Career
Hellman first entered at the age of fifteen and won a Gary City chess tournament. He won his first Indiana State Tournament in 1933 at the age of seventeen. Hellman placed 10th in the masters’ level at a young age of 18. Three years later, in the 9th American tournament of 1937 held at Martins Ferry, Ohio, Hellman placed third in the checkers. In 1946, Hellman entered and won the eleventh ACA American tournament held at Nashville, Tennessee, and also the third NCA American tournament played in Indianapolis, Indiana. In 1948, Walter defeated Asa Long to become the new World Checkers Champion.
Hellman held the title the American Checker Federation World Championship from 1948 until 1955 and from 1958 until 1975. Hellman lost only one World Title match, in 1955 to Marion Tinsley. Winning the 8 other occasions in 1948, 1949, 1951, 1953, 1962, 1963, 1965 and 1967. His final appearance in the checkers arena was when Hellman played on the U.S. checkers team in the third International Match between the U.S. and Great Britain at Bournemouth, England.
Read more about this topic: Walter Hellman
Famous quotes containing the word career:
“I’ve been in the twilight of my career longer than most people have had their career.”
—Martina Navratilova (b. 1956)
“He was at a starting point which makes many a man’s career a fine subject for betting, if there were any gentlemen given to that amusement who could appreciate the complicated probabilities of an arduous purpose, with all the possible thwartings and furtherings of circumstance, all the niceties of inward balance, by which a man swings and makes his point or else is carried headlong.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“A black boxer’s career is the perfect metaphor for the career of a black male. Every day is like being in the gym, sparring with impersonal opponents as one faces the rudeness and hostility that a black male must confront in the United States, where he is the object of both fear and fascination.”
—Ishmael Reed (b. 1938)