Howard Johnson The 1996 United States 3-Move Championship Tournament was held from November 11 to 16 at the Howard Johnson Inn in Danville, Virginia. This tournament was dedicated to Earl Luffman, a checker player from Danville who was tragically killed in an automobile accident on January 11, 1995. Earl's finest triumph was winning the Major division in the 1994 United States Championship in Garland, Texas.

Danville Located at the border between Virginia and North Carolina, Danville served as the last confederacy capital during the United States Civil War. The Howard Johnson Inn was an ideal venue because the excellent playing areas, rooms and restaurant were all under the same roof. There was also a very nice cafeteria nearby. A total of $11,300 was raised for prize funds.

opening Prior to the commencement of the first round, several presentations and speeches were made. Bryce Luffman, Earl's younger brother and tournament sponsor, spoke about his brother as did Earl's minister. A plaque recognizing Earl's accomplishments was presented to the Luffman family by the Danville City Council.

opening The American Checker Federation then acknowledged Ron King's recently successful defence of his Go-As-You-Please World Championship title.

opening James Morrison, the challenger, presented Ron King with the championship trophy.

masters The tournament featured a total of 70 entrants with 20 masters, 21 majors and 29 minors. The Masters division featured strong contingents from the United States, Barbados, Canada, and Great Britain. All games in this division were played in the Board Room. Chinook convincingly won this division with 30 out of a possible 32 points. Ron King finished 2nd with 22 points. Since King had the highest number of points among the humans, he was declared the United States Open Champion. Richard Hallett finished 3rd with 20 points and earned the right to challenge King for the World 3-Move Championship.

King Chinook won all its rounds and was only held to a draw by the World Champion Ron King in the 4th round. However, King handily lost to Chinook in the final round. The complete record of the Masters division appears at the bottom of this page. Other notable performances were that of Alex Moiseyev, the 100 square American Champion who has had very little experience with the 8x8 style of play. He showed great ability in beating 4th place Jack Francis (recent winner of the British Tournament) and tieing the tough veteran Ed Bruch (who finished 5th). James Morrison, twice winner of the United States Open Go-As-You-Please Championship, had a strong tournament and finished 3rd.

majors The Major and Minor divisions played in the Piedmont room. Anthony Bishop played excellent checkers to win the Majors with 28 points; then Bill Stewart and Joe Schwartz 24; Albert "atuck" Tucker and Don West 20, Bill Levine, Larry Pollard, Al Kopko, Vincent Delong 18; and Raleigh Johnson 16. The Minor division was dominated by the very fine play of Bill McClintock with 30 points. This was followed by Ben Jones 24; Carson Gullett and Lonnie Martin 22; Floyd Wilson, E. W. McConnell, Will Criner 20; and Merle Vaughan, Henry Headinger, Jay Greer, Buck Smith 18.

party One night, after a long day of playing checkers, all participants enjoyed a party hosted by fellow participant Joe Schwartz. The event featured food, drink, cake, door prizes, and story prizes. A nice touch appreciated by everyone!

The tournament director was Don Lafferty.

Here are the final results for the Master Division. 

Rank     Name             RD1  RD2  RD3  RD4  RD5  RD6  RD7  RD8  Total  Pts
 1. CH  Chinook           +WL  +HK  +BC  =RK  +RH  +EB  +JM  +RK   30    N/A
 2. RK  Ron King          +LA  +TL  +EB  =CH  =JM  +AM  =RH  -CH   22    N/A
 3. RH  Richard Hallett   =LB  +JM  =HK  +EL  -CH  +GL  =RK  =JF   20    140
 4. JM  James Morrison    +RB  -RH  +WL  +BC  =RK  +EL  -CH  =AM   20    132
 5. JF  Jack Francis      =GL  -EB  +RA  +TL  -AM  +EM  +EL  =RH   20    118
 6. EB  Ed Bruch          =WB  +JF  -RK  +GW  +EM  -CH  =AM  =TL   18    136
 7. TL  Tim Laverty       +EL  -RK  +LB  -JF  -GL  +HK  +WB  =EB   18    122
 8. AM  Alex Moiseyev     -BC  =RA  +RB  +WB  +JF  -RK  =EB  =JM   18    122
 9. LA  Leroy Adams       -RK  =WC  =GL  =RA  =WB  +BC  =LB  +EM   18    110
10. LB  Les Balderson     =RH  =WB  -TL  -GL  +RB  +WL  =LA  +RA   18    110
11. EL  Elbert Lowder     -TL  +GL  +GW  -RH  +BC  -JM  -JF  +HK   16    N/A
12. BC  Bob Cooper        +AM  +EM  -CH  -JM  -EL  -LA  +GW  =GL   14    130
13. GL  Gene Lindsay      =JF  -EL  =LA  +LB  +TL  -RH  -RA  =BC   14    124
14. WB  John Webster      =EB  =LB  =EM  -AM  =LA  =RA  -TL  BYE   14    121
15. RA  Rawle Allicock    -HK  =AM  -JF  =LA  +GW  =WB  +GL  -LB   14    114
16. EM  Earl Morrison     +GW  -BC  =WB  +HK  -EB  -JF  +WL  -LA   14    108
17. HK  Harvey Kelley     +RA  -CH  =RH  -EM  =WL  -TL  BYE  -EL   12    130
18. WL  John Walcott      -CH  =LA  -JM  +RB  =HK  -LB  -EM  +GW   12    120
19. GW  Gene Westmoreland -EM  +RB  -EL  -EB  -RA  BYE  -BC  -WL    8    N/A
20. RB  Ron Bailey        -JM  -GW  -AM  -WL  -LB  - WITHDREW --    0    N/A