European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 27, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                July 1985 the stars and stripes Page 17 modern living checkers Champion of East fowl by Bill Lohmann United press International when business is Eugene Roach sits outside his store in East fowl and uses his beloved Checkerboard As a watching the traffic go by and waiting for the next victim to come by and some daring challenger will Stop at the store and take him the faces Are but the result is always the fortunately for the the beating usually does not last Long and Roach treats them the Battlefield is the and the weapons Are the red and yellow checker pieces that Roach deftly moves around the same Way a cagey general deploys his i always played but i didst know it was a science until i started playing said David who lives near Roach store and Moses Down for an occasional Hes the Hes Way out of my has been a championship Aliber checkers player since the despite being hidden in the Middle of nowhere in East fowl a tiny Burg that is on few maps and consists basically of a couple of Baptist a Community Center and Roach Gas station general store the country through the thousands of checkers games he has played Over the Roach has lost Only a handful of the last setback coming in a tournament in his famous throughout South Alabama and Well known to travellers who make their Way South of Mobile Down route is etched on a sign that sits in a directly above the it prom Erm Bombeck stopped Reading Road maps in when my Hus band accused me of moving the Mississippi River Over two it want the first time he reproached me for tampering with we once quarrelled Over whether a prominent Arch was a Mcdonalds or the Louis and another time we had a real ugly scene when i wrapped my gum in the great lakes and we  find our Way to the Canadian Reading Road maps is like being a vice you Wear Navy and keep your Mouth the Only time youre consulted is when the Driver is approaching a Fork in the Road at 55 Mph and he you wanted to now which Way do we turn its but the Anatomy of our marriage can be summed up in the Road map the first year of our i told my husband i got nauseated when i read in a moving car and he Dpi photo Eugene who last lost in waiting for a daring checkers uses a free six pack of cokes to anyone who can beat Roach put up the sign a decade no one has Ever won any free soda pop at the country he will play anyone self pro claimed checkers children and his own family any Day of the week except when he closes the store and takes the Day he has played blindfolded to even up the Odds and won the Little wooden table that the Checkerboard sits on has the words its your move painted on the i hardly Ever miss a Day of playing Roach on a ill play seven or eight different people in a of when i play i still have to wait on so it Breaks my but not nearly checkers has Long been Roach he was a checkers Champ in the army 30 years has won state crowns in Alabama and Mississippi and is one of Only a few players in the United states rated As masters by the american checker he is a checkers Kingpin by no stroke of who was stuck with the nickname double trouble by his army buddies for reasons he has studies the game constantly and has read More than 400 books on the Roach says checkers has a bum rap of being a simple and he can prove that reputation is out of line in about two minutes the time it takes him to whip most anyone who plays the game simply from move to the game Roach plays is on another level from the game most everyone learns to play As the game that is thousands of years old and might have reached its Pinnacle of popularity during the depression when folks had plenty of time on their there Are various moves and counter Novas with colourful names such As the pitch and squeeze and the dog Hole to Roach seems to them All and claims to be Able to look at the Board and visualize 30 moves its a complicated and there is no Clement of says the bespectacled who Rolls up his sleeves to tattoos on each Arm and leans Back against a Pepper machine while his doomed opponent sweats Over the next Ive talked to people who Are Good at both checkers and and they say checkers is much there Are a lot of ways to make a weak move in chess and still but if you make a bad move in Check till kill theres so much More to 1 just want peo ple to understand As a proselytize of Roach carries the word to especially Young people whom he is trying to convert to competitive Roach says he can teach someone enough about the subtleties of checkers in 15 minutes so they can go out and beat people Treyve been losing to for 20 in the he goes right on hed like to compete in an International tournament someday if he could Wrangle some time away from his to his he might have More time for checkers in the near work Crews Are building Bridges and widening roads in Southern diverting traffic and business from Roach laughed and i dont want you to do anything but sit there and talk to just leave the driving to a few years later when we had three children fighting Over two windows he started to Delegate things for me to one was to keep those kids from killing one a few years he entertain them or give them a then one Day he Start looking for the when i said i didst know what turnoff he was talking he look in the Glove compartment for the its you know i get nauseated when i read in a moving and he youre not Reading War and peace for crying out youre just trying to pick up route for the next 10 years i was never to see another Monu Scenic spa Cious sky or Amber Waves of i sat for hours hunched Over a mural of Wavy Little numbers too Small to read and distances too Long to i was to discover Road maps made people say thing they didst we missed Lauderdale that what id expect from a woman whose Mother swims out to meet troop of ill get in the left when you get out of the sack and make my breakfast in the ill get in the left so which Way do 1 go left or right ill give you a you Pat the dog with your left you dry your fingernails out the car window with your its been eight years since i stuffed a Road map up his eight years of Riding in the other Day we were in a rental car when he find out Why this red Light is and while youve got the manual see How to turn the lights on in this do we know How to turn on the radio even a vice president knows when to hear c lot Angeles times Syndicate