World tournament to check out Anderson
By WENDY WEINHOLD
Anderson
Independent-Mail
April 23, 2005
Two checker kings will duke it out for the crown when Anderson plays host to the Checker/Draught Three-Move World Championship this summer.
City Council chambers at City Hall downtown will serve as the setting for the checkers tournament May 23 through June 3 where the checker world’s No. 1-ranked player, Alexander Moiseyev, an American immigrant, will face off against No. 2-ranked Ron "Suki" King of Barbados. The pair will play four games a day for 10 days, and the majority winner will take home the championship.
Anderson will be the first U.S. city in 40 years to hold the tournament, said Anderson Convention and Visitors Bureau executive director Glenn Brill. He credited local checkers fans Tom Martin and Joe Redd for having secured Anderson’s winning bid to play host to the tournament sponsored by the World Checker Federation.
Earlier this year, the pair of local fans of the two-person board game arranged for 20 to 30 of the best checkers players in the United States to play in Pendleton at the 3-year-old state checkers tournament in October. The tournament previously was held in Honea Path.
Although the world tournament might not attract throngs of visitors or pack hotel rooms with guests, Anderson County Administrator Joey Preston was excited to add to the community’s resume as an event venue.
"Now we’re the host of the world championships for checkers and we’re also host of the world championship for ballooning," he said. "I think it singles us out in the state."
Mr. Brill counted on the event’s potential to draw national media attention to Anderson for the contest that will decide the champion of the world’s oldest game.
"It’s the publicity potential that’s got us excited," Mr. Brill said. "It’s one of those kinds of events that might tickle the fancy of some news editor in a big city."
Details of the event will be unveiled at a 10 a.m. news conference Monday in City Council chambers.
Wendy Weinhold can be reached at (864) 260-1248 or by e-mail at weinholdwm@IndependentMail.com.