March 18 1934
The State, Columbia, South Carolina, Sunday, March 18, 1934
Versatile Minnesota Man
O. A. Holt of Minneapolis, Minn., chess editor of the Minneapolis Journal, is said to be the only person in the United State who has ever held the chess and checker championship of a state at the same time. Willie Ryan had an interesting illustrated story about Holt in a recent issue of his magazine, The Checkergram. After telling about the excellence of Holt's chess column, Ryan continues as follows:
“But Holt is more than a chess authority. He knows something about checkers too. As a matter of fact he plays ten boards of checkers blindfolded and to prove it to his local friends he put on a show at the University of Minnesota recently. He dropped only one game out of the ten winning or drawing the rest. Incidentally, Holt is a graduate of the University of Minnesota.
“Back in 1925, when Holt won the checker championship of his state he challenged J. G. Kaudy of St. Paul, then the state chess champion, to a match for the state chess crown. The match came off, Holt winning two games losing one and drawing seven in a ten-game frame. By winning the chess title, Holt was the first man to ever hold both chess and checker titles of any state at the same time. He has traveled over the state of Minnesota giving exhibitions of his skill at both games.”
Asked which is the better game chess or checkers, Holt is quoted as making the following sensible reply: “Both are fine games. Both are so profound that neither one has ever been fully mastered. It's a matter of personal preference. Some like chess; some like checkers. I enjoy both games, and in this respect I am different from most chess and checker players, who praise the game they play and knock the game they don't play.”
Last summer Holt got in touch with Minneapolis playground officials and staged a checker tourney in which more than 1000 children took part.
“Checkers,” says Holt, “has a great future. But that future can only be materialized by the invasion of youth into the mysteries of the game. Let youth in, cater to them, and watch the game go skyward”.
