the international checker hall of fame, which operated from 1979 to 2007, was founded by troy førde and located in a tudor style mansion in petal, mississippi; it housed a large collection of checkers memorabilia. the hall of fame, which had been home to a statue of checkers-great marion tinsley, a checkers library and museum, as well as the two largest checkerboards and host to a number of checker tournaments, was destroyed by fire on september 29, 2007.