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Pope member competes in the Inter-Service Chess Tournament

  • Published
  • By Emily Farrington-Smith
  • 43rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs
POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. --  Staff Sgt. Nicolas Butts, 3rd Aerial Port Squadron, represented Pope as a member of the Air Force chess team during the Inter-service Chess Tournament held at Fort Benning, Ga., May 2 through 9. 

The Army hosts the inter-service tournament every four years. Contestants who compete in the tournament were the top scorers during their respective branch championships. The players were scored in seven rounds as a team and individually. The top scoring team took home a trophy, while the top six individual scorers will represent the U.S. Armed Forces in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization chess championship June 15 through 19 in Hammelburg, Germany. 

Sergeant Butts was selected for the inter-service championship first by winning the 2009 Pope chess tournament, which enabled him to represent the Air Mobility Command in the 2009 Air Force championship at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. There he placed in the top six, which qualified him for the Air Force team. 

While playing at Wright-Patterson, contestants competed against six-man teams from the other branches of the armed services. Each member of the team had to play seven chess games total against members of the opposing teams. A single game has a time limit of five hours and they played two games a day. The team with the highest score after seven rounds won. The Air Force won, with 26 points, for the eighth year in a row.
Sergeant Butts is very proud of his accomplishments. 

"Playing in the inter-service championship chess tournament was an incredible opportunity to represent the Air Force and to enjoy some friendly competition with our fellow comrades in arms," he said. "I am very thankful to all involved for their much appreciated assistance. I enjoyed the experience immensely and would recommend that any Air Force member interested participate in the annual base tournament."