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Checkers Game
Champion Edwin Hunt
Champion Edwin Hunt, from 1902 to 1981.
The turn of the century saw the birth of
Edwin Francis Hunt take place on March 12,
1902, in the town of Jackson, Tennessee.
Edwin Hunt moved to Nashville, Tennessee,
later in life and this was where he spent
his time until his death in 1981.
Edwin Hunt succeeded in school and showed
his intellectual prowess by graduating with
high honors from Vanderbilt University. Hunt
later moved into a law career and joined
the State’s Attorney General’s
office in Tennessee.
Edwin Hunt did first become interested in
checkers through casual games with his father
and brother, and then later on with members
of the strong Nashville club. It didn't take
him long to gain experience in checkers games,
and then to advance to the expert class.
As a result of his expertise in the game
and his quality playing, he played the touring
English checker master, Alfred Jordan, in
1927. This match ended in a long series of
draws. Then checkers game champion Edwin
Hunt played against Harry Lieberman in exhibition
play. In 1928, champion Edwin Hunt entered
his first of five Southern States Checkers
Tournaments and was successful in winning
them all.
The following year he entered his first
US Open in 1929 at Cedar Point finishing
in 5th place winning over such masters as
Louis Ginsberg and H B Reynolds, but losing
to Nathan Rubin and in a surprising upset
to Guy Garwood of Ohio. Champion Edwin Hunt
defeated H. B. Reynolds in a subscription
match also at Cedar Point in 1933, 3-1-11
where I had my first opportunity to meet
him beginning a friendship that endured until
his death.
In 1934, J.B. Hanson challenged Hunt to a
24-game subscription match that was hosted
by the Louisville, Kentucky players. The
checkers game match ended with a result where
Hunt won five games, lost one, and drew fifteen.
Later, in the same year, he entered the 8th
US Open at Jamestown, New York, and this
was the first checkers game that Edwin Hunt
played in the new 3-move style. Here he was
successful by defeating his checker opponents
of DeBearn, Apel, and Ryan; however, he also
had a loss against Rubin due to a slight
oversight on his part. Unfortunately, this
was realized too late and cost him the game.
However, checkers game champion Edwin Hunt
took the loss in stride and used it to his
advantage by taking time to learn from his
mistake, and then he moved on to defeat the
Detroit Grandmaster Rubin in two successive
rounds to win the U.S. championship title.
Champion Edwin Hunt later admitted to his
checker counterparts and friends that he
felt that this win was the greatest victory
of his long career.
In 1936, Edwin Hunt challenged world champion, Asa
Long, to a 40-game tournament match to
be played at West Palm Beach, Florida. However,
champion Edwin Hunt lost to Asa Long in this
match with by two games with a final result
in favor of Long for three wins, one loss,
and thirty-five draws.
Unfortunately, however, Edwin quickly realized
that there weren't any really strong
checkers competitors living in Nashville,
and without serious competition to hone his
techniques and keep his checker game up to
par, his interest in the game waned until
the arrival on the checkers scene by young
Maurice Chamblee, who was a Vanderbilt student.
Chamblee’s own interest in checkers
games was strong and he, too, wanted an experienced
opponent with which to play the game so he
invited champion Edwin Hunt to a series of
practice games. These Hunt won in a decisive
manner, but they served to reawaken his interest
in checkers again and as a result, in 1946
Edwin Hunt entered the 11th A.C.A U.S. Open
at Nashville. Despite time away from the
checkerboard, Hunt’s
only loss was in an upset to Chamblee. After
a long series of twenty draws, Edwin Hunt
then proceeded to tie Walter
Hellman and was content to remain co-champion
of the checker tournament. He allowed his
portage, Walt Hellman, the privilege of challenging
champion checker master, Asa Long.
Once again, time passed where Edwin faced
another long period of checker inactivity,
and without the high level of competition,
it was difficult for Hunt to maintain his
own level of checker skill. Then early in
1960, another checker player, Milton Loew,
was transferred to Nashville and he soon
persuaded champion Edwin Hunt to play against
him a practice match in preparation for Loew’s
entry in the U.S. Open tournament of that
same year.
Hunt was reluctant at first, since he really
hadn't been involved in the checkers circuit
for quite a while, but he eventually agreed
~ reluctantly. According to Hunt’s
own observation, he noted that the “rust”,
due to lack of regular practice in checkers,
was evident in the first dozen games or so
and as a result, he fell several games behind
in the score. However, by the end of the
thirty games, he had come back to win and
regained a certain amount of expertise and
ended several games ahead. He certainly hadn't
totally lost his checker prowess, but he
needed the competitive edge to bring out
the latent checker talent, lying dormant
for years.
Also, during this time, Don Lafferty was
another Vanderbilt student on the checker
scene. He, too, played many practice games
with both Hunt and Loew, and together they
analyzed each play for weaknesses and strengths,
good moves and not so good moves. Milton
went on to play Don Lafferty in the 1960
Tennessee Tournament but lost the checker
match to Lafferty. Later on, Milton Loew
gave Edwin Hunt and Don Lafferty the credit
for his victory in the 1960 US Open where
he defeated the out of practice checker champion,
Asa Long, in two matches.
Finally, at the urging of several friends,
including Richard Fortman, George Bass, Ed
Scheidt, and Lloyd Taylor, Edwin Hunt was
convinced to enter the 1961 Southern States
Checkers Tournament. However, Hunt agreed
to do this only after a series of practice
games with Don Lafferty, a now close friend
and checker protege. These practice checker
games certainly gave Hunt the confidence
he needed, as he played his match against
various opponents extremely well. The final
outcome ended in Edwin Hunt’s favor
and he won the Southern States Checkers Game
Tournament over Lloyd Taylor. What a success!
This was Hunt’s first
tournament win since 1932 and it became obvious
that he still had the checker techniques.
Still enamored with the checker mind sport,
champion Edwin Hunt entered the 23rd U.S.
Open held at Peoria, Illinois, in 1962. However,
this checker tournament turned out to be
his final checker contest. Edwin was not
at all satisfied with his checker play during
this tournament because he lost a game to
a lower ranked checker player and discovered
that he was in two losses to Frazier and
Apel, although he drew these games. In the
end, Hunt tied the checker tournament with
Basil Case for the co-championship, but this
was not the result he had anticipated, and
indeed, hoped for. This, combined with various
ailments, caused Edwin Hunt to withdraw from
over-the-board play; however, he maintained
a vital interest in the checker sport and
still attended the 1964 and 1970 U.S. Open
Tournaments.
Although Hunt retired from board play in
the game of checkers, he still enjoyed a
close association to the mind sport and celebrated
his 75th birthday party with checker friends
at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, just prior to
the 1978 US Open checker match that was held
there. Edwin Hunt passed away peacefully
on April 11, 1981, while reclining in his
easy chair in his long-time home in Nashville,
Tennessee, while watching the Augusta Master’s
golf tournament.
Checkers Game Champion Edwin Hunt’s legacy
to the checkerboard arena is clearly seen in
his love of checkers and his tournament placements,
where he was the successful checkers winner of
five Southern States Tournaments, a contender
for the World Championship 3-Move title in 1936,
and while even having been away from the checkers
mind sport game for numerous years, he played
in the 7th US Open, won the 8th U.S. Open, became
the 11th A.C.A. U.S. Opens co-champion and the
A.C.F. 23rd U.S. Open co-champion.
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