Hopper was a protege of the famous New York Giants pitcher and checker master “Christy” Mathewson. Mr. Hopper has represented America in International Teach Matches and has played and beaten such masters as Heffner, Schaefer, Ginsburg, Bradford and Gonotsky. He has also defeated many state and regional champions, among them: Chapman, of Maine; Evans, of Connecticut and Jesse Hanson, Pacific Coast Champion.
Mr. Hopper’s title of Unrestricted Champion was achieved in a ten game match with Alfred Jordan, Champion of Great Britain.
Radio and television broadcasts on checker; playing at the New York World’s Fair and playing 50 games at one time are other Hopper achievments…
Black : Millard Hopper
White : Samuel Gonotsky
“Single-Corner” Opening
11-15 16-20 8-11 13-22 7-23
22-18 23-18 24-19 19-15 27-18
15-22 6-10 6-9 22-26 20-27
25-18 25-21 19-15 30-22 32-23
12-16 10-17 4-8 11-16 8-11
29-25 21-14 23-19 28-24 16-7
9-13 26-5 17-22 16-19 3-26
18-14 26-23 26-17 23-16 1-0
10-17 13-17 9-13 5-9
21-14 31-26 15-10 14-5
PHOTO FROM THE FREESTYLE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RE-MATCH OF 1953 BETWEEN CHAMPION TOM WISWELL (SEATED RIGHT) AND CHALLENGER MILLARD HOPPER (SEATED LEFT).
THE MATCH WAS DRAWN, 2-2-36 DRAWS, WISWELL RETAINING THE TITLE AS DEFENDING CHAMPION.
THE PERSON AT THE FAR LEFT, STANDING, IS MR. JAMES MITCHELL ELLIS. AMONG THE ITEMS IN HIS PRIVATE COLLECTION, HIDDEN FOR FIFTY YEARS, THAT WAS DISCOVERED IN JUNE 2011 BY MICHAEL SMITH IN GLASGOW, KENTUCKY.
http://www.online-museum-of-checkers-history.com/id69.html
For centuries experts at checkers had only one series of starting moves, the single-corner opening. Now, thanks to the hatted analysts who have worked at the game in such dedicated spots as Broadway’s checker palaces, there are some 49 classified two-man openings, with hundreds of complicated variations. To checkerists, the post mortem of a game is as dear as it is to bridge players…
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,851727,00.html#ixzz1SJvrtIkp
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,849202,00.html
This is my favorite checker game. It was game #14 of the 1951 Go-As-You-Please (GAYP) World Championship Match. The match was won by Tom Wiswell over Millard Hopper, 7-2 with 27 draws. The match and several checker problems are found in Checker Kings in Action, a book by Wiswell and Hopper. You will get a kick out of the final moves of this game…..
http://www.jimloy.com/checkers/wiswell.htm