Derek Oldbury (1924 - July, 1994) (often known as DEO) was a British

draughts Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; Commonwealth English), is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve forward movements of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. ...

champion from

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

. He was a rival of

Marion Tinsley Marion Franklin Tinsley (February 3, 1927 – April 3, 1995) was an American mathematician and checkers player. He is widely considered to be the greatest checkers player ever. Tinsley was world champion from 1955–1958 and from 1975–1991 and n ...

and, after Tinsley, "probably the second best player of all time." Oldbury was interested in Go As You Please (GAYP) draughts, a variant where players have the liberty to select their own opening moves. He competed in 7 world championship matches, winning in 1976, 1976 (GAYP) and 1991 (3-move). Oldbury was born

paraplegic Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neura ...

. He wrote the 6-volume ''The Complete Encyclopaedia of Draughts''.

References

External links

*
Move Over
' - online book by Derek Oldbury, an excellent introduction to draughts
The Unknown DEO
- 62 draughts columns by Oldbury for the ''Rotherham Advertiser'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Oldbury, Derek British draughts players Players of English draughts Sportspeople from Devon English people with disabilities 1924 births 1994 deaths