Richard Lee Fortman (February 8, 1915 – November 8, 2008) was a champion

checkers Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; British English), is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. Checkers ...

player and authority on the game.

Early years

Richard Lee Fortman was born on February 8, 1915 in

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...

, which was his home throughout his life. His father was a

telegraph operator A telegraphist (British English), telegrapher (American English), or telegraph operator is an operator who uses a telegraph key to send and receive the Morse code in order to communicate by land lines or radio. During the Great War the Royal ...

for a railroad, and he would play checkers over the telegraph with other operators during quiet times, playing the games in their heads to avoid detection.Fox, Margalit
"Richard L. Fortman, a Champion at Checkers, Dies at 93"
''

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'', November 29, 2008. Accessed November 30, 2008 He started playing checkers at home with his father. He started winning these games after he started reading checkers books at the library. He entered the Illinois state checkers championship in 1933 at age 18 and finished in third place. He would go on to win the Illinois state title on six occasions between 1950 and 1978.

Career

Fortman graduated from Springfield High School in 1933.Staff
"Richard L. Fortman"
''

State Journal-Register ''The State Journal-Register'' is the only local daily newspaper for Springfield, Illinois, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1831 as the ''Sangamo Journal'' by William Bailhache and Edward Baker, and describes itself as "the oldest ne ...

'', November 10, 2008. Accessed November 30, 2008. He served in the

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during

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and

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. After the war, he became a warehouse foreman for the

Panhandle Eastern Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Company, LP is a natural gas pipeline in the United States which brings natural gas from the panhandle region of Oklahoma east through the Midwest to supply Indiana and Ohio. It is owned by Panhandle Energy - Southern Uni ...

Pipe Line Company. He published the seven-volume guide to the game, ''Basic Checkers'', considered essential reading for those interested in the game. Fortman's specialty was correspondence checkers, in which players could take as much as two to three days to consider the board and return the next move to his opponent by postcard, with games taking as long as months or even a year. Fortman won the world postal championship in both 1986 and 1990. He adapted to the technological changes in the game and would spend hours each day playing checkers over the internet. The first signs that he was in declining health came when he failed to respond to moves in the allotted time.

Death

Fortman died at age 93 on November 8, 2008 in Springfield, Illinois. He was survived briefly by his wife, the former Faye Nichols, who died at age 83 on January 4, 2009. The two married on October 14, 1950 and had celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fortman, Richard Lee American checkers players People from Springfield, Illinois 1915 births 2008 deaths United States Army personnel of World War II