The 50th 3-Move 2016 US National Checker Tournament 

“George & Darlene Stallsworth , our 3-Move National Tournament Honoree”
We honor George and Darlene for their contribution and support to the game!
July 27^th thru July 30^th 2016
 Honeysuckle Inn & Conference Center - Branson, MO 65616 (map)

Results:

by Clint Olsen: ACF Forum

23 MASTERS:

Finish	Player's Last, First Name	Game Points	Honor Points	Prize Fund
1	Scarpetta, Sergio	40	312	$2,000.00
2	Moiseyev, Alex	38	318	$1,500.00
3	King, Ron	36	306	$1,000.00
4	Kondlo, Lubabalo	28	322	$800.00
5	Webster, John	26	308	$600.00
6	Francis, Jack	26	304	$600.00
7	Beckwith, Richard	26	292	$600.00
8	Moore, Joe	24	312	$283.34
9	Nash, Clayton	24	306	$283.34
10	Keen, Larry	24	296	$283.34
11	Morrison, Jim	24	290	$283.34
12	Laverty, Tim	24	264	$283.34
12	Mercado, Alfredo	24	264	$283.34
14	Holmes, Alex	24	260	$283.34
15	Wells, Lorne	24	234	$283.34
15	Xiong, Chee	24	234	$283.34
17	Bryan, Paul	22	260	$170.00
18	Sokolovsky, Mark	22	258	$170.00
19	Hinkle, Brian	22	228	$170.00
20	Schwartz, Joe	20	298	$145.00
21	Schwartzberg, Phil	20	208	$145.00
22	Maughan, Desmond	16	242	$130.00
23	Wilson, Gary	12	246	$110.00
	TOTAL			$10,690.00

17 MAJORS:
1 Millhone, Alan 29 200
2 Bishop, Anthony 27 204
3 Herberger, John 26 197
4 Clark, Matthew 22 207
5 Tucker, Albert 21 191
6 Weaver, Alex 21 182
7 Ramsey, Dallas 21 159
8 Beachy, Dave 20 196
9 Weaver, Joe 19 204
10 Webster, Jeff 19 192
11 Atwood, Larry 19 191
12 Acker, John 19 187
13 Askins, Jerry 19 156
14 Wenberg, Neil 18 172
15 Mays, Shelby 18 158
16 Smith, Buck 16 166
17 Gain, Howard 15 174

16 MINORS:
1 Neverson, Wynnell 25 209 "Women's Champion"
2 Franks, Watson 25 205
3 Branch, Wilma 24 197
4 Hochstetler, Harley 24 186
5 Williamson, Ted 23 203
6 Stallsworth, George 23 200
7 Henderson, Kent 23 198
8 Hines, Paul 22 204
9 O'Hara, Michael 20 181
10 Smith, JR 19 206
11 Myers, Robert 19 156
12 Coleman, Joe 18 181
13 Yoder, Ray 17 170
14 Willis, Kim 15 173
15 Willis, Dale 15 159
16 MacDonald, Ally 3 171 (withdrew)

 The 50th “3-Move” 2016 US National Open Checker Tournament 
ACF - 50^th  3-Move National Tournament
“George & Darlene Stallsworth , our 3-Move National Tournament Honoree”
We honor George and Darlene for their contribution and support to the game!
July 27^th thru July 30^th 2016
 Honeysuckle Inn & Conference Center - Branson, MO 65616 (map)

Congratulations, Sergio! (National Champ)	Congratulations, Alex! (2nd place)	Congratulations, Lubabalo! (3rd place)	Congratulations, Jim! (4th place)	Congratulations, Larry! (5th place)	Congratulations, Jack! (6th place)

(Official Crosstable Results)
3-Move / Twelve 4 game rounds (Swiss) of 1½ hour per game - Scoring by Ballot - playing: (1 rd Mon, 1½ rds Tue, 1½ rds Wed, 1½ rds Thu, 1½ rds Fri, 1 rds Sat)

2012 3-Move National Open Masters By Ballot, 4 GmRd

before

after

Finish

Name

City, State

ACF#

Rate

Rate

Op

Rd1

Rd 2

Rd 3

Rd 4

Rd 5

Rd 6

Rd 7

Rd 8

Rd 9

Rd 10

Rd11

Rd12

T Pt.

H Pt.

Cash

Comments

1

GM Sergio Scarpetta

Cerignola (FG), Italy

12658

2277

2

GM Alex Moiseyev

Dublin, OH

10157

2243

8

2T3

5T4

6T2

1T4

3T2

7T4

9T3

5T2

3T2

7T4

9T3

5T2

24

126

$1,500

2012 Nat Open Master Champ (5th time)

3

GM Ron King

St Michael, Barbados

10009

2191

5

11T3

8T0

14T4

6T2

1T4

3T3

2T3

8T2

1T4

3T3

2T3

8T2

21

133

1,100

4

GM Lubabalo Kondlo

Port Elizabeth, S.A.

10003

2205

6

12T3

3T4

8T2

5T2

2T2

11T1

1T3

10T2

2T2

11T1

1T3

10T2

19

133

800

5

GM John Webster

Stoneville, NC

10147

2076

14

10T2

11T2

5T0

12T2

13T4

2T2

7T2

7T2

13T4

2T2

7T2

7T2

16

118

275

6

GM Jack Francis

St James, Barbados

10008

2151

1

13T4

9T2

7T3

8T0

5T0

4T4

6T1

2T2

5T0

4T4

6T1

2T2

16

118

275

7

GM Richard Beckwith

Willoughby, OH

10151

2124

8

Joe Moore, Jr.

Upper Darby, PA

12644

2163

9

7T3

1T2

10T2

3T1

12T1

13T4

8T1

11T2

12T1

13T4

8T1

11T2

16

123

275

9

Clayton Nash

Columbus, MS

10150

2134

10

IM Larry Keen

Halls, TN

10149

2082

11

GM Jim Morrison

Glasgow, KY

10156

2115

12

IM Tim Laverty

Graham, NC

10153

2075

7

9T1

13T4

1T1

2T2

10T3

8T0

14T2

14T2

10T3

8T0

14T2

14T2

15

121

170

13

Alfredo Mercado

Chicago, IL

unrated

14

Alex Holmes

Sellersburg, IN

10066

2131

15

Lorne Wells

Edmonton, Canada

12823

1855

16

Chee Xiong

Brooklyn Park, MN

12815

1794

17

Paul Bryan

Marengo, OH

10123

2043

18

Mark Sokolovsky

Lyndhurst, OH

12653

2076

19

Brian Hinkle

O'Fallon, MO

10317

2026

20

IM Joe Schwartz

Hallendale, FL

10152

2116

12

6T1

2T2

11T2

14T2

9T3

10T2

4T3

3T2

9T3

10T2

4T3

3T2

17

118

488

21

Phil Schwartzberg

Flushing, NY

10116

2025

22

Desmond Maughan

Christ Church, Barbados

12687

1956

23

Gary Wilson

Alexandria, KY

10060

1801

Received by mail 8/2/2016

$6,902

• Congratulations! to GM Alex Moiseyev of Dublin, Ohio as winner of the 2012 ACF “3-Move Hugh R. Burton National Open” Checker Tournament.  Alex Moiseyev continues to dominate our Nationals as winning in 2000, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2012, and was 2nd in 1998, & 2006.

• Congratulations! to GM Ron “Suki”  King from St. Michael, Barbados as 2nd place runner up of the 2012 ACF “3-Move Hugh R. Burton National Open” Checker Tournament.
• Congratulations! to GM Lubabalo Kondlo from Port Elizabeth, South Africa as 3rd  place runner up of the 2012 ACF “3-Move Hugh R. Burton National Open” Checker Tournament.
• Congratulations! to GM Jim Morrison from Glasgow, KY as 4th place runner up of the 2012 ACF “3-Move Hugh R. Burton National Open” Checker Tournament.
• Congratulations! to the rest of our GM and IM players who played respectably through out the 2012 ACF “3-Move Hugh R. Burton National Open” Checker Tournament.
• Congratulations! to Alex Holmes from Sellersburg, IN who gave the Major Division a stellar performance by winning the 2012 ACF “3-Move Hugh R. Burton National Majors” Open Checker Tournament.  Alex also won the 2-day ACF “Arthur Niederhoffer ” Youth Tournament that just finish Sunday, July 29, 2012.  Alex won 28 points out of 28 possible points, winning all games played in his Youth Tourney.  Thirteen year old Alex was accompanied to the Nationals by his Mother.  The closest thing to this “Record Breaker” was in 1922 - 5^th ACA 2-move in Boston, MA when Asa Long, only 18 years old, won the American National.  Prior to tournament start, in a pre-tourney meeting a vote eliminated the barred openings as a result, defending ACA Champion John Horr walked out in protest.  In January 1921 Asa Long won the Ohio State Championship in Springfield at age 16 which perhaps would be a better comparison to young Alex's achievement.
• Congratulations! to George Stallsworth from Saint Joseph, MO who won the 2012 ACF “3-Move Hugh R. Burton National Minors Open” Checker Tournament.
• Congratulations! to Laura Parker from Pass Christian, MS, a twelve year old, who has a birthday this month,  won the 2-day ACF “Arthur Niederhoffer ” Girl's Champion that finish Sunday, July 29, 2012.
• GM stands for Grand Master, IM for International Master, and CM for Candidate Master, which are earned titles given by WCDF to distinguish players.
• ACF Ratings by Eric Strange & Joe Moore,  and because this system has decreased previous ratings, the suggested Division Brackets are: Masters: 2000 and higher, Majors: 1700-1999, Minors: 1699 and lower.
•  "T" separates player's opponent from player's game points that round.  Draw is 1, Win is 2 points, Bye is 3, and Forfeit is 4.  Withdrawals are placed without finish position and prize fund.  The after rating is your new rating after Joe Moore, ACF Rating Processor, calculates your tournament performance for this event.
• In the 10:00 am pre-tourney National Business Meeting Frank Davis, National Director/Sponsor opened the meeting with an invocation by Carson "Bill" Gullett, then he welcomed all players and visitors to the 2012 - 48^th 3-Move National “Hugh R. Burton 3-Move National Honoree Tournament.”  Frank announced that 14 Masters, 21Majors, and 4 Minors, registered for a total field of 39 players.  We have players from 4 countries: Barbados, Canada, South Africa, & the USA from 13 different states: (9 from NC, 5 each from KY & TN, 4 from OH, 2 each from FL & NY and one each from GA, IA, IN, MD, MO, ND, & PA) .  This year's Master Division holds 7 GM players and 4 IM players all earned titles given by WCDF to distinguish players' accomplishments in tournament checkers.  Let's review some of these players like our guest from Barbados: GM Ron “Suki”  King from St. Michael, Barbados, who is the World GAYP Champion - undefeated since 1991. GM Jack Francis from St. James, Barbados, and Desmond Maughan who is the President of (BDA) Barbados Draughts Federation.  We have IM Earl Morrison from St. Lambert Quebec, Canada who played his last US National in Las Vegas in 2004, and GM Lubabalo Kondlo from Port Elizabeth, South Africa.  Mr. Desmond said  BDA was planning an International Tourney that would invite US players for 2013 if things work out?
• Frank announced this 3-Move National Tournament was named for Hugh R. Burton, our “Tournament Honoree” who was particularly selected because of his lifetime of dedication to checkers. He played, supported, and promoted tournaments checkers.  Hugh Burton  won the Tennessee State Championship 39 time, a record which probably will never be broken.  A nice Jackson Sun newspaper documentary run in the Sunday edition, July 29, 2012 and was available to read.  Hollis McCard, Ken Christian, Larry Keen, Frank Davis, & Anthony Bishop all had high praise & kind things to say and gave testimonials to Burton for promoting checkers, helping introduce players to the game, and directing many tourneys, especially the Humboldt - West Tennessee Strawberry Festival Checker Tournament, an annual event for 75 years which Hugh has been a part of  this checker tourney for most of those years.  Many checker players said they considered Hugh and Peggy as family because of knowing Hugh through checkers, and Hugh & Peggy's daughter, Patty and son-in-law Ron Callan, who also attended the National and Frank introduced them during this fitting tribute to Hugh. At the close of our meeting Hugh and Peggy each expressed their appreciation and they felt deeply honored to be a part of checker and this National event as named “The Hugh R. Burton 3-Move National Open.”  John Acker shot a nice video at the opening of the 2012 ACF “3-Move Hugh R. Burton National Open” honoring Hugh and interviewing different players who spoke highly of Hugh, how he played & promoted checkers, what he meant to them, and how Hugh help them.  Link.
• Frank Davis covered the rules of play and our tournament schedule.  We had motions, discussion, and voted on the way byes would be awarded.  The first 6 point bye-round would be awarded by random draw; thereafter, to the lowest opponent.  The first bye is 6 points and thereafter only 4 points would be awarded to multiple byes. We had discussion on re-pairing, we voted on re-pairing opponents so that it would only occur in the last round when necessary for Masters & Majors, and  with Minors playing a double round robin.  The normal 4 point bye was increased to 6 because we are playing 8 point rounds in the Major National Division.
• Master will use clocks with a move requirement of 30 moves per opponent per hour, and 15 moves thereafter for each  successive 1/2 hour,  same as a total of 45 moves per 1. 5 hrs, and Masters are also required to record all games. Majors & Minors may use clock & record games as an option.  Alan Millhone brought newly printed National Recorder-Sheets and a luggage case full of time clocks to the tournament.
• Game rounds and time per game were reviewed and also posted on the bulletin-board.  Master play 3-Move / Eight 4 game rounds (Swiss) of 2 hour per game - Scoring by Ballot (previously voted on in # 356 ACFB - Apr, 2012)  Rounds  - playing as: (1 rd Mon, 1½ rds Tue, 1½ rds Wed, 1½ rds Thu, 1½ rds Fri, 1 rd Sat).  Round Schedule showing time blocks each day would be posted on the bulletin-board.  2 hour games, allowed 8 hours per round for the Masters.  Majors and Minors will play 3-Move / Eight 4 game rounds  of 1½ hours per game or 6 hour rounds - Swiss Style - Scoring by playing: (1 rd Mon, 2 rds Tue, 2 rds Wed, 2 rds Thu, 1 rd Fri )  however, the Minors would played a Double Round-Robin because of their small divisional group.
• Frank Davis stated his position on overtime play: If the game is not completed on time, or a player  request the referee's  help to meet the time limit, then a move per minute for 10 minutes.  If the move per minute does not create a decision then the tournament director/referee will make the decision for the results and he also has the authority to designate other Masters in helping make the decision.  This ruling applied to Majors and Minors particularly since Master will use clocks.  If Master players want and agree to have the KingRow program analyze the ending, then a score of 60 is required for a win.  Any opponent may request a “40 Move Rule Count” to be applied to improve endgame play if the W/D conversion is not being demonstrated in a timely manner.
• Late Start & No Shows...  If a player is 15 minutes late, then the game will be forfeited.  If opponent is one hour late, then both games of the ballot is forfeited.  Round Schedules will be posted each day on the wall white-board. 
• In the Majors Division, at the close of the 7th Rd the leaders were: Alex Holmes 38,  John Estes 37,  Desmond Maughan 35,  Alan Millhone 34,  Phil Schwartzberg 33,  Bill Gullett 32,  Bill McClitock 31, and George Gerhauser 31, all with 30+ points. Alan was repaired with Desmond for the final round who he had just played in the 7th Rd and elected not to play again, so Millhone was given a bye-round with no points.
• Two Master players, Jack Francis and Ron King lost a game each from their clocks timing out,“fallen flag.”
• Frank Davis read an appreciation card from James Atkins to the checker players.  James is from Julian, NC and has terminal pancreatic cancer.  J. R. Smith reported he visited with James and his immediate family Saturday just before leaving for the Nationals.  JR  said,  “James' health continues to diminish,” and we took up a final love offering of $205.00 for James.
• We also took up a collection for Mary Davis for her services as scorekeeper and National Tournament Assistance to the Director / Referee.  We greatly appreciate their administrative services, without Frank, Mary, & John this wouldn't have be a smoothly run National event.  They did a fantastic job as usual.
• Ray Shelly spoke about Mary helping him with mail labels for his PA/D3 tournament, praising her for her services and together with Alan Millhone presented her with a medallion along with words of appreciation.  She was recognized for her administrative performance & assistance to tournament checkers.
• Several sympathy cards were signed by checker players for Paralee Shultz who is in the hospital,  Dallas Ramsey's Father who died 7/30/12,  and Larry Pollard wife Tena,  who wasn't doing well. 
• John Acker reported on the ACF “Arthur Niederhoffer” Youth Tournament,  Alex Holmes placed 1st and Laura Parker placed 2nd, ahead of Anthony Oliveres, with a total of 10 entrants for a 7 round 3-Move Tourney.   Congratulations to these young players!  And of course, Congratulations to Kim Willis for a successful Youth Tournament!  John has pictures, video and results on the forum, his blog, & Facebook.  All are accessible from here:  Results here: http://acfnationals.com  /  Live stream here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/elevenfifteen.
• Acker also spoke about future checker activates, and what was been planned for next year in ICHF, Petal, MS and ACF's continued effort in generating youth interest in the game of checkers.
• John isn't playing in the National so this gives him more time to do live stream video of  Master matches and a professional round by round results coverage on our National Tournament.  John is using the English version of a Polish Draughts program “ChessArbiter Pro Draughts” which has advanced tournament results reporting.  It will do pairings, and eventually we will have a database of  player information where we won't need index cards and manual spreadsheets.  Chessarbiter calculates tiebreak  by Buchholz average score or Sonenborn-Berger. 
• Frank Davis reported on the Gene Lindsey Trust Fund, which Alan Millhone delivered $4,500.00 interest to be used in the Master Division's prize fund, and another $1,500 ACF interest.   Frank reminded us of our appreciation and gratitude to Gene Lindsay. Gene was a Tennessee master player who died September 6, 2007, but loved and generously supported checkers, so much that he gifted Checkers a combined trust of nearly $400 Thousand.  ACF, our 3-Move Nationals & International Matches, Tennessee Checkers, and WCDF which all benefit from this surprising bequeath to checkers.  Yes, we do remember Gene!  We are appreciative and forever thankful because he did care so passionately about our wonderful game.
• We appreciated the donations, door prizes, meal discounts/coupons, contributions and the cash prize fund, which totaled $10,587.00,  but actually payout by sponsor was $10,662.00 because of rounding up to whole dollars at the pay-off ceremony, and Anthony Bishop gave a $75 donation stipulated to be divided equally amongst the youngest player in each division: Joe Moore - Masters, Alex Holmes - Majors, and Joe Coleman - Minors.
• The Lebanon Democrat Newspaper sent out Mary Hinds, staff writer and Dallus Whitfield, photographer to get a nice article and pictures on the 2012 ACF “3-Move Hugh R. Burton National Open” Checker Tournament,  which ran in The Lebanon Democrat Saturday, August 4th  paper.
• Ray Shelley and Alan Millhone call to order the ACF membership / business meeting immediately following our pre-tourney National meeting as the required annual membership meeting to keep our 501(c) (7)  non-profit corporation status which falls under an Exemption Organization as a Social & Recreational entity.  George Stallsworth ask Alan Millhone why ACF officials did not publish ACF membership status, report on ACF fund accounts, and publish a year end financial statement, saying he could not recall ever seeing anything in many years. He stated Missouri Checker Association publishes this information ever year, a membership booklet, and their monthly newsletters for a membership fee much less that ACFs $40. The ACF members deserves more information about their organization. Ray Shelley spoke about the necessary requirements need to be put in place and maintained as outlined in IRS Publication 557.  We must keep accurate minutes, conduct business meeting according to appropriate parliamentary procedure, plan a budget, conduct financial audits, plan & conduct organization activities, keep records on membership dues & activities, and on all income from charity, gifts, donations, business income, sales, membership dues, funds, trust income, campaign drives, and fund raisers.  We need an Annually Report to our membership on our financial status, file a 990 with IRS, and file  an Annual Report with Ohio SOS which are all required.   JR Smith made a motion that we have a membership & financial report this year and whatever we needed to do to help our Secretary & Treasurer (John Acker) in this effort, lets help him with this task.  It was seconded and carried.  Alan Millhone said this would be published in the December, 2012 ACFB # 360 bulletin. 
• George Gerhauser did a nice video on this National...  here is the Link
• John Ackers announcing he was still working on interviews for the video on Hugh Burton and reminded the players about the Checker Puzzle Contest # 5 and posted it on the bulletin-board. 
• Thanks to John Acker, Jim Loy, Travis Weddle, and Jason Solan for processing, documenting, & publishing over 300 games in pdn from the 2012 Nationals... here the Link
• Teal Stanley family: (Wife Tiffany, daughters Erin & Sara Beth, and son Trey)  vacationed the area while he played the National, and from here they plan to spend a week in Myrtle Beach.
• Dr. Robert L. Shuffett of Greensburg, KY was driven in by his son Mel Shuffett.  Dr. Shuffet was recognized as the oldest player at age 89, and Alex Holmes from Sellersburg, IN was recognized as the youngest at age 13.
• Raleigh Johnson's neighbor Loki Francis of Murfreesboro, helped with the 620 mile drive to Lebanon, so Raleigh could play in the Nationals.
• Quite a few players visited the Nationals but didn't play like: Nick Boatman, Hugh Burton, Anthony Bishop, Kim Willis, and Larry Pollard stopped by earlier in the week, etc.
• Many wives attended, I recall seeing: Peggy Burton, Patty Callan, Mary Davis, Bea Christian, Carolyn Minor, Mickie Webster, Shirley Keen, Beverly Shelly, Darlene Stallsworth , Gay McClard,  Jan Martin, and Tiffany Stanley.
• A delightful tournament & wonderful fellowship was had by all who attended.