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Show BLIND MAN CHECKER ADEPT, Challenges All Players and Has Defeated De-feated Even Pillsbury. Philadelphia. Can you play checkers? check-ers? There Is a blind man In Philadelphia Phila-delphia who can beat you. no matter JOHN (A Noted Checker Player Who Is Blind.) how well you play. Ho has defeated Pillsbury, Mntthow Prlost and half a dozen other professionals dcsplto tho tact that hu can not seo ns much as a ray of light and has to follow tho gamo In his mind with tho assistance ot his finger tips. John Thompson Is tho blind champion's cham-pion's name Ho llvos at 251 North Wrtrnock street, whoro many of the most scientific checkor players In tho Unltod States havo called on htm and met their Waterloo. Thompson has a crude llttlo board that was mndo especially for him, tho squares bolng sunk In the wood. One sot of men Is squaro to match tho holes and has a llttlo groovo on ono side. When tho men havo only a single value theso grooves nro turned downward, but when they reach tho king row tho grooves aro turned upward. up-ward. Tho other sot ot mon cro tho usual round checkers nnd with his dellcato touch Thompson can distinguish between be-tween them as readily as anyono who has tho full use- ot his eyes. Forty-six years ago Thompson's vision left him. Ho Is totally, absolutely abso-lutely blind. It was about 15 years ago that ho determined to learn to play checkers and has his llttlo board made. Tho gamo fascinated him and he hns boon playing steadily over since, part ot tho time professionally. For soveral years ho has been a regular featuro at tho Ninth and Arch streets museum and he will play thero again this year. Ho moots all comers and raroly loses a game. "Oh, It's a beautiful gamo," ho said rapturously to a visitor who called at his houso. "Thoro's no end to It Pillsbury himself admitted to mo that thero's moro In It than thoro is In chess, and that's a good deal for Pillsbury Pills-bury to say, you know. Poor Pillsbury! Pills-bury! Ho was a good opponent, tho kind ot opponent that a man llkos to moot. Ho talked about tho gamo as It It wore a mastorplcco of art or music and with unerring ncurncy ho worked out tho problems. |