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William Strickland
1849 - 1887
~ Strickland's Position~
Another innovative checker player by the
name of William Strickland was born in Leeds
in 1849. The local checker atmosphere was
ripe around him, but not until the age of
16 did the sport attract his attention. However,
once he was drawn to the game of checkers,
he became enthralled with the variety of
play and challenges it presented, as many
before him had done, and began to practice
the game in earnest.
In 1870, he became acquainted with the leading
Yorkshire players, and through them Strickland
was introduced to the checkers literature,
which intrigued him all the more so that
he immediately began to study assiduously.
He was able to absorb the information easily
so much so that the progress in his game
was so rapid that within a year he received
several challenges to play checker matches.
William Strickland played
his first match in 1871 against D. Murray
of Leeds. Although Strickland allowed his
opponent three games start in six, he still
defeated Murray by winning all six checker
games. Two years later, Strickland played
a ten-game match against T. Lockwood of Leeds,
and soundly beat his opponent with a score
of four wins to two. In the same year, William
Strickland challenged and defeated William
Bryden of Glasgow in a checker match.
With these successes, William Strickland was well
on the way in his checker career. After the
matches in 1873, he contested a subscription
match with J. Busby at the Woodman Inn, Leeds,
and once again came out victorious. He continued
to study and analyze the game, which certainly
helped William to win major matches against
Robert Martins and
Smith. Of course, even the greatest master
checker player has the ‘off’ day
where his game may not have been quite on
or perhaps his opponent may just have made
better moves, and for William Strickland,
these days ended in losses to James
Wyllie, “the Herd Laddie”,
William Bryden, and another strong player
named Birkeshaw.
In 1884, William Strickland played in the Scotland-England
checker match, where he tied with A. Jackson
of Manchester for first place in the English
team. His score after three days’ competition
ended with one win, one loss, and sixteen
draws against Jackson's score of sixteen
drawn games.
However, William Strickland's checker fame as a practical player was eclipsed by his remarkable reputation as a blindfold player. Before Strickland, blindfold play had simply been considered impossible, as it was believed that each checker player needed to see the checkerboard in order to be able to play the game. It was reasoned that a player couldn't remember all the game moves and positional plays. Even great masters such as Robert Martins declared that it was all trickery. Philidor, the great blindfold chess player, tried to play checkers in the same way he played chess and failed at checkers.
Another checker master, John Drummond, who was the celebrated author of the “Scottish Draughts Player”, declared that "Draughts (checkers) required both sight and thoughtful mind." However, that didn't seem to put the matter to rest as being impossible to achieve; therefore, in spite of these opposing opinions, Frank Dunne attempted to play blindfold checkers and succeeded. His success thus encouraged Strickland's ambition to play checkers blindfold. He practiced his game in this manner and soon William
Strickland began a tour of the northern counties of England and the south communities of Scotland, where he played from six to a dozen games simultaneously. These exhibitions were lauded as brilliant checker play in many notices from the press.
Thus, when it was announced that William
Strickland would contest twenty games simultaneously
with the best players of Leeds and the surrounding
district, the local excitement mounted. However,
when these checker games were played, William
only marginally won the match by a score
of seven wins, six losses, and seven draws.
William Strickland died of bronchitis in
October 1887. This checker master left behind
a legacy, not just as a remarkable and ingenious
blindfold player, but also for the creation
of his famous checker move, "Strickland's
Position", which requires 26
careful moves by the winning player before
progress can be forced.
Strickland’s Position: Despite having an extra piece, White has to work very hard and play with great care to force the win.
14-10 16-19 17-14 26-23 10-7 23-26 7-3
22-25 3-8 25-22 8-12 22-25 14-10 25-22
10-7 26-23 13-9 22-25 9-6 25-22 6-2 22-25
7-11 23-26 11-16 26-23 16-20 23-27 12-8
25-22 2-7 22-25 7-10 25-22 10-14 27-32
20-24 19-16 14-10 16-20 24-19 32-27 10-7
22-25 8-11 25-29 19-16 27-23 7-2 29-25 11-7
20-11 White wins
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