman would
play Barker and beat his game. This was indeed
a ‘coup de grace’ for champion
Freeman because Charles Francis Barker was
said to be one of the strongest and greatest
Grand Master checkers analysts and end-game
players in checker game history.
So indeed, this win against Barker was a
statement about Champion Clarence Freeman’s
skill in checkers. He became the checker "Champion
of America" in the early 1880's, and
was universally known as the "Champion
Beater" because he won numerous checker matches against masters
such as J. Wyllie, C. Barker, and A. J. Heffner.
However, Clarence Freeman never played a
world champion match for the world championship
title, as he seemed content to play against
checker greats in non-title play. This was
his domain, for here champion Freeman excelled,
as he was able to beat them all in these
checker games.
At the age of 46, Clarence Freeman became
seriously ill with a bladder disorder, and
on May 20, 1909, died in hospital in Providence,
Rhode Island, after a long six weeks of ill
health. As a result of his great prowess
in checkers, however, his name still holds
a place in the literature of this fine mind
sport.
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