"What If...."
by Bob Podoff

It is a great pity that two of the greatest old timers, two immortals of the game never were able to face each other in an Internationall Match. Clarence H. Freeman was sick and not able to play in the First International Match of 1905. Robert Stewart was sick and not able to play in the Second International Match of 1927. If Freeman, who was only 42 years old, was not sick and at his best in 1905 he would probably have won 6 or 7 games and maybe lost 0 games or at most 1 game. WHAT IF......Freeman replaced H.B. Reynolds, who lost 15 games while only winning just two games? Then of course the score in 1905 would have been Great Britain 59 to the United States 39 which would have been much more respectable! Isn't this fun! Of course we all know that Robert Stewart, a future World Champion, was at his best in the 1905 Match, scoring 7-0-32. So if Freeman played him in 1905 and was also at his best, I believe that they would have played 4 draws in their heat! Now if Stewart was not sick in 1927 and was at his best, then he would probably have won 5 or 6 games while losing maybe one. WHAT IF.....Stewart replaced Harry Moulding who also lost 15 games while winning no games? Then of course the score in 1927 would have been United States 82 to Great Britain 26 which is a much better showing for Great Britain! Wasn't that fun! Now since Robert Stewart was one of the main characters of this article, I want to present here a famous game from the First International Match of 1905. It is found on page 218, Game Number 284 in the tournament book. In this game he missed a win against Dr. A. Schaefer. Stewart lost no games, and was in no losses, and just missed this one win in the International Match. Only Gonotsky had a better record!

BLACK---ROBERT STEWART AYRSHIRE LASSIE WHITE---DR. AUGUST SCHAEFER

11-15, 24-20, 8-11, 28-24, 9-13, 23-19, 6-9, 27-23, 9-14, 22-18, 15-22, 25-9, 5-14, 29-25? ( A ), 11-15, 25-22, 4-8, 32-28, 8-11, 22-17, 13-22, 26-17, 11-16? ( B ), 20-11, 7-16, 24-20, 15-24, 20-11, 3-7, 28-19, 7-16, 31-26, 16-20, 19-15, 10-19, 23-16, 12-19, 17-10, 19-24, 26-23, 24-27, 23-19, 27-31, 19-16, 31-27, 30-26, 20-24, 16-11, 24-28, 10-7, 28-32, 7-3, 32-28, 3-8, 27-31, 26-22, 31-27, 11-7, 2-11, 8-15, 27-23, 15-10, 28-24, 22-17, 23-18, 17-13, 24-19, 13-9, Drawn

( A ) :- A Published Play Loss. 32-28 or 26-22 both draw.

( B ) :- Misses the win! 12-16*, 19-12, 15-18, 23-19, 11-16 B.Wins! Noted in The Draughts World.