Pacific Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 10, 1948, Tokyo, T�ky�                                By Richard h. Larsh feature editor 44tts your move this year. I moved Al last  this could have very Well been the punch line to a letter from one Mem Ber of the International chess Cor respondents league to another. How Ever the lag Between moves in a game which is noted for its leisurely Pace is never quite that long1 As it is played by More than 10,000 addicts of the Knightly game. One member of the league now a resident of Tokyo where he teaches mathematics at the Toko educational Center has however just completed one game which lasted for ten years and survived the wartime censors who suspected that code messages might be being sent via the strange terms such As kt-kb3, bpm up or b kt5 cd. The occupation ire chess player is w. N. Thompson . Navy com Mander who began the decade Long match in 1938 As a result of a Large scale International program whih matched 1000 chess players in Amer Ica with an equal number in eng land. Thompson at that time con ducted a chess column on the Spring Field mo., news & Leader and was therefore deemed worthy of inclusion in the tournament. He finished up to games in rapid time Only three years and took on a third opponent when the aged american who had been playing him died. This new opponent was Alfred Milner a Cotton broker of Didsbury England. It was this game which has just concluded. During the ten years of play Mil Ner and Thompson have become Good pen pals and their letters always included More than just the respective moves of the chessmen. Milner was Busy in England and on the continent and his letters were often Post marked from France Italy Scotland and other foreign countries. Thomp son too travelled and added some strange postmarks to Milner s collection. In August 1941, the american was called into Active naval service and ordered to Pearl Harbor where he experienced the bombardment of december 7. Despite the extent of his duties at Pearl Harbor in Camou Flage activities he managed to continue the Long distance chess game mailing moves which had to Cross two oceans and a continent before they could be acted upon and then return the same distance. The ten year game took 62 moves and Thompson estimates that six moves a year is a pretty Good aver age. Occasionally when one of the players was forced into a move his opponent would include two moves which saved a bit of time. This did t occur often As the two were Well matched As can be seen by the Chart of their moves. W. N. Thompson Long distance correspondence Chew player top photo seated before one of the chess Board problems which he met during the match. Directly below is shown a Chart of each of the moves made during the ten year match. Page 4 Start & sri pc t the greatest delay was caused by the censor who regretted having to do it As he himself was playing a match by mail with a Friend in Canada. However he wrote As you probably know in the past and in the present enemy agents have not been above taking advantage of the grand game As a Means of transmitting secret . The censor promised to take the matter up with Washington in order to obtain release of chess match Cor Respondence when assured As in your Case of innocent  there was not As much delay As expected and Thompson and Milner knowing they were not transmitting secret messages with their cryptic notations continued to Send their moves. In the f Spring of 1942 Thompson was ordered to the naval air Sta Tion at Sand Point Seattle and continued the game from the United states. He7was discharged from the Navy in 1946 and came to Japan As a Dac teaching first at Osaka and now at Tokyo it was Here in Japan that he became hopelessly entangled in his game with Milner and on a gust 1, exactly ten years to the Day after the match began sent his resignation move. It is not usual for Thompson to lose in the game As he has played Many of the ranking players of the world in correspondence chess and face to face across a table. He began playing 25 years ago at Drury col lege Springfield mo., where he was a teacher of mathematics and has played such masters As Reuben Fine Irving Kashdan Kol Tenovsky Horo Witz newel Banks and most recently Kimura the Shogi Champion of Japan. Shogi the japanese variation of the Western game of chess is far. More Complex and difficult. This game is played on a nine by nine Board 81 squares  of Colok Between the squares. The pawns cell de fun occupy the third rank at Thi Start. The second rank has Only two pieces one called Irish a the continued on pan it