GrahamClayton: Durwood Hatch was born and raised in Altoona, and was a flight engineer and top turret gunner on a B-24 Liberator bomber in the U.S. Army Air Corp during WW2. Hatch graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 1951 with a degree in mathematics.Shortly thereafter, Hatch joined the National Security Agency of the Department of Defence, assigned to the Russian section. He held that assignment until 1954, when, with a child on the way, he decided to change his career path. He was hired by IBM and was employed there as a systems engineer during the majority of his career.
Toward the end of his working life, seeking a change of pace, Durwood left IBM and joined the computer department in the administration section at Penn State, where he designed systems and did some programming, before retiring in 1987.
A keen correspondence player in his teenage years, Hatch's first OTB tournament was the 1943 Pennsylvania State Championship, where he achieved the commendable score of 4.5/7 (+3, -1, =3), which included draws against both first and second place competitors. , he played first board for Penn State from 1947-51, won tournaments in several states and defeated two Grandmasters, including Samuel Reshevsky, and three International Masters in simultaneous exhibitions. He was twice named Pennsylvania State “Rapid Play” Champion and has had several games published in books and magazines.
https://www.altoonamirror.com/obitu...
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